As public-facing agencies scale organizational operations and capacity as part of Oregon’s rebound from COVID-19, short-to-mid-term fellowships can be key resources for recruiting new talent. To that end, Portland State University’s Center for Public Service (CPS) Fellowship Program matches pre-screened candidates with public service opportunities, and is designed to fill sponsor needs with exceptionally qualified Master’s and PhD students. These budding professionals serve as high-level project managers providing meaningful contributions to their public service organizations.
We draw our talent bank from high-quality programs across the nation such as Portland State University, University of Oregon, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Michigan, and other outstanding universities.
“My fellowship experience has been a stepping stone to public service; for an entry-level professional like me, it has shaped me for future professionalism and taught me where to set my professional expectations," says Shahinur Bashar, current Hatfield Resident Fellow who has spent the past seven months doing policy development and process improvement work for Oregon Metro.
Metro and other agencies like the Oregon Health Authority, the City of Portland, and Clark County have found that graduates like Shahinur represent a cohort of Fellows that are versatile, well-prepared, and technologically savvy.
As of April 2022, roughly 20 recently-graduated Hatfield Resident Fellows are available for placement with sponsoring public-facing agencies. “CPS has a 20-year track record of placing graduate students in public service work. Because our operations environment is geographically flexible, we are excited to welcome project sponsors from across the Pacific Northwest,” says Dr. Margaret Banyan, Senior Fellow. “We can get a sponsor from project inception to having the selected Fellow in place, virtually or otherwise, fairly quickly. Whether it starts with just an idea, a project outline, or even a full blown Scope of Work, we have a proven track record of filling capacity gaps among our partnering agencies with highly talented project managers,” says Dr. Banyan.
Once agencies have identified their project and budget, PSU’s Fellowships team offers support through every step of the process, from candidate selection, to project and Fellow onboarding, and ultimately through the completion of each project. To learn more about the program and to view CPS’ impressive 2022 candidates, visit our page.
For additional information, please contact us at (503) 725-8228 or psfellows@pdx.edu.