FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2002

350 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, 36 FEDERAL AGENCIES LAUNCH NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE FEDERAL SERVICE:POST-9/11 CAMPAIGN MARKS LARGEST EVER OUTREACH TO STUDENTS

Washington, D.C. – The Partnership for Public Service today issued a call to public service that will be heard on college and university campuses around the country.

“A Call to Serve: Leaders in Education Allied for Public Service,” a joint project of the Partnership and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is a campaign of 350 founding-member schools whose leaders have promised to educate their students about federal employment opportunities. In addition, 36 federal agencies and a number of higher education associations have signed on as founding partners in the initiative.

“In today's post-9/11 world, there is a new activism on college campuses around the country,” said Partnership President Max Stier. “This is a generation that feels truly connected to their nation, and many of these students are looking for opportunities to make a difference. Through A Call to Serve, we will show them that the government offers ways to do just that.”

The “Call to Serve” campaign was launched on the campus of The George Washington University by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Partnership President Max Stier, and college presidents Stephen Joel Trachtenberg of GWU and Judith Rodin of the University of Pennsylvania.

“One of the largest barriers blocking bright people from entering the federal workforce is a simple one — a lack of information,” said OPM Director James. “With the support of over 300 institutions of higher education, the Call to Serve initiative is a crucial step in the right direction, arming college students with the knowledge and resources they need to fully consider the opportunities available in federal service.” In her speech, Chao challenged young people to “consider a career in federal service - not simply as a way to help society, but an invitation to become a ‘stakeholder' in this great joint venture called ‘America.'” “For all that is wrong with our system of government, and there is much that needs repair, it remains a place where one can truly and uniquely make a difference, where one can help improve our country and even, occasionally, the world,” Lieberman said. The launch event also saw the unveiling of the Partnership's new website, www.calltoserve.org, which offers job seekers and students practical advice and information about finding and applying for government jobs and internships. OPM Director James and Partnership President Stier also announced a new customer-service initiative – a Pledge to Applicants – that aims to improve the user-friendliness of application and hiring procedures government-wide.

Participating schools in the “Call to Serve” campaign will undertake a series of educational and outreach programs supported by the Partnership and OPM to inform students about ways they can make a difference through internships and jobs with federal agencies across the country.

The need for the Call to Serve campaign is urgent. In the next five years, more than half of all federal workers could be eligible to retire, including over 70 percent of senior managers. At the other end of the employment pipeline the picture is equally troubling. Studies show few college-educated Americans are interested in working for the federal government at any point in their career. If nothing is done to reverse this trend, service to the American people will suffer.

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© 2007 Partnership for Public Service