The Center for California Studies: Lessons from the Borderland

Abstract

The Center for California Studies is a unit of California State University, Sacramento, that focuses on governance issues and is dependent on state funds received for administering four fellowship programs. The Center exists in a borderland between academic and state government; public policy think tanks and interdisciplinary studies; and graduate education and career training. This article outlines its origins, mission and structure, context and constituencies, and lessons learned (and still to be learned).