Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program (ILSIP)

Welcome everybody. My name is Lee Brannon and I'm part of the admissions team here at the University of Illinois, Springfield. Just so that you are all aware, this webinar is being recorded and will be made available later on for your viewing within your share screen. Though, there is a closed captioning option, it is the little CC button in the top right hand corner.

Uh, right next to it is the option to make your video full screen if you'd like to do that as well. If you need to resync your audio or video at any point in time during this webinar, just refresh your browser and that should totally clear things up. With that, I want to introduce you to Barbara Van **** Brown from the Ulset program. Thank you, Barbara for being here today.

My pleasure so welcome. I'm here to talk about our paid legislative internships, otherwise known as the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern program.

Um before I.

Is that UM?

Yeah, once and wanted to let you know is that with ilsp it is a full time internship and as a result it is limited in terms of international student participation. So if you are arriving on an F1 visa.

For purposes as a student, then, you would not be eligible for this program because you're limited to 20 hours per week and this program is full time. However, once you've completed your program, you will be able to participate in this program as a training if this is something that you're interested in. So I encourage you to stick around and hear a little bit more about the program. So what is the purpose of illicit?

Um, the this whole program was designed for experience, to have experience working for the legislature. And so the legislature is looking to recruit people to work for them and they're looking for diverse experience and backgrounds and they want to have more people know about the legislative process. And so that's part of the purpose of this program and it's also then an opportunity to gain legislative experience for those that.

Want to work with the legislature or around the legislature as possibly like a government analyst or a lobbyist. And so that's both, the partisan is more on the political side and then the nonpartisan is the obvious non political side. So whether you're just policy interested or politically interested both of those are are really great opportunities so to provide legislative leaders.

With research and other professional staff assistants. So not only are you working for the, you know either in a couple of different capacities, but you're also providing the legislature with support. And we love to think about our students being the innovators for the legislature, bringing in new ideas, helping them to find perhaps new ways of doing things that they haven't thought of before.

I'm having a little trouble here.

There we go. So Alsip intern benefits, you receive a monthly stipend, $3300 per month and that begins this fall. That is an increase for our interns. And then also there are four graduate degrees are four graduate credits attached to this. This is not a degree program. So you're basically getting some credit credits that you could apply towards an A degree.

You also have paid insurance and it is a 10 month placement, so it starts September 1 and then it runs through June the 30th.

For those that may start in January, it would then be a six month placement.

All right.

Hey, Barbara, sorry to interrupt. If you want to control the slides, hit those two little arrows that go back and forth.

I I was.

I mean.

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That's the thing. It's not.

It's not moving forward. It's green.

So.

OK, I'll control them.

OK, alright.

So, um, program structure, work responsibilities, full time internship. So again, it's a full time internship, not a part-time internship. And actually I would say it's a full time plus because during session you could be working more than full time. You're assigned either to a partisan staff, which is like our House Republicans, Senate Republicans, House Democrats or Senate Democrats, or you could be assigned to the Commission on Government.

Forecasting and accountability, and that is a bipartisan agency, is considered a legislative support agency that supports both sides of the aisle and both chambers.

You would be required to attend orientation and then also we have a seminar in the fall that is basically breaks down to about four to six classes. They're all day events and a lot of times it's about bringing speakers in to talk to you about the process and their experience with the process. Generally those are on Friday, so you basically don't work that day. You go to class that day. There are usually three papers or three writing assignments that are required.

And then in addition, the attendance to the seminar.

So what does an ilsp intern do on partisan staff? They perform the same duties as staff members. So you're analyzing bills prior to committee. If you're on the research and appropriation staff, you're evaluating the budget request. For instance. If you're on the higher Ed committee, you'd also be doing the budgets for UIS or for ISU for all of our different colleges and universities here within the state of Illinois.

Research issues. Sometimes you're actually reviewing the issues before the actual legislation is written, and sometimes you're actually doing the drafting. So you're working with the legislative Reference Bureau, which is our drafting unit with the legislature, to draft those bills. And also you might be involved in the amendment process. So if a bill has to have some changes, they say in committee, we want to, you know, fix it. And so they say, this is how we want to fix it.

You might be the person responsible for taking those changes, then to the legislative Reference Bureau for changes.

In addition to the research and appropriation site, then there's also what we call a communication staff, and they handle the press and member services for a number of legislators. Usually they're assigned about two and two to three when you're on the Senate side because there's fewer legislators. So you know, it's it's just two or three that you might be assigned. They have larger districts but fewer legislators on the House side. They're more legislators.

And fewer or and more districts. So as a result, you have maybe four to six legislators that you would be writing for, but those districts are smaller. So there's two house districts for every Senate district, just to kind of understand why it is that way.

Um, in addition to that, you would be providing additional staff support for the legislative leaders and members. And that means sometimes there's things like maintaining the memorandums of understanding. For instance, that's kind of a legal document that sometimes happens between the executive branch and the legislative branch. Sometimes there are executive roles that that are interns play as well.

What does an ill sippin turn do with the Commission?

