In 1987, the Governor’s Summer Internship Program was created through a partnership between UMBC and then-Governor Donald Schaefer to introduce students to the challenges and rewards of working within Maryland state government. This program provided the best and the brightest of Maryland’s college students with the opportunity to work full-time in state agencies while being mentored by senior level administrators, such as department secretaries and directors.
Following their successful experience with their Governor’s Summer Interns, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) formed and funded their own program in 2001. The MDOT Fellows Program exposes Maryland’s college students to careers in the state sector within Maryland’s integrative transportation system. Students of all majors are placed in full-time assignments in one of MDOT’s modals, supervised by senior-level administrators.
In 2007, the State of Maryland passed legislation to formalize the Walter Sondheim, Jr. Public Service Summer Internship Scholarship Program. This funded the existing Governor’s Summer Internship Program (GSIP), and created the new Sondheim Nonprofit Leadership Program (SNLP) and the new Sondheim Public Service Law Fellowship (LAW). Launched officially in 2009, SNLP introduces students to the nonprofit sector through full-time internships, seminars on nonprofit leadership, and networking opportunities. Since its first cohort in 2014, LAW has offered stipends to law students in Maryland pursuing full-time internships in public interest law, either through nonprofit legal organizations or within state or county agencies. Although all programs serve the full state, the legislation names the Shriver Center at UMBC as the host.
In 2014, the Shriver Center brought all four of its existing Fellowships under one umbrella, called the Maryland Public Service Scholars Programs. Whereas seminars and activities for each program used to be separate, MPSS created a new format where Fellows from each program would come together for collaborative learning and reflection.
All four programs offer students real world experience working in various areas of public service and provide state-funded stipends (allocated in the 2007 bill, ongoing) to recognize contributions that are otherwise often unpaid.