The Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS), formerly known as the Virtual Student Foreign Service, is a

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

program that offers opportunities for American college and university students to virtually intern at U.S. federal agencies. There are over 500 opportunities available at 33 federal agencies, and many of the opportunities are looking for more than one intern. Interns can be enrolled in a class or classes at any tertiary institution, but they must be American citizens. All work is virtual, and background clearances are not required. These opportunities are unpaid, but offer work experience, sometimes involving foreign languages.

History

The Virtual Student Federal Service was announced by

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in May 2009 as one of several programs in Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft initiative. Twenty-first Century Statecraft is defined as, “ e complementing of traditional foreign policy tools with newly innovated and adapted instruments of statecraft that fully leverage the networks, technologies, and demographics of our interconnected world.” VSFS partners with U.S. diplomatic posts overseas and State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), NASA, and many other federal agencies to provide virtual internship opportunities. The first virtual internship year coincided with the 2009–2010 academic year.

Program details

Internships begin in the Fall and end in the Spring, with an application open period in July. Students commit for the

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

, contributing 10 hours a week for the virtual internship. Students communicate with their supervisors often through

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

, and

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...

. The nature of work varies depending on what the agency needs. The work may be research-based, where the student is required to contribute to reports on issues such as

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

, the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, or the work may be technology-focused, such as creating

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...

s and producing electronic journals. Language skills are sometimes required.

Examples of projects (from 2017–2018)

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

: Help build a successful partnership among Department of State bureaus and offices to improve the way employees worldwide use data and knowledge to accomplish their missions. * United States Agency for International Development (USAID): Help connect, support, and promote the work of the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN) at USAID, a global network of universities that harnesses science, technology, and innovation to solve development challenges. * Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): We seek an intern who can assist in identifying best practices from academia (e.g. cognitive/behavioral science, business/management theory), government, and the private sector so that we may apply this research toward internal programs. *

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

: Help millions of National Zoo visitors plan their visits by designing and building a cutting edge "plan your day" tool. *

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

: Display and interpret three large fossil specimens in a permanent Visitor Center installation. This project will include designing an interpretive panel, sign or wall display that tells the story of these fossils, while offering the visitor with some context for the significance of these artifacts. *

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

: Analyze open-source online data to map and draw conclusions on insurgent activity and international force response in conflict areas in Africa. *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

: Facilitate agency-wide virtual events and teach employees how to effectively use multimedia platforms; additionally, you will be responsible for coaching NASA employees on the logistics of running a virtual event.

Application process

The competitive process starts with students applying through the USAJobs.gov website. In the application, students may choose from a list of available projects, selecting three in their order of preference. e-Interns must be

U.S. citizens Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

Further information

Government crowdsourcing Government crowdsourcing is a form of crowdsourcing employed by governments to better leverage their people's collective knowledge and experience by tapping into their ability to see connections, understand issues, and coordinate action. It has t ...

Virtual Student Federal Service
– U.S. Department of State

– U.S. Department of State

– U.S. Department of State

References

{{reflist University programs * United States Department of State