Please know that your contributions of time, expertise, and funding help our students throughout the year, as indicated below in various ways.
Share your expertise
There are multiple pathways toward helping our undergraduate & graduate students learn about public affairs and about related career paths.
Guest speaking
- Sharing your expertise with our students inside the classroom & in public lectures enriches our programs.
- To offer to serve as a guest speaker, please contact us at posc@jmu.edu.
Career talks & informational interviewing
- Talks about career fields are a core element of our career development programming.
- Even when you cannot come to Harrisonburg, you can help a student by offering to conduct an informational intervew about your career experiences.
- Each semester, the department's Alumni Board hosts a career development event with panel discussions, workshops, & receptions for our students.
- To offer to talk with students about your career, please contact us at posc@jmu.edu.
Employer recruiting
- JMU's office of Career & Academic Planning offers job & internship fairs each year.
- If your organization would like to participate, contact Career & Academic Planning.
- Beyond the periodic university-wide fairs at JMU, our department hosts recruitment events for specific organizations throughout the year.
- If your organization would like to hold a recruiting session for our students, please contact us at posc@jmu.edu.
Provide a financial contribution
Our students benefit each year from the generous financial contributions targeted toward our programs. The following list summarizes some of the specific giving opportunities available:
Political Science Department Fund
- This annual fund campaign supports all of the department's programs by helping to pay for various enrichment activities -- guest speakers, student participation in off-campus simulation teams & conferences, and other activities. Click to read more about the impact of these donations on our students.
Political Science Equity Fund
- Support the Political Science Equity Fund to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and access
Washington Semester Fund
- This annual fund finances the need-based scholarship that is offered each semester to cover the difference between the cost of participating in the Washington Semester & a normal semester on campus.
- Click to read more about this scholarship program and profiles of scholarship recipients.
Political Science Transfer Student Scholarship
- This annual fund finances a renewable need-based scholarship that is offered each year to a transfer student majoring in our department.
- We are seeking financial support to launch this scholarship, beginning in 2021. Watch this space in the future during 2021 to read more about this scholarship program and to see profiles of scholarship recipients.
Give to Transfer Student Scholarships
EU Policy Studies Fund
- This annual fund finances guest speakers & simulations in our year-long M.A. program offered in Florence, Italy on European Union Policy Studies.
Paul Cline Scholarship Fund
- This endowment campaign honors Paul Cline, JMU's first political science professor. The endowment funds a scholarship that supports experiential learning by our undergraduate majors (internships, study abroad, etc.).
Give to the Paul Cline Scholarship
Endowment Honoring Retired Professors
- This endowment honors all of the professors who followed in Paul Cline's footsteps. The endowment supports departmental faculty teaching and research in a project-oriented manner.
- For more details on the retired professors honored by this campaign and for more information on the work funded by this endowment, click here.
Department of Political Science
