As Columbia University School of Social Work approaches its 110th anniversary, we are pleased to celebrate and share some of our accomplishments. From Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Washington D.C., to Kazakhstan, Jordan, Brazil, Uganda, China and the United Kingdom, CUSSW faculty research is improving the lives and life chances of persons struggling with some of our society's thorniest problems - HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, poverty and social inequality. Forging ahead, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical practice, public policy, teaching, research and social work innovation in the 21st Century.

Columbia University School of Social Work was ranked #1 in terms of publication productivity as analyzed by Robert Green and Frank Baskind and reported in the Spring/Summer 2007 Journal of Social Work Education article, “The Second Decade of the Faculty Publication Project: Journal Article Publications and the Importance of Faculty Scholarship,” volume 43, no. 2, pp. 281-295. Columbia faculty publish in social work as well as in high impact sociology, economics, demography, public health, and other disciplinary journals.

The Columbia University Global Health Research Center of Central Asia was launched in August 2007. Led by Professor Nabila El Bassel and Louisa Gilbert, the Center is the first research center on global health established by a university in Central Asia. Serving Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, the Center will develop effective solutions to pressing health problems and help reduce health disparities in Central Asia, which is experiencing one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world. Dr. Anne Brisson, Center Coordinator, has become a focal individual for other partners at Columbia University including the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, the Psychology Department, and the Mailman School of Public Health. Read more.

Irv Garfinkel, Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems, led the creation of and co-directs the new Columbia University Center for Research on Population, Health, and Society, which brings together over 50 interdisciplinary faculty from social work, economics, public health, sociology, political science, statistics, and other departments university-wide. CUSSW faculty members Marcia Carlson, Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, Wen-Jui Han, Neeraj Kaushal, Julien Teitler, and Jane Waldfogel are also providing leadership in the Columbia University initiative.

Ronald Mincy, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, has received funding from the Open Society Institute and the Bermudan government to support the Center for Research on Fathers, Children, and Family Well-Being at CUSSW. The Center focuses its research, policy, and program development activities on the role, status, and impact of fathers (and father figures) in relation to the well-being of children and families that have been traditionally disadvantaged, even in periods of prosperity. Earlier this year, Dr. Mincy testified at an U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee hearing on African American male unemployment.

Professor Jane Waldfogel, who has a longstanding affiliation with the London School of Economics, has been working with 10 Downing Street to shape research-based policies aimed at more effectively supporting working mothers and their young children. Dr. Waldfogel has written extensively on the impact of public policies on child and family well-being. Her current research includes studies of work-family policies including family leave, inequality in early childhood care and education, and child abuse and neglect. She is a member of the U.K. Advisory Committee for the National Evaluation of Sure Start and has been a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science Committee on Family and Work Policies.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has asked the School of Social Work to play a lead role in Columbia University's development of a Center for the Middle East to be located in Amman, Jordan. Inspired by Queen Rania, the center will focus on education and social issues that affect children.

Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, Professor, received the 2007 Latino Social Work Leadership Award. The award honors a select group of Latino social workers for their contributions to the Latino community. Dr. Guilamo-Ramos has worked primarily with minority youth and their families. His interests are related to family-based approaches to reduce adolescent risk behaviors

Michael MacKenzie, Assistant Professor, received the Early Career Investigator Award from the International Society on Infant Studies (ISIS). The prestigious, competitive award recognizes outstanding young investigators dedicated to infant care research. Dr. MacKenzie has a dual disciplinary background in social work and developmental psychology with a primary interest in the early social and biological factors that contribute to mental health and developmental psychopathology.

Jeanette Takamura, Dean, was named a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation. Dean Takamura is a member of the National Commission for Quality Long Term Care, was the Chair of the Board of the American Society on Aging, and is a member of the CSWE Commission on Education and Curriculum Innovation. She is the immediate past U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging.

