Where Are They Now? Tim Garabedian, Session Assistant 2015

When did you participate in the Undergraduate Session Assistants Program or Senate Fellowship?

Spring 2015

Which Senate office were you placed in during your internship?

Senator John DeFrancisco’s office

Briefly describe your responsibilities/day-to-day activities in your internship office placement.

As a session assistant, I researched diverse topics of interest to the Senator and staff, assembled relevant articles and memos for the Senator, assisted with the operation of the Senate budget hearings by signing up guest speakers and operating the timer (to keep speakers within a limit), fielded telephone calls, interacted with constituents, members, and senate staff daily, attended legislative events, drafted memos, updated tracking spreadsheets, and drafted constituent letters.

Where are you working now? Briefly describe your responsibilities/day-to-day activities in your current place of employment.

I work in the State Comptroller’s Office as a State Program Examiner. The division I am a part of is responsible for the audit of State programs. We review various programs (literally any State program) against certain criteria like laws, regulations, and internal policies. Currently I’m working in OSC’s medical claims unit on a team that reviews Medicaid data for fraud, waste, and abuse.

My day-to-day activities involve reviewing New York State and Federal laws, regulations, and State agency internal controls; reviewing medical claim data for overpayments, errors, or intentional fraud; interviewing State agency staff and documenting any information relevant to the audit; contacting healthcare providers to request information; thinking critically about state agencies and the programs they run, and developing ideas for future audits and finding novel ways to identify fraud, waste, and abuse and improve the State government.

I am also currently a graduate student at University of Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy in the MPA program. I will be graduating this December.

What did you learn from participating in the New York State Senate internship programs that you have been able to carry over to your new position?

An important part of the Senate internship for me was thinking about the big picture of New York State programs and laws. In the program, we drilled down into the details of the law to develop our own legislation and address a need. In my new position, we frequently cite law and regulation, and it has been beneficial to know how to navigate the laws of the State. Knowing how and where the laws are made provides a useful context for someone looking to get into State government as a career. Beyond that, I think the Senate assistantship was valuable because it gave me experience interacting with varying levels of staff across different agencies, non-profits, and with constituents.