Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Privacy protected and confidential information is restricted from public access for 75 years per code of Virginia 42.1-78 . It may be necessary for an archivist to review records in this collection before they are served to patrons for research purposes in order to redact or remove privacy protected or confidential information.

Use Restrictions

There are no use restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia.Secretary of the Commonwealth, Administrative and Executive Office, Records of the Governor's Fellow Program, 2010-2011, Accession 51154, State Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA. 23219.

Acquisition Information

Office of the Governor, Patrick Henry Building, 1111 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23219, accession 51154 transferred on 23 January 2014.

Processing Information

Original chronological arrangement maintained by archivist.

Biographical/Historical Information

The Governor's Fellows program aimed to provide high quality applied learning opportunities to students from the Commonwealth currently enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. Governor Charles S. Robb appointed A. E. Dick Howard as counselor to the Governor in 1982. One of his actions was to create the Governor's Fellows Program, a program that invited college and graduate students to apply to serve for a summer in the Governor's Office. Through professional mentorships, community service, and challenging projects, the mission was to strengthen ties of the office to Virginia communities. Some of the program's goals under Governor F. McDonnell included: Connecting with public and private institutions in a meaningful way throughout the recruitment process, creation of a formal alumni program, and increasing the number of applicants. To this end, the key changes to the program made by the Governor were: expansion of eligibility requirements; assigned mentor in an interest area, not in an assigned secretariat; weekly fellow meetings to gauge overall experience; a parallel internship program for rising sophomore and junior students not considered for the fellowship.

Robert F. McDonnell was elected 71st governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in November 2009 and inaugurated on 16 January 2010. He served until 11 January 2014. Janet Vestal Kelly (f.k.a Janet Polarek until 2012) served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth throughout McDonnell's tenure. She had previously served as the Chief Operations Officer during his gubernatorial campaign and as a staff member during his stint as Attorney General.

The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has evolved from early colonial times when there existed a Secretary of the Colony. The Office became a gubernatorial appointment subsequent to a 1958 Act of the Assembly. The Secretary of the Commonwealth is under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor for a term of four years. Currently the Secretary of the Commonwealth is responsible for gubernatorial appointments, clemency and restoration of civil rights requests and extraditions. Other responsibilities include authenticating and certifying the records of the courts and of any state agency.

Scope and Content

The Governor's Fellows Program Records are housed in 1 box. The collection is comprised of correspondence, documentation of the recruitment and interview process, applicant lists, orientation documents, and project papers/presentations. The two project presentations included are from 2011: Virginia's Drug Treatment Courts: Expanding a Proven Solution throughout the Commonwealth , and Making Southside Virginia the Freshwater Fishing Tourism Capital of the East Coast .

Arrangement

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Related Material

The Governor Robert F. McDonnell Administration Web Archive Collection, 2010-2014 contains archived versions of websites for the Governor's Office, his initiative sites, and the sites of his cabinet secretaries, including Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly . Also included are the related sites for the First Lady (Maureen McDonnell), as well as the Lt. Governor (Bill Bolling), and Attorney General (Ken Cuccinelli).

The Constituent Correspondence of Governor Robert F. McDonnell Collection

The Correspondence and Supporting Documentation of the Executive Office of Governor Robert F. McDonnell Collection

The Legislative Working Files and Tracking Documentation, Secretary of the Commonwealth Collection

The Records of the Executive Mansion of Governor Robert F. McDonnell Collection

The Records of Governor Robert F. McDonnell's Secretary of Transpiration Collection

The Records of Governor Robert F. McDonnell's Secretary of Administration Collection

The Records of Governor Robert F. McDonnell's Secretary of Administration Collection