Ellen Lukens has been named the Sylvia D. & Mose J. Firestone Centennial Associate Professor of Clinical Social Work. Dr. Lukens is nationally recognized for her development and application of educational and psychoeducational interventions designed to support persons with severe mental health conditions and their family members. Dr. Lukens currently works with several social service agencies on the use of psychoeducational interventions.

Steven Schinke has been named the D'Elbert and Selma Keenan Professor of Social Work. Dr. Schinke's scholarship focuses on the development and testing of new approaches to improving the mental and physical health of children, youth, and families. . Dr. Schinke is currently developing and evaluating a CD-ROM intervention for mothers and their pre-adolescent daughters. The study, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, seeks to prevent substance abuse among economically disadvantaged girls in New York City.

Julien Teitler has been awarded tenure by Columbia University. Dr. Teitler has also been named chair of the CUSSW doctoral program. He is an affiliate of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and holds a joint appointment with the Sociology Department at Columbia University. Additionally, Dr. Teitler is director of the Columbia University Social Indicators Survey Research Center located at the School of Social Work.

Vincent Guilamo-Ramos has been awarded tenure by Columbia University. Dr. Guilamo-Ramos has conducted research primarily in urban, resource-poor settings in the South Bronx, Harlem and the Lower East Side communities in New York City. Most recently, Dr. Guilamo-Ramos extended his focus to Dominican youth and families who reside in the Dominican Republic. He is also in the process of building a Latino Institute, focused on research and interventions to improve the health and well-being of Latino youth and families.

Grace Christ was promoted to Professor of Social Work. Dr. Christ is widely known for her work with 9/11 families and children. She is currently the Director of the FDNY-CSU/Columbia University Family Program for families of firefighters who died in the WTC disaster. Dr. Christ is a leader in the field of palliative care and has contributed significantly to illuminating adult and pediatric palliative care in particular. She is also recognized for her work in oncology and chronic illness.

Ada Mui was promoted to Professor of Social Work. Dr. Mui is a leading social gerontologist in cross-cultural research. A Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, she has received many awards and recognitions. Dr. Mui has extensive involvement in the field of gerontology in China. Currently, she is a Fellow and an Honorary Associate Director, Sau Po Center on Ageing, University of Hong Kong. She is also an Honorary Professor of Social Work in Chongqing Normal University, China.

Neeraj Kaushal was promoted to Associate Professor of Social Work. Dr. Kaushal was recently appointed Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), the largest consortium of labor economists in Europe. A labor and health economist, Dr. Kaushal’s research focus is on how policies and events affect the well-being of low-income families, with special emphasis on immigrants. Her recent work includes the effect of the 1996 welfare reform on various aspects of immigrant well-being, the effect of amnesty on the labor market outcomes of legalized immigrants, and the effect of September 11th on New Yorkers and Arabs and Muslims living in the United States.

Vicki Lens was promoted to Associate Professor of Social Work. Dr. Lens worked as a public interest lawyer for fifteen years, combining her social work and legal skills. She recently received a grant to examine the fair hearing system in New York. The proposed project is the first in many decades on the usefulness of government appeal procedures for resolving disputes and correcting mistakes.

Denise Burnette, Professor, received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Mumbai, India during her 2006-2007 sabbatical year. Her year long studies in India fostered an extension of her interest in the health and mental health needs of older adults and their families and communities to include the role of professional social work in developing countries that are rapidly aging. She continues to be engaged in studying self-health care among urban African American elders.

Marcia Carlson, Associate Professor, was appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Marriage and Family. Dr. Carlson’s research interests include family structure and parenting, child and adolescent well being, social policy, poverty and inequality, and father involvement with their children and families. She holds a joint appointment in the Sociology Department at Columbia University.

Nabila El Bassel, Professor, was appointed to President Lee Bollinger's Advisory Committee on Diversity Initiatives. The Committee advises the President and the Vice Provost on the diversity agenda for the University. Dr. El Bassel, who directs the Social Intervention Group, is also the Director of the newly established Columbia University Global Health Research Center in Central Asia. She also directs the newly established NIMH HIV training program for racial ethnic minority researchers at the School.

