What to Expect
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. Among many other things, you will:
- Participate in weekly group meetings with individuals from Congress, the administration, and government relations professionals from the business and association community in Washington. These professionals will inform you of their respective roles in the public policymaking 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 2009 WISE program schedule.
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 sponsoring society also provides staff and/or volunteer mentors who work directly with you to help guide your research.
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. Your sponsoring society will provide any specific guidelines and requirements for writing your paper. Your research typically includes opportunities to meet with policymakers and analysts. For examples of past work, see the WISE Journal of Engineering & Public Policy.
