Postgraduate fellow Kelsey Pinson ‘12 presented an overview of her work in medical foster care at Children’s Aid Society, New York City.

February: The DPCS mentored service letter is intended to share aspirational stories about motivated alumni mentors, enthusiastic undergraduate interns, engaged alumni classes, and recent graduates who are charting their paths into community service. 

July 2012: DC-Area Coordinator Named for Postgraduate Program

New DC-Area Postgraduate Program
Coordinator Robert Davidson Jr. ’67

Dartmouth Partners in Community Service is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Davidson Jr. ’67 as the new coordinator for the postgraduate program in Washington, DC.

Bob Davidson is a former federal senior executive at the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).   Since his retirement from Government in 2009, Bob has been a part-time consultant, has pursued his interest in photography, and has served as President of the Dartmouth Club of Washington D.C., among other volunteer activities.  He was named “Dartmouth Club President of the Year” for 2011 from among the 86 active regional clubs, and was recently selected to serve a three-year term on Dartmouth’s Alumni Council.

At the Corporation for National Service, Bob served as Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer and to the Director of Learn and Serve America.  In these roles he led the agency’s management improvement team, developed agency-wide management, budget and strategic planning initiatives, and led an inter-agency Community Service Work-Study task force. Working with the White House, he also designed and managed an entirely new program– the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

At the U.S. Department of Education, Bob served in several senior positions, including five years as the Department’s Deputy Chief Information Officer and Director of its Year 200 Project, and 14 years as Director of the Postsecondary Analysis Division, in the Office of the Undersecretary.  In the later role he was responsible for development, presentation, and execution of the Department’s student and college aid program budgets totaling over $60 billion annually, and served as an advisor to several Undersecretaries and Secretaries of Education.  He previously served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Financial Assistance and as a student aid policy analyst and regulations task force leader.

In addition to creating the new higher education community service honor roll program, Bob’s national higher education policy accomplishments include: creation of the Direct Student Loan program, which has replaced the hugely costly and error-prone guaranteed student loan system, expansion of Federal Work-Study Community Service, and development of student loan default prevention and student consumer protection regulations.  While serving in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, Bob created and managed the Navy’s first accredited seagoing college program—on the USS John F. Kennedy.  

Bob holds an AB in Philosophy from Dartmouth College and a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University.  Bob has received several awards for his Government service, including the Undersecretary’s Reinvention Leadership Award in 1999, a Presidential award in 2001, and CNCS’s Inspirational Service Award in 2007.  

L:R: Larry Toal ‘59. Mike Lindgren ‘90, Rachel Gorman ‘10, David
Friedman ‘10, Lisa Friel ‘79, David Roccaforte ‘87, Mary Wertheim ‘S76,
Nancy Woolf ‘86, Katie Carey ‘09, Elise Waxenberg ‘08, Karl Holtzschue ‘59
and Delia Gorman ‘10.

The article, “Accuracy of Computer-Generated Spanish-Language Medicine Labels,” was co-written with Iman Sharif, and appeared in April in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Montefiore hospital continues to host both undergraduate and postgraduate DPCS interns, proving a linchpin in the service opportunities DPCS offers to its participants.

By Joy Chen

November 6, 2009

Dartmouth seniors hoping to work in the nonprofit sector after graduating can now look to the Dartmouth Partners and Community Service Post-Graduate Fellowship program — formatted like corporate recruiting for the public-service professions — for salary and career support. Beginning in June 2010, a group of selected alumni will work as fellows at nonprofit organizations and government agencies in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The program offers accepted students a grant of $30,000 and guaranteed health insurance while they work as fellows the year following graduation, Christopher Kendig ’10, the program’s student director, said in an interview with The Dartmouth.

“The program is an opportunity for students to not only develop their skill set, but also to gain experience in the working world, especially for those who are interested in working for the common good and in the nonprofit sector,” said Rebecca Briller, the AmeriCorps VISTA member for national and local service in the Tucker Foundation.

The program will recruit partner organizations through November 2009. A complete list of participating organizations will be compiled and posted on Dec. 15, Kendig said. He said he did not yet know how many students will receive fellowships.

“We have already got a few organizations that are willing to partner with us, but we are definitely hoping to get more,” he said.

The application deadline is early January, Kendig said.

“We review applications and conduct interviews, and we pass on the strongest applicants to interview with our partner organizations,” Kendig said.

