April 24, 2008

A summary of daily news relevant to the federal workforce produced by the Partnership for Public Service.

1. Federal Diary:  The Federal Worker Next Door
2. Tufts Offers Loan Relief to Public-Service-Minded Students and Alumni
3. Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference
   

The Federal Worker Next Door

The Washington Post
Stephen Barr

Want to get to know your federal employee neighbors better?

In the nation's capital, here are a few things to keep in mind about government employees:

1 . Uncle Sam is the largest employer here, and about 10 percent of the federal civilian workforce is in the Washington area.

In the District, Maryland and Virginia, there are 336,000 civil service employees, more than 167,400 active-duty service members, 38,316 postal workers and thousands more in the intelligence community, the National Guard and reserves, the federal court system and working on Capitol Hill.

Many government workers stay in the area in retirement. There are more than 272,000 civil service retirees and countless military retirees. About 76,000 people in the region receive civil service retirement benefits as a surviving spouse or family member.

2 . As a workforce, they are more old than young. The average age is nearly 47.

Federal employees also are a diverse group: nearly 18 percent are African American, 7.8 percent are Hispanic, 5.3 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander and 2 percent are Native American. Women make up about 44 percent of the federal workforce.

3 . Contrary to popular perception, most government workers are not paper-pushing bureaucrats in boring jobs.

More than 50 percent of federal employees work in professional, management, business and financial occupations, compared with 29 percent in the private sector, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. The government likes to hire lawyers, doctors, engineers, scientists, air-traffic controllers, computer specialists and criminal investigators.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, the Securities and Exchange Commission, NASA and the National Science Foundation are among the "best places to work," according to an index compiled by the Partnership for Public Service and American University.

4 . Don't be surprised to discover that your federal neighbor is home every other Friday or telecommutes at least one day a week. A number of federal agencies offer alternative work schedules and telework days under the general umbrella of providing family-friendly policies.

5 . Uncle Sam pays better than he once did. In the Washington area, the estimated median federal salary is $90,698.

The rest of the compensation package isn't bad, either. Employees can save for retirement in a low-cost, 401(k)-type program, the Thrift Savings Plan. They also are guaranteed a pension. They have good health insurance and can carry their health benefits into retirement, a perk that is increasingly rare in the private sector.

6 . The pay and benefits help fuel the Washington region's economy. The estimated federal employee payroll in the region is $30.1 billion a year. That does not include salaries for the military, intelligence community and U.S. Postal Service.

Because the government is the area's largest employer, many local companies and nonprofit organizations take into account what the government is paying and how it manages employees.

7 . A number of these companies work as contractors, providing services and supplies to Uncle Sam. Some, such as Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, are large defense contractors; others are small and obtain federal contracts because of preferences for veterans, women and minorities. There is no tally of how many employees in the region earn a living through government contracts and grants, but there is little doubt that federal procurement spending helps soften downturns in the rest of the local economy.

8 . Mobility is common. People in the military, intelligence community, Foreign Service, Internal Revenue Service and other agencies move regularly, sometimes as often as every three years. Relocation is frequently a requirement for getting ahead in government.

There also are more people interested in government work, experts say. People who want to work in government can find thousands of job openings at http://www.usajobs.gov, operated by the Office of Personnel Management. Companies that do business with the government, particularly the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, scout for people in government who have a top-secret or other security clearance and see a future in the private sector.

9 . Yes, it's hard to trust the government, but don't automatically conclude that the blame for waste, fraud and mismanagement should be aimed at the federal workforce. Career employees take their marching orders from political appointees, who often stay two to three years, on average. Then there is the board of directors: Congress. It places multiple and sometimes conflicting requirements on agencies. So have a little sympathy. No one would run a business like this.

10 . Your turn. After a few years living here, you'll develop your own perspective to complete this profile.

Tufts Offers Loan Relief to Public-Service-Minded Students and Alumni

The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Elizabeth F. Farrell

Tufts University plans to help pay off the loans of its students who go into public service after they graduate, as well as of its alumni in public-service jobs, the university announced on Tuesday. Both undergraduate and graduate students across all schools and disciplines will be eligible for the plan if they work for a nonprofit or public-sector employer, with the amount of loan reimbursement dependent on their loan burdens and income levels.