Ronald Feldman, the Ruth Harris Ottman Centennial Professor for the Advancement of Social Work Education, and Dean Emeritus, was appointed U.S. delegate for Oxford University Press, which has an interest in identifying and developing contemporary social work topics for publication. He is also Director of the Center for the Study of Social Work Practice at the School. The Center was established in collaboration with the New York City Jewish Board for Family and Children’s Services.

Cheryl Franks, Executive Director for Diversity, Human Rights and Social Justice, was appointed to serve on the President’s Committee on Sexual Assault at Columbia University. The committee will identify innovative, campus-wide solutions to sexual assault and will recommend policy and practice improvements to President Bollinger. Dr. Franks also serves on the Vice Provost’s Diversity Committee for the Professional Schools at Columbia University.

Irwin Garfinkel, the Mitchell I. Ginsburg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems, was a WT Grant Fellow during his 2006-2007 sabbatical year. Dr. Garfinkel’s research on child support has influenced legislation not only in the U.S., but also in Great Britain, Australia and Sweden. Currently, he is the co-principal investigator of the New York City Social Indicators Survey and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. He is also completing work on his new book, The American Welfare State: Laggard or Leader?, co-authored with Timothy Smeeding and Lee Rainwater.

Sheila Kamerman, Compton Foundation Centennial Professor, has been appointed to the board of the newly established Journal of International Childhood Social Indicators. Dr. Kamerman holds a joint appointment at the Columbia University School of International Affairs. Co-Director of the Institute for Child and Family Policy at Columbia University and of the Cross-National Studies Research Program, she is frequently invited to provide scholarly presentations on such topics as family change and family policies internationally and social security. She regularly provides consultation to U.S. and international organizations on early childhood education and care and on parental leave policies and programs.

Michael MacKenzie, Assistant Professor, has been selected to participate in the “Leaders for the 21st Century” Fellowship Program associated with ZERO TO THREE, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the healthy development of infants, toddlers, and their families. As a Fellow, Dr. MacKenzie will investigate how risk and stress factors faced by burdened families can impact perceptions of infant behavior and caregiving capacity.

Steven Schinke, D'Elbert and Selma Keenan Professor of Social Work, has been appointed a member of the Risk, Prevention and Intervention for Addictions Study Section, Center for Scientific Review at the NIH in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Katherine Shear, Marion Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry in Social Work, has been named a Fellow at the American College of Psychiatrists. She will also be serving on the Task Force on Psychotherapy for Psychiatrists. Dr. Shear has done groundbreaking work on complicated grief, having developed assessment instruments and tested a novel treatment for the newly identified condition. Her work in anxiety disorders and in the area of bereavement and grief is widely known. Dr. Shear holds a joint appointment in the Psychiatry Department of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Fred Ssewamala, Assistant Professor, was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS). His current research at CUSSW focuses on asset-ownership development to empower orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. Dr. Ssewamala is an affiliate of the Columbia University Institute of African Studies and a Senior Research Fellow with the New America Foundation.

Marianne Yoshioka, Associate Professor, was appointed Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs at CUSSW. Dr. Yoshioka has research-based practice expertise in culturally appropriate interventions related to domestic violence, addictions, marital and family therapy, and HIV prevention, particularly in Asian and other immigrant communities in the U.S. She has also provided leadership in the development of innovative pedagogical models. As Assistant Dean, Dr. Yoshioka heads the Office of Professional Excellence in addition to her administrative leadership on academic affairs within the School.

Allen Zweben was appointed Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs at CUSSW. Dr. Zweben has expertise in a variety of areas related to addiction medicine, including screening and assessment, brief intervention, motivational interviewing, twelve-step facilitation therapy, HIV-risk reduction strategies, couples and family treatment, medications development, and outcome measurement. He recently received funding from Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals to conduct a pharmacotherapy trial with alcohol dependent patients at North General Hospital, a community facility located in East Harlem.

Nabila El Bassel, Professor, received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for a training program aimed at facilitating the preparation of a new cadre of racial ethnic minority (REM) investigators focused on HIV prevention science with populations facing co-morbid mental health issues. The program and mentors are poised to assist and foster a more rapid development of promising new REM investigators capable of conducting scientifically rigorous, federally-funded health disparities research.

Lin Fang, Research Scientist, was awarded a research supplement by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to expand the recruitment of adolescent girls for a 5-year drug abuse prevention randomized trial. Dr. Fang's research is focused on developing and implementing culturally appropriate assessments and interventions to evaluate and to treat social and behavioral problems among Chinese Americans.

Denise Hien, Senior Research Scientist, is co-PI for a three year NIDA clinical trials network grant. She is also PI on a five year RO1 grant received from NIAAA to conduct research on a “Combined Treatment for Alcohol Dependent Women with PTSD.” Dr. Hien has studied and treated urban women and families for more than 16 years with a team of interdisciplinary clinicians and scientists. She has studied the effects of exposure to interpersonal violence and adverse outcomes on women and their children and tested trauma treatment models for traumatized populations with comorbid addictive disorders in single and multi-site studies.

Neeraj Kaushal, Associate Professor, received Russell Sage Foundation funding to study the “Effect of Nurse Immigration on Employment and Earnings of U.S. Nurses.” Dr. Kaushal is a labor and health economist with a research focus on how policies and events affect the well-being of low-income families, especially emphasizing the experience of immigrants. She is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dana Lizardi, Assistant Professor, received a grant from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) to fund a study to enhance outpatient treatment of suicidal individuals. Dr. Lizardi was a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow. She has comprehensive practice experience in the areas of child and adolescent mental health, family therapy, and crisis-intervention.

Ronald Mincy, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, received funding from the Bermudan Government and the Atlantic Philanthropies to spearhead a new study on black males in Bermuda. The study aims to examine the attainment gaps between young black and other youth and young adults in Bermuda. Dr. Mincy also received Ford Foundation funding for research on the sexual behavior of adolescents as influenced by education and the involvement of fathers.

Rogerio Pinto, Assistant Professor, received a K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health to promote community collaboration in HIV research. Dr. Pinto is a Brazilian-American psychiatric social worker who has done extensive clinical and community work with racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. He also received a Columbia University Diversity Research Fellowship to study the promotion of community collaboration in scientific research.

Susan Witte, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the CUSSW Social Intervention Group (SIG), received a grant award from the NIMH to develop multimedia and digital technologies to disseminate an HIV/STI prevention intervention program. She also received a two-year grant from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse for an exploratory/developmental study in Mongolia to be conducted in collaboration with the National AIDS Foundation in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Elwin Wu, Assistant Professor, received a grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct a study on alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs for men and women involved with the criminal justice system in New York City. The project aims to identify the active or key components that drive the success of ATI programs in New York City. Dr. Wu is the Assistant Director of the CUSSW Social Intervention Group and the Co-Director of the Center for Intervention and Prevention Research on HIV and Drug Abuse. He is also an investigator in a National Institute of Mental Health grant to establish training program aimed at increasing research and ethnic minority (REM) investigators in HIV intervention science research.

