The Partnership for Public Service will launch a center to connect college students participating in federal internships and will recruit, hire and train a group of students to promote federal service on their campuses, the nonprofit group announced on Monday.
The initiatives will be funded by a $3 million grant, distributed over three years, from the Robertson Foundation. The foundation, established in 1996 by hedge-fund founder Julian Robertson, has supported the Partnership as a donor and funded the preparations for its State of the Public Service scorecard, scheduled to be published for the first time in 2008. Robertson funds scholarship and leadership training programs at Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill that focus on domestic and international work in government.
"This is a huge programmatic investment," said Tim McManus, vice president for education and outreach at the Partnership. "It allows us to do things we wouldn't be able to do otherwise."
The funds will help the Partnership hire 10 students to promote public service on their campuses during the 2008-2009 school year. The Partnership posted a job listing for federal service student ambassadors on Monday. The ambassadors would be paid $2,200 for two semesters and a small remuneration to defray the cost of hosting events.
The other programs funded by the Robertson Foundation grant are less fleshed out, McManus said. The Partnership is trying to determine whether the internship center should have a physical location, though McManus said it would provide programming to help create a network for students doing federal internships in and outside of Washington. Partnership staff will be involved with the program in an interim and long-term capacity.
The goal is to give federal interns a sense that they are part of a larger community, in the hopes of providing them an experience like that of interns who work on Capitol Hill or on political campaigns. McManus said many schools do not track where their students are working, and agencies do not always help their interns connect those at other agencies. The center's programming, McManus said, will be aimed at helping college students understand the full range of possibilities for federal employment.
The center also will help federal agencies improve their internship programs.
"If we look at internships as a pipeline, that only works if the student has a really good experience," McManus said. "We want to make sure we're working with federal agencies as well to make sure they have really strong internships."
The Partnership will use the Robertson Foundation funding to launch training for schools in its Call to Serve network. Topics will range from how to run successful campaigns to stimulate student interest in public service to how to negotiate the applications and security clearance process. Training will begin in the fall, with the goal of reaching students who plan to apply for internships in the summer of 2009.
McManus said, ultimately, he hoped the Robertson Foundation grant would help the Partnership tie together some of its many programs.
"Wouldn't it be great to work with those Call to Serve schools to really identify their best students to work with federal networks, and to match them with federal agencies that are part of our efforts to improve employee satisfaction?" McManus said. "This will help create some of the connective tissue between our programs."
TSP Wants Agencies to Automatically Enroll New Employees
By Stephen Barr
There's nothing like the power of inertia.
A substantial number of federal employees never get around to joining the Thrift Savings Plan, a 401(k)-type savings program for retirement. Now, the
TSP hopes to change the rules, so that new employees would be automatically enrolled by their agencies.
Employees who never sign up for the TSP "are less likely to be financially self-sufficient in retirement than their counterparts who do contribute,"
Gregory T. Long, executive director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, told a House subcommittee yesterday.
The board, which oversees the TSP, is proposing legislation that would permit the automatic enrollment of new employees, with 3 percent of their
basic pay deducted for investment in the savings program.
The enrollment, however, would not be binding if an employee objected. Employees would be able to opt out, with a 90-day grace period to withdraw
funds and avoid a tax penalty. They also would be permitted to change the amount they contribute to the plan, which offers investment choices in
stocks, bonds and Treasury securities.
Much as inertia has kept employees from signing up for the TSP, "automatic enrollment uses inertia to encourage retirement savings," Long said at the
hearing held by the House federal workforce subcommittee.
Richard N. Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees and vice chairman of the Employee Thrift Advisory Council, joined Long in
urging the subcommittee to approve automatic enrollment. Under the current arrangement, too many employees are missing out on money that agencies are
required to kick in, Brown said.
Currently, if civil service and postal employees sign up for the TSP, they qualify to receive matching contributions from their agencies (dollar for
dollar on the first 3 percent of basic pay and 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2 percent).
The law also provides for an agency automatic contribution of 1 percent of basic pay for workers covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System,
or FERS. These employees are entitled to an agency automatic contribution (1 percent of basic pay) regardless of whether they contribute to the
TSP.
At the end of March, about 278,000 FERS employees were not making payroll contributions to the TSP, apparently content with a 1 percent contribution
by their agency. In contrast, about 1.67 million FERS employees make contributions that also trigger an agency match.
In response to questions from Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Long said that some people could not afford to divert part of their salary into
long-term retirement savings.
Two years ago, a TSP survey of employees who did not make contributions found that 20 percent said they did not have enough money to invest for
retirement. Twenty percent also said they save for retirement in other ways. Only 4.8 percent said they were not sure how to sign up for the TSP, and
3.2 percent said they found the TSP too complex to understand.
Norton urged the TSP to survey employees again, saying she was concerned that 14 percent of FERS-covered employees were not making contributions. "I would like to know who they are, their GS [General Schedule pay and grade] ratings, and where they work," Norton said.
Long said the TSP was trying to reach out to those who do not contribute. This year, the plan will send letters to employees who get the 1 percent agency match required by law but who have not signed up for payroll deductions.
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), chairman of the federal workforce subcommittee, pointed out that cost considerations were a key factor in deciding which bills go to the House floor for votes this year. Automatic enrollment would probably lower revenue for the Treasury because contributions are made with pretax dollars, reducing taxable income.
Long said the proposal "could generate a potentially significant cost. I hope that a way can be found to overcome that obstacle so that more employees will make full use of the TSP in order to be better prepared for their retirement."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a subcommittee member, briefly changed the hearing's focus, telling Long that he found the TSP Web site "not the easiest thing to navigate."
Cummings said he had spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to use the Web site and then called for help. "I was so frustrated," he said.
Long said the TSP hired a consultant to conduct focus groups and recommend ways to improve the Web site. He said a report with recommendations should be available in about three months.
Cummings urged Long to move faster on the project, noting that many agencies promise action but don't follow through. Long said he would send Cummings a letter within a week setting a date for an overhaul of the TSP Web site.
Lurita Doan Forced Out At GSA
By John Bresnahan
Lurita Doan, head of the General Services Administration, was forced to offer her resignation tonight, according to an e-mail she sent out this
evening.
Doan was appointed in late May, 2006, becoming the first woman to serve as GSA Administrator. With 12,000 empioyees and a $20 billion annual budget,
GSA has responsibilty for overseeing the thousands of building and properties owned by the federal government.
Doan became the subject of congressional scrutiny last year for allegedly using GSA to help Republican lawmakers win re-election. Doan denied the
allegation, but her appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was disastrous. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of
the panel, called on Doan to resign over the allegations, but Doan refused to do so.
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