The University of California Center Sacramento (UCCS) inaugurated its Environment Program in the Summer of 2005.  The Program matched select UC students with environmental internships in Sacramento and provided opportunities for scholar interns resident in Sacramento to complete related academic course work.

UCCS is an academic initiative of the Office of the UC President, to establish a residential academic and internship program in the state capital.

The Course

Students enroll in a special offering of Environmental Politics and Administration, arranged with UC Davis Summer Sessions.  This is a four unit, letter graded upper division course.  The course emphasizes the interaction of science and policy for solving some of California's most pressing energy and environmental problems.  The substantive content of the course is described on this and other pages of this web.

The Students

Participating students were selected from all eight of the campuses where the University has undergraduate programs. The Program was also open to graduate students.

The Faculty

Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Director of the UCCS Environment Program.  gawsmith@ucdavis.edu

The Texts

Stephen Bocking, Nature's Experts: Science Politics, and the Environment (Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 2004).  Paperback.  ISBN 0-8135-3398-8.
Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis, 2d edition (CQ Press, Washington D.C., 2005). Paperback.  ISBN 1-56802-923-3.

Students could buy the book from amazon.com  before the first day of class.

The Schedule

The course met every Tuesday during the summer term from 3:00 to 6:00 pm in the UCCS Conference Room, 1130 K Street, Suite LL 22, Sacramento, CA 95814.  During the week, scholar interns followed a work schedule set by their on-site supervisors.

The Format

At every class session scholar interns meet and confer with invited guests from the UC system, from executive agencies and legislative offices, and representatives of public interest groups.

The Requirements

Scholar interns had to attend and participate in all course sessions, take a final examination, and write a major research paper coordinated with internship placements.  After an initial introductory session, the course dealt in sequence, week by week, with the topics listed in the index to the left.  Students were responsible for the readings itemized on these pages.  The final week of term was devoted to student presentations of research.