1.This Act may be cited as the
Federal Internship Improvement
Act
.
2.Federal
Internship Programs
(a)The head of each
Federal agency operating an internship program shall appoint an individual
within such agency to serve as an internship coordinator.
(b)
(1)The
head of each Federal agency operating an internship program shall make publicly
available on the Internet—
(A)the name and
contact information of the internship coordinator for such program; and
(B)information
regarding application procedures and deadlines for such internship
program.
(2)Office of
Personnel ManagementThe Office of Personnel Management shall
make publicly available on the Internet links to the websites where the
information described in paragraph (1) is displayed.
(c)The Office of
Personnel Management shall establish and maintain a centralized electronic
database that contains the names, contact information, and relevant skills of
individuals who have completed or are nearing completion of an internship
program and are currently seeking full-time Federal employment.
(d)Noncompetitive
appointment
(1)Under
such regulations as the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe, the
head of an agency may make a noncompetitive appointment leading to conversion
to term, career, or career-conditional employment of an individual if the
individual—
(A)has completed an internship program;
(B)is recommended for such appointment by the
agency in which the individual served as an intern; and
(C)satisfies such other requirements and
conditions as the Office of Personnel Management may prescribe.
(2)Term appointment
conversionAn intern
appointed to term employment under paragraph (1) may subsequently be converted
noncompetitively to a career or career-conditional appointment before the term
appointment expires.
(3)The Office of Personnel Management shall
prescribe such regulations as the Office considers necessary to carry out this
subsection.
(e)
(1)The head of each Federal agency operating an internship
program shall annually submit to the Office of Personnel Management a report
assessing such internship program.
(2)Each
report required under paragraph (1) for a Federal agency shall include, for the
one-year period ending on March 1 of the year in which the report is
submitted—
(A)the number of interns that participated in
an internship program at such agency;
(B)information
regarding the demographic characteristics of interns at such agency, including
educational background;
(C)the percentage of individuals who began
full-time Federal employment at such agency who were appointed to such
employment in accordance with subsection (d);
(D)a description of the steps taken by such
agency to increase such percentage, and any barriers encountered;
(E)a description of
activities engaged in by such agency to recruit new interns, including
locations and methods;
(F)a description of
the diversity of work roles offered within internship programs at such
agency;
(G)a description of
the mentorship portion of such internship programs; and
(H)a summary of exit
interviews conducted by such agency upon completion of an internship program by
an intern.
(3)Each
report required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the Office of
Personnel Management between March 1 and March 31 of each year. Not later than
April 30 of each year, the Office of Personnel Management shall submit to
Congress a report summarizing the information submitted to the Office of
Personnel Management in accordance with paragraph (1) for such year.
(f)In
this section:
(1)The term
internship program means a program established by a Federal agency
to provide educational employment experiences to individuals whose service in
such agency will not be used to displace any employee.
(2)The term intern means an
individual serving in an internship program.