• Akabas, S. & Kurzman, P. (forthcoming) Occupational social work: A field of practice. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Berkman, B., Gardner, D., Zodikoff, B., & Harootyan, L. (2007). Social work and aging in the emerging health care world. Journal of gerontological social work, 48 (1/2).
• Burnette, D. & Morrow-Howell, N. (2006). Social work research in aging. In B. Berkman (Ed.), Handbook of social work in health and aging (pp. 1019-27). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Di Noia, J., & Schinke, S. P. (in press). HIV risk-related attitudes, interpersonal influences, and intentions among sexually experimenting and at-risk urban, early adolescent girls. American journal of health behavior.
• Garfinkel, I., Rainwater, L., and Smeeding, T. (2006). A re-examination of welfare states and inequality in rich Nations: How in kind transfers and indirect taxes change the story. Journal of policy analysis and management, 25 (4), 897-918.
• Gearing, R. E., Mian, I. A., Barber, J., & Ickowicz, A. (in press). A methodology for conducting retrospective chart review research in psychiatry. Canadian child and adolescent psychiatry review.
• Guilamo-Ramos, V., Jaccard, J., Dittus, P., Bouris, A., & Holloway, I. (In press). Adolescent expectancies, parent-adolescent communication, and intentions to have sexual intercourse among inner city, middle school youth. Annals of behavioral medicine.
• Han, W-J. & Waldfogel, J. (in press). Parental work schedules, family process, and early adolescents’ risky behavior. Children and youth services review.
• Kamerman, S.B. (2007). A global history of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Background paper for EFA global monitoring report. Paris, France: UNESCO.
• Kamerman, S.B. (2006). Parental leave policies and research in the United States. In F. Deven and P. Moss, P. (Eds.), 2nd edition, Leave policies and research. Brussels, Belgium.
• Kaushal, N. & Fix, M. (forthcoming). The contributions of high-skilled immigrants. Fix, M., Ed., Contributions of immigrants to the United States. Also published as Insight, July 2006, No. 16. Migration Policy Institute: Washington DC.
• Kaushal, N., Reimers, C., & Reimers, D. (2007). Essay on economy and immigration. In M. Walters and R. Ueda with B.H. Marrow (Eds), The new Americans: A guide to immigration since 1965. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups.
• Lens, V. (in press). Welfare and work sanctions: Examining discretion on the front lines. Social service review.
• Lens, V. (2007). Administrative justice in public welfare bureaucracies: When citizens (don’t) complain. Administration & society 39 (3), 382-408.
• Mandiberg, J.M. & Tucker, D.J. (accepted for publication). Organizational change and technology transfer in mental health organizations: A framework for analysis. Journal of sociology and social work.
• Mullen, E. J., Bellamy, J. L., & Bledsoe, S. E. (in press). Evidence-based social work practice. In R. M. Grinnell & Y. A. Unrau (Eds.), Social work research and evaluation: Quantitative and qualitative approaches (8 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Pinto, R. M., McKay, M. M., Baptiste, D., Bell, C. C., Madison-Boyd, S., Paikoff, R. L., Wilson, M., Phillips, D. (2007). Motivators and barriers to participation of ethnic minority families in a family-based HIV prevention program. Social work in mental health, 5, 187-201.
• Preston, M. S. (2006). The direct effects of field of practice on core managerial role competencies: A study across three types of public sector human service agencies. Administration in social work, 31.
• Rizzo, V. (2006) Social work support services for stroke patients: Interventions and outcomes. Social work in health care, 43(1), 33-56.
• Schinke, S. P., & Schwinn, T. M. (in press). Gender-specific intervention for preventing drug abuse among girls: A computer-based approach. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse.
• Shear K., Belnap B.H., Mazumdar S., Houck P., Rollman B.L. (accepted for publication). The generalized anxiety disorder severity scale (GADSS), depression and anxiety.
• Sormanti, M. & Shibusawa, T. (in press). Predictors of condom use and HIV testing among midlife and older women seeking medical services. Journal of aging & health.
• Ssewamala, F.M., Lombe, M. and Curley, J. (2006). Using individual development accounts for microenterprise development in the United States. Journal of developmental entrepreneurship, 11(2), pp. 117-131.
• Takamura, J.C. (2007). Healthy aging in the United States. In M. Robinson, W. Novelli, C. Pearson, and L. Norris. (Eds.) Global Health and Global Aging. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 177-184.
• Teitler, J., Reichman, N., Nepomnyaschy, L., Martinson, M. (forthcoming). A cross-national comparison of racial and ethnic disparities in low birthweight in the United States and England. Pediatrics.
• Teitler, J., Reichman, N., Nepomnyaschy, L. (forthcoming) Determinants of TANF participation: A multilevel analysis. Social service review.
• Waldfogel, J. (2006). What children need. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Waldfogel, J. (in press). Parental work arrangements and child development. Canadian public policy/Analyse de politiques.
• Witte, S.S., El-Bassel, N., Gilbert, L, Wu, E., & Chang, M. (2007). Predictors of discordant reports of sexual and HIV/STI risk behaviors among heterosexual couples. Sexually transmitted diseases, 34 (5), 302-308.
• M.L.Willenbring, & A. Zweben. Proceedings of a roundtable addressing substance abuse in health care settings. Alcoholism: Clinical and experimental research, 30, 292-302.

