The California State Assembly Fellowship Program, founded in 1957, is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious legislative fellowship programs. In 1987, the program was renamed the Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellowship Program to honor California's former Assembly Speaker and State Treasurer. This unique program provides an opportunity for individuals of all ages and backgrounds to directly participate in the legislative process. Each year, 18 individuals are selected to participate in the program. The 11-month fellowship provides an introduction to public policy formation and adoption in the California Legislature through full-time work as a professional legislative staff member.
The Assembly Fellowship Program is co-sponsored by theCalifornia State Assembly and California State University, Sacramento, through the Center for California Studies. Assembly Fellows receive a monthly stipend of $1,972, as well as medical, dental and vision benefits.
Graduate Students
Assembly fellows receive fully-paid enrollment at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), and earn graduate units for seminars taught by faculty from the Sacramento State Government Department. The graduate seminars are a required component of the fellowship program.
Office Placement
Fellows are placed in the Capitol offices of Assembly Members and perform a variety of tasks in different areas. Some of these tasks may include drafting and staffing legislation, tracking legislation, writing committee analyses, responding to constituent letters, writing speeches, meeting with constituents, or researching policy issues.
Qualifications and Application Requirements Applicants must be 20 years of age by September 1, 2012.
Applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree by September 1, 2012.
There are no preferred majors. Recent fellows have had backgrounds in such diverse fields as child development, religious studies, law and biochemistry.
Individuals with advanced degrees or those in mid-career are encouraged to apply.
The Assembly Fellowship Program is transitioning to an all-electronic application system that will be available in Fall 2011. Please take a moment and review some the Assembly Fellowship Program’s application components in preparation for your online-application:
Two Page Personal Statement: Describe yourself, your aspirations and why you are applying to the Assembly Fellowship Program (Two-page limit; typed, double-spaced; 12 pt. font).
One Page Policy Statement: Please answer the following questions (One-page limit; typed, double-spaced; 12 pt. font):
The legislature is facing many pressing issues. If you were an Assembly Member, which policy issue would be your top priority? What change or changes would you propose to address this issue? Describe how your proposed changes would improve California.
Three letters of recommendations/evaluation forms: Three current letters of recommendation are required. It is strongly suggested that at least one of the three recommendations be provided by a faculty member familiar with your work. Because letters of recommendation are submitted on-line, you will need to supply an email address for each person submitting a recommendation.
Transcripts from each college and university attended: Include official or unofficial transcripts from each college or university attended. All internet-generated transcripts must include the name of the applicant as part of the printed document. In order to ensure confidentiality of your personal information, please redact your social security number from your transcripts prior to submission.
In order to ensure confidentiality of your personal information, please remove your social security number from all documents submitted.
* Note: If your academic institution does not release letters of recommendation/evaluations to students, include a letter from the academic institution stating that policy. Include in your application the name of the faculty member whose evaluation will be sent separately. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that letters of recommendation/evaluations are sent to the Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellowship Program by the postmark deadline.
Please note – the 2012-2013 application is not currently available. This information has been provided to help you prepare for the application, which will be available on-line soon.
Selection Process
The selection process has two stages. During the first stage, completed applications are screened by the fellowship selection committee. The selection committee includes staff from Sacramento State and the State Assembly. Among the qualities looked for in future fellows are scholastic achievement, oral and written communication skills, analytic skills, campus and community service involvement, political awareness, and leadership potential. Approximately 70 applicants are notified in April of their selection for a personal interview. Interviews take place in late April/early May in Sacramento and Los Angeles. The selection committee selects fellows and alternates after interviews and written notifications are mailed in May. The deliberations of the selection committee are confidential and final. All applications become property of the program.
Fellowship Calendar
The Assembly Fellowship Program begins in October, and concludes in September of the following year.
The application deadline for 2012-13 is February 22, 2012. Please review the application details listed above and prepare for the on-line application available Fall 2011.
No application will be accepted beyond the postmark deadline.
System Requirements:
*Acrobat Reader (7.0 or above) is required and is available free from Adobe's Web site.
Microsoft Internet Explorer® is recommended for best results.
Continual internet connection needed during the completion of Part 1. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader