FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 27, 2006

HACU Receives Five-Year Contract from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Washington, DC - The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Linda M. Springer announced a new contract to help recruit interns for OPM's Center for Human Capital Management Services.

“HACU looks forward to assisting OPM to meet its current and future workforce needs. This agreement will open many doors for our students at our over 450 HACU member institutions, which collectively enroll more than 4.6 million students.” said Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO of HACU.

“The HACU National Internship Program internship program started in 1992 with 24 interns,” Flores continued. “Since then, it has grown to become one of the largest internship programs in the nation. It has placed over 5700 interns during the last 14 years and is now considered a “best practice” in the recruitment of college students.  During 2005 alone, the program placed 600 interns at 22 federal agencies and 9 private corporations.  The average GPA for the students was 3.37.  These program participants truly represent America’s best and brightest.”

The HACU National Internship Program is open to all individuals regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, or physical disabilities. HACU member colleges and universities enroll 24% of all African Americans in U.S. higher education, 64% of all Hispanics, 24% of all American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 41% of all Asian and Pacific Islanders and 21% of all White/Non-Hispanics.

After an open competitive process, HACU was selected by OPM to assist them with the recruitment and screening for referrals of interns for the next five years.  Specifically, the contract will give educational and training opportunities at OPM to students of all ethnic backgrounds in the fields of accounting, management, statistics, actuarial sciences, information systems, human capital and policy.  

“OPM is fully committed to giving promising students the work experience they need to prosper once they have graduated,” said Springer.  “This agreement with HACU will enable OPM to continue to provide students with the opportunity to interact with experienced federal employees and observe their work.”

For more information, please visit HACU’s National Internship Program at www.hnip.net or HACU’s website at www.hacu.net.

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About HACU

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) was established in 1986 with a founding membership of eighteen institutions.  Today, HACU represents more than 450 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America, Spain and Portugal.  Although their member institutions in the U. S. represent less than 7% of all higher education institutions nationwide, together they are home to more than two-thirds of all Hispanic college students.  HACU is the only national educational association that represents Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). HACU is a non-profit organization committed to assuring higher education access and success for Hispanic students. For more information, visit www.hacu.net.

About OPM

OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.