Written by Mark Payne, LINK nky politics and government reporter
Northern Kentucky University student Jamie Collins starts every Tuesday and Thursday morning the same way. She’s up at about 5:30 a.m.; she gets herself ready, drops her kids off at school, and hits the road to Frankfort. It takes just a little over an hour’s drive from Lebanon, Kentucky.Â
Collins interns in the Future Leaders Internship Program, also known as FLIP. She is the first Library Informatics Major to participate in the program, and she’s also a non-traditional student.
“I spend a lot of time doing research because as a Library Informatics major, that’s more in line with what my end goals are,” said Collins, who works in Rep. Buddy Wheatley’s (D-Covington) office. “I may be researching bills for him, doing other research as far things that happen in committee meetings.”
When it’s time for the House session, Collins attends the chambers for that day. When she’s digging into the capital library, it’s usually for topics that Wheatley is researching for the bill.
“He’s very passionate about essential worker benefits and pay, so that’s been a lot of the research I’ve done,” Collins said. “A lot of the other bills he has on the books are related to elections, so making it more accessible for people in Kentucky.”
Wheatley has co-sponsored bills this session, such as HB56, focusing on benefits for first responders who died due to COVID-19. He is also the sole sponsor on HB113, which would allow registered independent voters to vote in one party’s primary.
In a former life, Collins lived west in Oregon and Washington. Being involved in public policy is something she’s always been interested in, so it was a no-brainer to get involved in the Bluegrass, she said.
“Back in 2008, I was a delegate for the Democratic Party (in the state of Washington),” Collins said. “So, I’ve always had a passion for activism and being involved in the process of government.”
She saw an advertisement for the FLIP intern program and started to do a bit more digging, even though she isn’t a political science major. She said it’s been interesting to learn how the legislative process unfolds.
“I thought that as a non-traditional student who basically checks all the kitchen table issues off of a checklist, as far as parent, taxpayer, a business owner, a student, all of these things, I thought it was going to be a really good opportunity,” Collins said.
Once Collins is out of the program, she would love to work in the library in the Capitol but is open to other opportunities. The Capitol or a college library environment is the most interesting.
“Ultimately, I would see myself working in either a college or a special library,” she said, elaborating that’s she made solid connections with the Capitol library staff. “I could definitely see myself in that environment where I have the opportunity to be of service.”
While Collins ultimately wants to work in a research library, when it came to researching colleges in Kentucky, she found the Library Informatics program at NKU to be the best fit.
“When I started to look at my options, I did some research on my choices … the thing I liked most about NKU is that instead of it being what they would call a traditional library science degree, it’s library informatics, so it is a little bit more 21st Century,” Collins said. “Librarians are not just a static thing. You have to have one foot in the past and one foot in the present.”
The FLIP Intern program receives a grant from the Murray & Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation to help interns receive pay that isn’t just a stipend. This also helps offset the cost of the class.
“The work they’re doing down in Frankfort, they’re receiving credit for the work, so they’re getting class credit,” said NKU Political Professor Ryan Salzman, who coordinates the legislative internship program. “But, the class credit costs and some of the associated travel costs and are covered, and then also some additional money for the students.”
The program has been around in some ways for over 10 years. It was in an academic program, and then it was with former NKU Vice President of Community & Government Relations Joe Wind, who deserves a lot of credit for getting back up and running, Salzman said. When he retired, the program moved back into the Political science, Criminal Justice, and Organizational Leadership.
Want to learn more about the program? Click here.
Photo courtesy of inside.nku.eduÂ