COURSEWORK
UCCS students take a full term's worth of courses in addition to their internships. A description of all UCCS courses is below. Click below to skip straight to:
(A) Political Science 192A: Political Science Internship (6 units - Pass/No Pass) This course combines research with professional experience. Work as an intern for about 20 hours per week by supporting the policy making process in a legislator's office, an executive branch agency, or another setting in the Sacramento policy community. Student must complete a public policy research paper as part of this course. Click for the Syllabus
Visit our internships page for ideas.
(B) Political Science 193: Internship & Research (2 units - Letter Grade) Internship and three analytic papers related to the internship and/or current events in addition to an oral presentation. Click for the Syllabus
(C) Political Science 195: The California Policy Seminar (4 units - Letter Grade) This course teaches students about the state's political processes, institutions, and policy challenges. The seminar is taught by members of the UC Davis faculty and features guest lectures given by a variety participants in and observers of California politics and government. Click for the Syllabus
(D) Political Science 196E: Research Design & Methods (4 units - Letter Grade) Original undergraduate research work culminating in a poster presentation. Learn to utilize programs like Qualtrics, GIS, Stata, and Excel to collect and analyze data. Click for the Syllabus
(E) Additional Courses. Students are permitted to enroll in additional courses offered at UC Davis, so long as they meet course requirements. This option is not encouraged, as students are typically very busy between their internships and courses at the center alone. Click to see additional courses
Through our semester program, students take the same core courses required of the quarter students (see above). In order for semester students to achieve a semester's worth of units, we offer the following add-on courses:
(A) Political Science 196A (4 units - Letter Grade) This is a course on American political science with an emphasis on California politics. Students work with an instructor on multiple political science research papers and presentations. Click for the Syllabus
(B) Political Science 198 (2 units - Pass/No Pass) Independent study which is related to the student's internship office.
(C) Additional Courses. Students are permitted to enroll in additional courses offered at UC Davis, so long as they meet course requirements. This option is not encouraged, as students are typically very busy between their internships and courses at the center alone. Click to see additional courses
Semester students typically earn 21 quarter units, which translates to 14 semester units. The Fall semester program begins in late August so students can get a jump start on their research proposals and internship hours. Once the quarter officially begins, the semester students attend class with the quarter students. The Spring semester program starts at the same time as the quarter program and continues into mid-May.
The semester program is offered in the fall and spring semesters only. The summer program serves both semester and quarter students.
(A) Public Policy - Healthcare
Political Science 108: Public Policy - Healthcare (4 units) This course is currently The Policy & Politics of Healthcare. Students analyze the impact and implementation of Health Policy in California. The course examines the way health policy can influence health, the tools available to health policy analysts, and the ways in which health services researchers have examined health care access, quality and costs. This course is only available during Fall Quarters/Semesters and is taken instead of Political Science 195. This course must be taken for a letter grade. Click for the Syllabus
(B) Public Policy - Environment
Political Science 108: Public Policy - Environment (4 units) The Environmental Policy course has three main objectives 1) to introduce the basics of environmental policy tools, approaches and issues, 2) to creatively and critically examine case studies of environmental policy, and 3) to develop skills in investigating, writing, and speaking about environmental policy issues. The course will utilize an active learning approach and will center on case studies to examine cross-cutting themes. This course is only available during Winter Quarters and is taken instead of Political Science 195. This course must be taken for a letter grade. Click for the Syllabus
(C) Public Policy - Education
Political Science 108: Public Policy - Education (4 units) Students will examine the landscape of education policy and governance and develop an understanding of major education policy issues in California, including education finance policy and school funding, school accountability and improvement, teacher preparation and tenure, access to higher education, and more. This course is only available during Spring Quarters and is taken instead of Political Science 195. This course must be taken for a letter grade. Click for the Syllabus