The program, which Tufts officials said is the first of its kind in the country to promise such relief to all undergraduates and graduate students, is modeled after the loan-repayment programs offered by many law and other professional schools, including a pre-existing program at Tufts's Fletcher School.

"The best measure of our success is what our students do with their lives," said Robert M. Hollister, dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, and one of the creators of the program. "We've been working hard across the university to prepare students in all disciplines to become effective community leaders for change."

The initial $500,000 for the program will come from the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund, a $100 million gift given to the university by Tufts graduates Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and his wife, Pamela.

Faculty committees for each school, in collaboration with their financial-aid offices, will review applications for the loan-repayment-assistance program to determine eligibility and the amounts of repayment granted. Applicants will be required to resubmit their financial information annually to maintain eligibility.

The university expects to grant the first loan repayments in December, and applications for eligibility are due September 1.

The program is significant in its commitment to alumni, along with current students. Tufts alumni of any graduating class are eligible to apply for the loan help, although university officials said they expected the program will most strongly benefit recent graduates, who tend to have the largest loan debt and smallest salaries.

According to Mr. Hollister, the inclusion of alumni in the program is a way for Tufts to show its appreciation for the efforts undertaken by that group to promote involvement in public service among current students.

"We've benefited from very strong participation and support from alums who have come back to talk to classes, sponsored internships, and mentored students," said Mr. Hollister. "As so many of them are taking steps to support the work of their alma mater, we wanted to reciprocate by supporting the work they do."

The effort is part of a larger continuing initiative at Tufts to promote involvement in public service among its students and faculty members. In the past couple of years, Tufts has introduced a faculty fellows program that gives professors money to develop curriculum that promotes active citizenship across a range of disciplines. The university has also offered additional financing for research in civic engagement, and has created partnerships with student service organizations.

Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference

Los Angeles Times
By Judy Pasternak

More than half of the scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who responded to a survey said they had experienced political interference in their work.

The survey results show "an agency under siege from political pressures," said the Union of Concerned Scientists report, which was released Wednesday and sent to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

The online questionnaire was sent to 5,419 EPA scientists last summer; 1,586 replied, and of those, 889 reported that they had experienced at least one type of interference within the last five years.

Such allegations are not new: During much of the Bush administration, there have been reports of the White House watering down documents on climate change, industry language inserted into EPA power-plant regulations and scientific advisory panels' conclusions about toxic chemicals going unheeded.

But Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based nonprofit group, said the survey documented the widespread nature of the problem at the EPA. "What we've been up against until now is anecdotal evidence," Grifo said.

She acknowledged that scientists who were frustrated or upset might have been more likely than those who were satisfied to respond to her organization's survey, but added: "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many."

EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar noted that administrator Johnson had had a 27-year career as a scientist himself.

"We have the best and finest scientific community in the world at EPA," Shradar said. "All of the issues we deal with are issues that we all are very passionate about. It's important that we let the scientists do the science and allow policymakers to do the policy work."

The survey respondents were split over the impact of political interference on regulations. According to the report, 48% believed that the EPA's actions were "frequently or always" consistent with scientific findings, and 47% believed that agency policy "occasionally, seldom or never" made use of scientific judgments.

In optional essays, scientists repeatedly singled out the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, accusing officials there of inserting themselves into decision-making at early stages in a way that shaped the outcome of their inquiries. They also alleged that the OMB delayed rules not to its liking. EPA actions "are held hostage" until changes are made, a scientist from the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation wrote.

Some also accused members of Congress of inappropriate intervention.

All of the respondents remained anonymous.

J. William Hirzy, an EPA senior scientist and union official, said that politics trumped science at times during the Clinton administration as well but that "what we're seeing now is . . . the favoring of energy interests, coal-fired power plants. That's something different in this administration."

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) wrote to Johnson on Wednesday asking him to be prepared to respond to the findings at a hearing next month of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.