With the nation's capital only a two-hour drive away and a University founded by a former president, many students find themselves drawn to governmental jobs after graduation.
To encourage students to consider federal jobs when they graduate, 351 university and college presidents launched a new program Monday entitled "A Call to Serve: Leaders in Education Allied for Public Service."
The program is designed to attract more skilled, young people to government positions.
At a time when 53 percent of the federal workforce will qualify for retirement within the next two years and 71 percent of the government's senior managers will be eligible to retire within the next four years, there seems to be a demand for this kind of program.
While the University has not officially signed on to the program, Ladd Flock, director of University Career Services, said that the University has numerous resources available to help students find government jobs.
"We've gotten lots of resource information" on government jobs, said Ellen Tucker, career resource manager at University Career Services.
Flock pointed out that government jobs are available even to people with no political background.
"You don't have to be a political science, government or foreign affairs major," Flock said. "Government jobs are not just political, you do a little of everything. They just want to hire a bright person they can train."
According to Flock, University students have performed successfully within the federal government.
"There are a lot of U.Va. alumni in government jobs," Flock said. "They want to make those jobs available to alumni."
Government positions also appeal to University students because many students "are targeting Northern Virginia for living, and the government wants students who want to live in Northern Virginia," Flock added.
Federal officials announced Monday they will try to make the application process for jobs in the U.S. government more efficient and less confusing so that the paperwork involved does not deter potential applicants.
Although the University is not involved in "A Call to Serve," University President John T. Casteen III said, "We were a founding member of the organization called Campus Compact, and I served on its board for about a decade."
Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 750 college and university presidents committed to the civic purposes of higher education.
Casteen said that University students have been active in the political realm.
He said students often "turn up in the General Assembly as legislative aides" to delegates and state senators.
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