Kendig said that the program has already generated strong interest among students, pointing to a growing BlitzMail list. Although the program was not created because of the worsening economy, Briller said the competitive job market could play a role in the amount of interest in the program.

“It might be that we had good timing, as the corporate recruiting is becoming more competitive, but I think we are addressing a need that has been long-standing among Dartmouth students,” Briller said.

The fellowship was first proposed by Dartmouth alumni, and alumni have continued to shape its structure, Kendig said.

“The organizations we partner with are recruited by alumni, and each fellow will have an alumni mentor to help with the adjustment process,” Kendig said.

Several members of the Class of 2010 interviewed by The Dartmouth said seniors are particularly interested in the program.

“I’m thinking about going to law school or grad school, but I don’t want to go straight after college, and this program might be a great opportunity for a year,” Caroline Esser ’10 said. “I think it’s really cool that the program is going to find organizations for us to work in, and that we don’t have to seek out organizations ourselves.”

As someone who has interned for nonprofit organizations during previous summers and off-terms, Esser said that the program will be a good alternative for students who do not want to pursue corporate recruiting.

Harvard University instituted a similar program, the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College Fellowship and Internship Program, in 2001. Princeton University’s Princeton Project 55, which serves to provide recent graduates with opportunities working for public-service organizations, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, according to Stephanie Mirkin, the program’s manager.

The number of applicants to Princeton Project 55 has increased this year, although the number of available fellowships has decreased, Mirkin said.

“This year we actually had fewer fellows than past years, which I think might be due to the economy and its effect on our partner organizations’ ability to take in our fellows, and we are not yet sure about the numbers in the coming year,” Mirkin said.

Copyright 2009 by The Dartmouth

Said Taney, “The Dartmouth Partners in Community Service program was a pivotal part of my Dartmouth experience.  It afforded me the opportunity to participate in an internship which drastically  altered my views on social justice and what I imagined myself doing after graduation.  The incredible hands-on experience that I had during my DPCS internship was truly invaluable, and I am incredibly grateful for having had the opportunity to benefit from such a worthwhile and important program.”

This award is given in honor of Meleia Willis-Starbuck, a member of the class of 2007 who was active in the Dartmouth Afro-American Society, the Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color, and the Dartmouth College Greens.  When she died in her hometown of Berkeley, CA, Meleia was serving as a DPCS intern for the Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center, where she helped provide social and health services to low-income women.  In addition to her dedication to helping others, Meleia was a double major in Sociology and African American studies.

Our two fellows this cycle in the DC are: Dana Daugherty ‘10 at YouthBuild charter school, and Lucy (Louisa) Pollard ‘10 at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL). Dana is matched with Meg Sommerfeld ‘90, while Lucy is being mentored by Da’aga Hill Bowman ‘79 — both former presidents of the Dartmouth Club of Washington DC.

Dana and Lucy are both doing well and hard at work at their schools. YouthBuild’s unique model helps students transform their communities by building housing for homeless or low-income families as they learn the construction trade, and they transform themselves as they prepare to earn their GED. Dana is teaching both job development skills as well as ESL classes at the school that’s more than half Spanish speaking. (Dana is bilingual.)

I met with the principal of YouthBuild a week ago. She said they were so pleased with Dana they want to try to keep her on, as well as take “at least 2 fellows this coming fall.”

Lucy is working hard at SEGL, a selective, semester-long residential program in DC for motivated high school juniors from around the country. The program selects 32 students to participate in a unique curriculum that emphasizes ethical thinking, leadership development, and international affairs. Lucy help manage students as well as develop programs and participate in teaching.

Lucy told me in a recent update: “Things at SEGL are great. The job is challenging. I work long hours but I also have a lot of responsibilities and enjoy my work.”

The Dartmouth program in DC has partnered with the Princeton, Harvard and Washington & Lee programs to join them in their ongoing monthly educational seminars for fellows. Last month fellows attended the seminar “Career Exploration 101,” which was facilitated by Katie McNerney, President of LeaderFit, a recruiting firm specializing in the nonprofit sector. (Pictures attached - Dana in green, right side of photos.)

This week fellows will be attending the seminar “Options in Your 20s,” which will have a number of young professionals who have built impressive, diverse careers to speak about how they have navigated their professional path through their twenties, with a focus on their decisions around graduate school. We’re distributing copies of the book Good to Great and the Social Sectors, by Jim Collins, at the seminar.

More soon, including a potential mentoring/tutoring partnership between the Dartmouth Club of Washington DC and YouthBuild.