The Commission on Government Forecasting and accountability, as I said before, is nonprofit or a nonpartisan position. And most of what they do is research for the legislature. So you would be getting assignments from a legislator, legislator would request a certain amount of information, and then you would be performing that research either independently or sometimes it's a fairly large request. For instance, a legislator might say, you know, I really don't want to just see what Missouri's.

Doing I wanna see what you know, other 18 states that are similar to Illinois or maybe the Midwest or maybe I want a 50 state comparison. So depending on how large of a project that they're doing, it could also be a team effort as well.

And the outcome of that is usually a legislative memo for the smaller request, but then the the Commission also does what they call research reports. So those are annual reports and you could be asked to work on one of those annual or biennial. Some of the reports are actually multiple year more than just two years. So there's different reports that they do and also publications that they do. So you might be asked to participate in that.

Process.

So how do you apply for the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern program? It is the same process that you use for your graduate admission application. So you're going to apply as a graduate admission. Most of our interns are going to be non degree seeking. This is not a program where you're going to pursue a degree. You can use the credits, like I said before, to apply to a degree, but you're not necessarily pursuing a degree.

A lot of our interns are coming in just to do this program, so they come in as non degree seeking.

And then, um, as far as your applications, they're due March the 15th. And then the process after that is that there is a selection committee that reviews the applications. We try to narrow it down to about 40 to 50 applications that move forward for interviews. We always provide all of the applications to the staff. So the legislative staff that's going to be doing the interviews, we'll see all of the applications if there's anybody that we have.

Not selected for an interview that they would like to interview, they let us know and we just add those, you know, those um applicants or candidates to the interview schedule.

The start date once you're selected is, is September the 1st and then our orientation for this next year, it's interesting because we have Labor Day in the middle. So that's why you see September the 1st and September the 5th, because the first is going to be a Friday and then you'll have a long weekend in there. And then on Tuesday would be your second date and then those are the two orientation days. And then on the 6th would be your actual first day that you're.

In the office, but you are paid for those first two days of orientation.

So questions about the Illinois Legislative Staff intern program. I think this is a great opportunity if you're interested in policy at all or if you want to hone communication or research skills, you're basically networking with everyone that's making those kinds of decisions within the state of Illinois. So lobbyists, all of the state agencies, the legislators. So it's, it's a great networking spot.

So how many internship programs can I apply for?

Well, in terms of with ill sip, there are actually 2 possibilities. There's with the partisan staff, and then there is also with the Commission on Government forecasting accountability. And you can apply for both of those. When you fill out your admission application, there'll be a box that'll say, are you interested in Alsip? And you just check it, and that'll give you the rest of the requirements for your application in terms of kind of the wider view, because there is the graduate.

Public service internship. There are graduate assistantships, and then there's also the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern program. You can actually apply for all three. The way that that works is that.

You can't do all three at the same time obviously, so then you would just have all of your options on the table. Once you've been selected for either a GI or a GA, say you're pursuing a degree and that's the way you want to go. If you are selected for one or the other of those, then that basically will pull you out of the other. So if you are selected for graduate assistantship, it will pull you out of the GPS I pool.

We do have interns though that do them back-to-back. So we have had GPSI interns that then pursue an ill sip or the reverse. They do an izip internship trying to figure out what they want to do next. Maybe they're not sure of the masters degree that they want to pursue, so they would go ahead and and do the elsif internship first and then make the decision to pursue a specific graduate degree.

So you can do them back-to-back so one does not lock you out of the other. With both GSI and GA, though, you do have to be pursuing a degree and you have to be accepted into a program. That is not true for Elsa. There is no need for you to be attached to any degree program, so you don't have to be accepted to a degree or have a major or you know any connection to a graduate program in order to.

Be participate in Elsa.

Um, question. Here in Nigeria one of the major criterias for getting a visa approval is to get an issues tuition waiver from the school. This shows that the school's interested in the student and ready to support their growth. I wasn't selected for the spring term in my visa was denied as well. So I'm I'd be glad if I'm selected as this is my dream school and my program aligns with the long term goals and career path. With the foregoing I have deferred to the fall term OK.

As far as your visas go, and you know, basically you're telling me that you are going to pursue an F1 visa, so I'll skip the Illinois Legislative Staff intern program would not be a program that you could participate in. Yes, you would be looking at a GPA or a GPS I.

OK.

And with both of those programs, so with the the Elsa program, we are paying for those 4 credits. With GPSI they each have their.

Deferral are there their tuition waivers. For the GA it is actually 30 per year. For GPS it is 24 credits per year that they will waive.

Any other questions?

Alright.

Well, that went very quickly. Usually I have lots of questions.

So, um, I guess I will just take a few minutes to.

Yes. Can can I reapply for GA or GPSI? Yes, absolutely.

And in fact, if you have done an application, your application will remain in the pool. You would need to check with our office to make sure that it is still, you know, complete.

Yes, if you have an application in the pool.

Yes, you can reapply if you've been denied before because your circumstances may change. Perhaps you didn't have an F1 visa at the time or, you know, weren't allowed in the country you decided to call ahead and started your degree. So then you would be, you know, eligible to apply again for the the spring round if you came in the fall. Absolutely.

