Tonight marks the official reopening of the UC Center Sacramento (UCCS), where the three new members of the UC Board of Regents will be honored.
Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will serve as ex-officio regents due to their elected office.
The event starts at 6 p.m. but it is not open to the public. Robert Huckfeldt, UC Davis professor of political science and director of UCCS, expects approximately 250 faculty members, administrators and friends of the UC system in attendance.
UCCS, located one block north of the capitol building, provides students with Sacramento internships while they simultaneously take public policy and public affairs journalism classes. Due to budget cuts, the program was suspended in December 2009. After shifting its administrative center from the UC Office of the President to UC Davis, the program was revived in September 2010.
All scholar-interns have 240 hours of internship work along with classes and workshops at the center. Currently, 13 UC students are enrolled in the program, but Huckfeldt hopes to increase enrollment.
“It’s a really rare opportunity to have an internship like this … people get a great experience,” he said.
UCCS is open to all UC undergraduates, regardless of major or area of interest, Huckfeldt said.
Janelle Bitker
