Berkeley

Legislator-in-Residence Program Launched

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UC Berkeley has started an ongoing legislator-in-residence program through the Institute of Governmental Studies that taps the expertise of politicians who recently left office because of term limits.

Patrick Johnston, who spent two decades as an assemblyman and senator from Stockton, is on campus this semester to teach a course designed to ground students in the knowledge and skills involved in high-level policy making, and to explore the ways politics and policy intersect. The course also covers the implications of lawmaking in the new term-limit environment. Through teaching, writing, moderating conferences and consulting with students and faculty from various disciplines, Johnston also hopes to strengthen connections between Berkeley and the state government. That includes bringing politicians to the campus to observe first-hand Berkeley's teaching and research, as well as taking faculty and students to Sacramento to advise legislators on specific issues.

For more information, contact Gerry Lubenow, director of the UC Berkeley/ Sacramento program at (510) 642-5158; jlubenow@uclink.berkeley.edu.