The Senior Fellows Program is the premier public engagement program of the School of Public Affairs. Its purpose is to connect the world of political and policy action to education for the public interest. Each year 8 to 10 distinguished leaders from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors are invited to be Senior Fellows of the 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 program includes professional career site-visit program in which School of Public Affairs graduate students visit the workplace of our Senior Fellows. This offers current students a unique opportunity to shadow Senior Fellows in careers or areas of specialization of interest to them. This opportunity will expose students to leaders and senior level managers from whom they can gain invaluable career guidance and also supplement, in a very practical way, their academic course study. In addition, this program may naturally produce mentoring relationships between our students and our Senior Fellows, which we encourage and support.

Fellows host two to three students at their place of business. Site-visits are organized for approximately one half-day and may include a wide range of activities to be agreed upon in advance by the Fellow and the students. Activities may include: informational interviews with the Fellow, interviews with key staff, a tour of the facilities, attending staff and/or board meetings, and attending an off-site event, such as a conference. The program is designed for maximum flexibility.

The student 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 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 seven years, 150 senior fellows have mentored 500 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 the mentor program by writing an essay and assignments are made based on compatible subject matter interests and commitment to the mentorship program. The formal program begins with an October breakfast where the Senior Fellows, their students, and their faculty partners meet. Many students visit Fellows at their work site or attend relevant conferences and seminars during the academic year. 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 students and faculty partners at the small lunches that precede each policy briefing. The briefings are open to SPA students, the UCLA campus community and invited guests. More than 1,500 people attend our Senior Fellow talks each year.