You would need to reapply.

Using your application, if you are a UIS global or Shorelight candidate then you may need to have us resend you the link, but it should also be it would have been sent to you directly almost at at the time that you were accepted.

Also, if you've been denied before, it might be a question of why you were denied. So you know, please check with our office to see if that's you know what the situation is.

So, for instance, if it's a GPA, you know that your GPA wasn't high enough or something like that. It's possible then that after that first semester, your GPA, your graduate GPA would meet our requirements, and so then you would be eligible to apply.

As far as the response on the GPS ioffer?

Um, usually that's within, you know, they there's kind of a process in terms of application.

And so, um, usually we give you a schedule, so you'll get an e-mail that tells you how soon they would be completing that and the process. So basically with GPSI it's a little bit different. So there is a an e-mail that would come out to you with the schedule for that particular pool.

Sometimes if you're not selected for an interview, it's just because of the number of candidates that are applying. One of the situations we've run into recently is that we've got like 89 MIS applicants for 10 positions.

So you can see how lopsided that is and and why you might not be considered for an interview.

OK, so when we're talking, you're asking about the process usually like from the time of getting a response.

Um, I'm not sure.

So once you've once you've been selected, you know you've been told your application is complete, then all of the applications in the pool are made available to the state agencies, or, you know, there could be some local governments and nonprofits in there as well.

And as a result, what ends up happening is that.

They will look at your application and then they will say OK, these are the people that I want to interview, then you as a candidate will be given an opportunity to interview.

You know, just say yes. These are the people that I want to interview with, so you'll actually be able to look at the positions and decide.

And then once that's happened, then you'll do the interviews. And then after the interviews there'll be an opportunity where they'll make you an offer then to hire. And of course it can take a little bit of time because sometimes they've made the decisions. You know, you've decided you want this particular position and they've decided that they like someone else. And so you're kind of waiting for to to see if you're going to get an opportunity. You might not be the first choice, but you may be the second choice.

And the first choice took another position, so it might there's a little juggling there at the time of selection. Are these positioned 100% on site or is remote work an option as far as ill zip goes? Ilsa positions are all on site. There may be some remote work if there are health issues that come up. We've had that in the past during this the the COVID, but generally they are on site. You do need to be in Springfield for those.

Positions as far as, because there have been a number of questions about GPSI, NGA, some of those positions are remote.

And on the GSI side?

You do not need to reapply if you are not selected for an interview, you'll still be in the pool.

And what increases the chances of being selected? Um, that's a tough one because it really depends on the number that you know, the positions that are being offered at that point in time. And it also depends on the agencies and what they're looking for. And because that is not part of our purview, we don't really know, you know.

How to improve your chances? Because we don't necessarily know what they're looking for, so that's that's a little catchy subject. I would encourage you to make sure that your resume is complete. If you have any questions about a resume. Career services can help you out in reviewing that process. Just making sure that your application is complete is the main thing, and being really succinct about the skill skills that you consider yourself to be proficient.

With.

And that's for GSI.

OK.

As far as the application goes for Alsip, I do want to just catch a couple of things with that. With the the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern application, there are several pieces, so you have to complete the form and submit a resume. There's an essay portion.

That, you know, you talk a little bit about who you are and what you've accomplished and why you want to be, you know, why you want to participate in this internship. There's a state policy piece that's a part of that essay, and then what experience you're going to be bringing to your position for working with the legislature. What kinds of things have you done before that would make you, you know, an ideal candidate? In addition to that, we also require transcripts.

Because we are outside of the graduate admission process, we have to make sure that that we do see those transcripts attached to your application. So you do need to submit your transcripts and in addition to that you also need 3 letters of recommendation. Now with the letters we can say two professional and or or two academic and one professional or one.

Academic and two professional, but I do recommend that they be either academic or professional personal. It gets a little bit touchy.

And also with the letters we require three, but by policy we will allow the application to move forward with two.

So we ask for three.

Have to have to.

Um, let's see. Are there a certain set of people that are exclusively eligible for the Elsa program?

Um, the the only thing that I can say about that, as I said from the beginning, is that with international students, if you're here on an F1 visa, your F1 visa limits you to 20 hours per week.

And because ill sip is a full time program, actually full time plus you would not be eligible for ill sip as an international student here on an F1 visa.

If after you've completed your degree, you want to participate in isip.

As an international student, you could do it as a training opportunity, but you would need your F1 visa and an OPT certificate in order to do that. So we do accept international students in the program. We have had international students in the program, but you have to have an F1 visa with an OPT certificate and the purpose is for training. It's not as a student, so you're not pursuing a degree at that point.

OK.

Any other questions for me?

I know we got a little bit off track.

With GPS Iringa, but I'm happy to answer those questions as well.

Alright. Well, thank you for joining us today and reach out if you do have any questions, you can reach out to my personal e-mail or we also have Alsip at uis.edu. So either of those emails will work perfectly.

Thank you.

I'm happy to stay on if anyone has any further questions.

Have a great day.