The Senior Fellows Program is the premier public engagement program of the School of Public Policy and Social Research. Its purpose is to connect the world of political and policy action to education for the public interest. Each year 10 to 12 distinguished leaders from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors are invited to be Senior Fellows of the UCLA Policy School. These accomplished leaders volunteer their time and expertise for the Policy School and its students.

The Senior Fellows represent a wide variety of policy interests – health, youth, trade, security, education, transportation, and poverty, for example; all political viewpoints; and many social backgrounds. The requirements of the Senior Fellowship include delivering a policy briefing on a leadership, management or policy issue in one’s area of expertise, and mentoring one or more students.

The mentorship component of the Senior Fellows Program was created by the first class of Senior Fellows. The idea was conceived during an all-Fellows dinner when several of the Fellows asked Dean Nelson for more opportunities to work closely with the students. In the third year a “faculty partner” component was added to the program. Each Senior Fellow is partnered with one or more faculty members who have the same subject interests and who can be a resource to the Senior Fellow and connect him or her more deeply to the School and its programs. Similarly, the Fellow offers resources and contacts to the faculty partners involved.

During the past five years, 93 senior fellows have mentored 273 students. About 20 faculty members a year act as faculty partners. Each new Senior Fellows class is announced in the fall. Graduate students compete for placement as mentees by writing an essay, and mentorship assignments are made based on compatible subject matter interests and commitment to the mentorship process. The formal program begins with an October breakfast where the Senior Fellows, their mentees, and their faculty partners meet. Fellows and students connect through personal meetings, emails, phone calls, consultations about next steps in students’ careers, questions about combining work and family, and often visits to the work place of the Senior Fellow. One of the high points of each Senior Fellow’s year is his or her policy briefing, done individually or in panels of experts on topics of mutual interest. Senior Fellows meet again formally with their mentees and faculty partners at the small lunches that precede each policy briefing. The briefings are open not only to our students and faculty, but also to the whole university and the wider community. More than 1,300 people attend our Senior Fellow talks each year.