Get Involved

The Institute provides a number of channels for students to actively engage with a wide range of fields in public and social service.  This includes directly working with the Institute in the Student Ambassador and Student Internship Programs or by becoming a part of the Student Advisory Council.

The Institute also uses existing non-curricular programs and campus partners to expand and create new paths to careers in politics and public policy.  The Institute provides opportunities with local elected officials via the Aldermanic Internship program and gives students access to higher level officials via the Summer in DC Program.

The Institute is currently in the process of expanding the Summer 2013 Internship program.  An important campus partner is the UChicago Careers in Public and Social Service program, one of eight career exploration programs sponsored by the University’s Office of Career Advancement and by the College, gives students resources, contacts, and advisement to pursue careers in public and social service.  Career Advancement also runs the Metcalf Internship Program, which provides College students with more than 450 internships each year, in locations across the nation and in countries worldwide. At the Harris School of Public Policy, the Institute will help expand the graduate school’s thriving internship program. Along with the Harris Career Development Office, the Harris internship program provides public policy graduate students with vital training and career advancement.

In the summer of 2012, the Institute of Politics partnered with UChicago Careers in Public and Social Service to bring student interns to both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions.

Students at the Politico Hub of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL.

Students on the convention floor at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.