Events: Orientation
New AAAS Fellows are required to attend
an two-week orientation program at the start of the
fellowship year. The goal of orientation is to provide
Fellows with essential facts about the legislative and
executive branches, to help define Fellows' roles and
to offer information and contacts that will be useful
in their assignments. Bellow is the summary of our September 2007 Orientation Program:
PRE-ORIENTATION SESSION
- State Department Fellows Administrative Session
- AAAS Stipend Fellows Administrative Session
- Briefing about the AAAS Fellows' Health Plan
- Congressional Fellowships 101
Day 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE FELLOWSHIPS & WASHINGTON, DC
- Overview of Orientation and the Fellowship Year
- The American Experiment in Government
- Expectations for Your Fellowship Year/Contrasting Cultures of Science & Public Policy Making
- Speed Bonding Introduction Exercise
Day 2: MONEY MAKES THE GOVERNMENT GO ROUND!
- Introduction to the Federal Budget
- An Interactive Workshop: Writing an Appropriations Bill
- Luncheon Keynote: Presidential Leadership
- The Federal Bureaucracy: Agency Structures, Functions and Cultures
Day 3: THE PRESIDENCY, LEADERSHIP & ETHICS IN POLICYMAKING
- The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
- History, The Presidency, and U.S. Public Policy
- Keys to the Presidency
- Concurrent Sessions: Ethics Policies in the Executive and Legislative Branches
Day 4: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OPERATIONS & FOREIGN POLICY
- The Lawmaking Process/The Path of Legislation
- Introduction to the U.S. Congress/A History: The Evolution of Power in Congress
- Lunch with a Member of Congress
- U.S. Foreign Policy
Day 5: SCIENCE, DIPLOMACY, & ECONOMIC POLICY
- National Economic Policy
- Science and Diplomacy
- Luncheon Keynote, International Economic Policy
- Federal Agencies and Foreign Policy (Panel)
Day 6: POLICY DEVELOPMENT, SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS & HOT TOPICS
- Developing, Pitching and Implementing Policy 101
- Policy Development and Promotion Workshop: From Concept to Implementation
- Lobbying in Washington
- Teich’s Top Ten in Science & Engineering
Day 7: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH/EXECUTIVE BRANCH "IN-DEPTH"
- Concurrent Sessions:
- All Congressional Fellows:
- Congressional Research Service Institute for Congressional Science Fellows
- All Executive Branch Fellows: Interagency Cooperation
- Interagency Cooperation (Panel)
- Functioning Effectively in the Executive Branch
- The Federal Workforce
Day 8:
- Congressional Insight: A Computer Simulation of Political Challenges
- Congressional Insight: Discussion
- Public Service: Challenges and Rewards
- Wrap-Up and What's Next
Day 9:
- Congressional and Agency-Specific Orientation

|