Center for California Studies

$4,661,000

The Center for California Studies (CCS) is a unit of the CSU whose mission is to bridge academia and government in the service of strengthening California’s democracy. Central to this mission is the administration of a number of fellowship, internship and other programs, which include:

• The Assembly, Executive, Judicial and Senate fellowship programs annually provide experiential education on the policy-making process to 64 college graduates from across the state. At the same time, the fellows provide valuable professional service to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government. Fellows also take graduate classes on California government issues, leading to a graduate certificate in Applied Policy and Government from Sacramento State.
• The LegiSchool Project provides high school students a hands-on opportunity to connect with the state Legislature and to participate in debates on issues that directly affect them. The LegiSchool Project also holds a number of contests that encourage high school students to think about how they connect with the California and Californians.
• The Sacramento Semester Program provides undergraduate students from throughout the state with internship opportunities in a variety of state government and legislative positions in Sacramento. Participants earn six units of internship credit plus six units in an accompanying seminar course in state government and politics, which integrates the internship experience with academic work.
• The Faculty Research Fellows Program provides for directed faculty and staff research on topics requested by the Legislature and/or executive branch agencies. Faculty from throughout the CSU system are eligible to receive research grants under this program, and projects result in papers, conference presentations, symposia and similar public service activities.
• The Education Policy Fellows Program (EPFP) is administered jointly by the Center for California Studies and the Education Insights center at Sacramento State. The EPFP is a professional development program for mid-career professionals involved with education policy in California.​
  

Budget Background. The Center’s budget covers a range of costs, including: staff salaries and benefits; stipends, benefits and graduate tuition for 64 Capital Fellows; d​​irect grants for the Faculty Research Fellows program; conference and symposium expenses; and miscellaneous other costs.

In January 2020, due to a change in the federal government’s definition of who is eligible for overtime (CSU Code: HR 2019-07; Reference: HR/Salary 2019-21), the Center had to increase the monthly stipends for all 64 Capital Fellows, resulting in an increase cost of approximately $156,000. The Center for California Studies submitted a Budget Change Proposal in April 2020 to fund this increased cost, however, the proposal was denied by the Department of Finance. Although the Center has not received additional funding for this, we have been able to pay for this increase from miscellaneous prior- and current-year savings.

Following is a summary of the Center's current year budget:

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¹ Allocation of increased benefit costs for Center Staff

For the budget year, adjustments for the Center (to be determined) will be shown in Item 6610-002-001 of the State Budget Act of 2022-2023.