• Sheila Kamerman, Compton Foundation Centennial Professor of Social Work, presented at the conclusions of a study on social protection policies for children at a World Bank seminar. She also participated in and presented at the Annual Parental Leave Policy Network Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Kamerman presented as well at the SAN Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands on “A Global Overview of Social Protection for Children” and on “Does Targeting Keep Single Mothers Poor?” at the Expert Meeting on Social Policy for Vulnerable Children in Parma, Italy.
• Edward Mullen, Willma and Albert Musher Professor for Life Betterment through Science and Technology, and CUSSW researchers presented “Preparing social work practitioners to use evidence-based practice: A comparison of experiences from an implementation project” at the International Conference on Implementation and Translational Research. The conference was held at the Institute for Evidence-based Social Work Practice, Swedish National Board of Health & Welfare in Stockholm, Sweden.
• Barbara Simon, Associate Professor, delivered one of the keynote speeches at the 50th Anniversary Conference and celebration of the Korean Social Welfare Federation in Seoul, Korea. She also was an invited lecturer at the Seoul City University, Ewha Woman's University, and at the Seoul Welfare Foundation.
• Fred Ssewamala, Assistant Professor, presented “The Potential of Children’s Savings Accounts in Africa” at a roundtable discussion at the Global Symposium on Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion in Singapore. The conference was funded by the Citigroup Foundation.
• Allen Zweben, Associate Dean Research and Academic Affairs, delivered a keynote presentation entitled, “Combined Approaches for Treating Substance Use Problems,” at the Bio-Psycho-Social Treatment for Women in Methadone Maintenance Centers Conference held at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

• Megan Crowe-Rothstein (MSW’08) is in Mexico where she is doing a fellowship through the Open Society Justice Initiative. Megan is specifically working on the Pretrial Detention Project, a partnership involving the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Mexican NGO, Renace. The Project aims to rationalize and reduce the use of pretrial detention within the context of the criminal justice reforms in several Mexican states to promote the presumption of innocence and the rights of the defendant and support equity and fairness in the legal process. Megan is developing a pilot program for pretrial services.
• Mary Ellen Santiago (MSW’07) was awarded the NASW-NYC McMurray Award, which is given to one student out of all six graduate schools of social work in New York City. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and contributions by a graduating student in relation to services to children and families. Santiago is currently the Director of the Upper Manhattan Foster Care Unit of Lutheran Social Services of New York.
• Monique Sierra (MSW’07) was awarded the NASW- NYC Student of the Year Award for demonstrated professional commitment, identity and values through student leadership, field practice or academic projects. A native of Los Angeles, CA, Sierra studied social policy and international social work at CUSSW. She has worked in Ghana and Uganda and plans to pursue a career in international development.
• Julia Schipper (MSW’07) was named a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The highly competitive program selects fellows to participate in a two-year paid internship in the Federal government that provides leadership development, training, and rotations through various Federal agencies.