How We Recruit
The Center for Public Service set out to build a continuous pipeline of talent from the leading graduate schools of public affairs across America. We recruit exceptional talent from universities nationwide, including Portland State University, Carnegie Melon, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Princeton, Syracuse, the University of California system, and the University of Chicago (to name a few). In addition to Portland State University, our Fellows come from other outstanding institutions in our region including Oregon State, University of Oregon, University of Washington, and Willamette University.
We deliberately focus on graduate students who are committed to public service by virtue of their enrollment in advanced degree programs in public administration, public policy, and public affairs. We also seek to provide a way back to Oregon for students who have left the state to pursue their professional education elsewhere and are now looking for a pathway home.
In recent years we have expanded our recruitment strategy to address the growing desire for diversity (in racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, multilingual skills, work and life experience), and to capture ancillary disciplines such as I.T. and data science, business and finance, industrial engineering, and students with specializations in emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, resilience, communications, and public health.