ORIENTATION
Welcome to Washington!
(Info for all new interns)
KEY DATES
3 June - 2 August
Summer 2013 Program Dates
Exactly what does a WISE Intern do?
As a WISE intern, you will learn, explore, write, research and enjoy a whole new world. You will not be serving in an office as a typical intern. No running errands or stuffing envelopes for you. What will you do? Among many other things, you will:
- Participate in weekly group meetings with individuals from
Congress, the Executive Branch and government relations professionals
from the business/ association community here in Washington, who will
brief you on their respective roles in the public policy process.
- Have group meetings with your fellow interns to discuss what you've learned and to review
your progress.
- Attend fun social events.
Every year is different, but to get an idea of what WISE entails,
take a peek at the schedules for the
2009,
2008,
2006,
2005,
2004,
2003,
2002
and 2000 WISE programs.
A faculty-member-in-residence (FMR) will supervise your work. The FMR is an engineer with
a background in public policy, or a public policy professor hired to run each year's program. Each
society also provides staff and/or volunteer mentors who work directly with you
to help guide your research. Erica Wissolik of IEEE-USA and Melissa Carl of ASME serve as the overall coordinators of the WISE program, as well as invaluable sources of contacts and information.
In addition to the visits and interaction with the FMR and your society
mentors, you will also spend a significant portion of your time independently researching,
writing and
presenting a
policy paper on a topic of interest to you and your sponsoring society.
Here are some general
guidelines for your paper and your sponsoring society will provide
any specific requirements. This research typically includes opportunities for contacts with
policy-makers and analysts by phone, email or face-to-face meeting. For
examples, see the WISE Journal of Engineering & Public
Policy, which reprints previously submitted WISE papers.
In addition to your WISE assignments, WISE sponsoring societies
may give you additional projects to work on and
may assign office hours.
Not sure what technology policy and the public-policy process is all about?
Read
about the Legislative Process
and learn more about How Congress Works from
this collection of CRS Reports.
Explore the
educational resources section of the
House of Representatives website and the
reference section of the Senate website to learn how our Congress works. Experiment with Thomas, the Library of Congress'
legislative information website.
Then familiarize yourself with the hot issues and players by visiting these resource links.
Check the pulse of Capitol Hill by reading Roll Call, The Hill and/or The Politico, which provide inside
news and gossip for Capitol Hill-types. Track the Washington-take
on national issues in the Washington
Post and/or Washington Times newspapers.
You'll have plenty of time to explore the unique cultural,
historical, and entertainment resources and attractions of Washington,
DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
 WISE Webmaster: Chris Brantley
Copyright © 2012, Washington Internships for
Students of Engineering. Users are encouraged to link to this page and are permitted to
copy and make use of its contents for the exclusive purposes of publicizing the WISE
program. The WISE home page is hosted by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) for the benefit of the WISE sponsoring societies.
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