The Department of the Interior announced a new partnership with the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. The partnership is expected to increase STEM job opportunities for Alaska Native youth in offices and bureaus of the Department.
Agreement Allows Direct Hiring
The new agreement will allow the Interior Department to exercise direct hire authority — authorized by the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act — for ANSEP students and recent STEM graduates. Direct hiring authority means a federal agency can streamline hiring when there is a crucial hiring need or severe lack of candidates. This significantly reduces the burden required to get federal work experience or become an intern.
Further, the partnership with the University of Alaska aligns with the Interior Department’s Equity Action Plan. For example, the Action Plan lays the foundation to remove barriers to equal opportunity. The Partnership also represents the Biden-Harris administration’s work to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive federal workforce in the STEM disciplines.
“This new partnership exemplifies the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to removing barriers and advancing equity across the federal government,” said Secretary Deb Haaland, who met with ANSEP scholars interning in Washington this week. “We must continue to mobilize an all-of-government approach to ensure that historically underrepresented communities are brought into federal service.”
Previous STEM Agreements
As a partner to the agreement, ANSEP’s role is to promote careers in STEM disciplines for students from Alaska Native backgrounds and rural Alaskan communities. ANSEP will also reach out to and recruit students for STEM jobs at the Department of the Interior.
In recent years, ANSEP has successfully partnered on placement programs with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service and has cooperative agreements with several bureaus within the Department: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
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In 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce. The Executive Order strengthens the federal government’s ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote and retain talent. It also removes barriers to equal opportunity and establishes a government-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan.
