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The Volunteer Student Program (VSP) was established to formalize the relationship between FSIS and various
Colleges of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) for the purpose of providing training to veterinary and graduate
students with an interest in food safety and public health.
The VSP provides experience that is directly related to the student's education program and possible career goals.
We have developed the VSP to provide students with valuable career-related work experience in our public health agency.
FSIS is responsible for ensuring that the commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products moving in interstate
commerce or exported to other countries is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. Our public health
goal is to help reduce foodborne illness from products we regulate.
Under this agreement the student will be exposed to and receive training, time allowed, which will assist them
in preparing to assume roles in food safety and food security issues of the future. The conditions for the
acceptance of students under this program are as follows:
- The student's training is considered educationally-related and is in compliance with the provisions of
5 USC 3111. Under 5 USC 3111, a student volunteer is not a Federal employee for any purposes other than
injury compensation and law related to the Tort Claims Act. Service is not creditable for leave or
any other employee benefits.
- If we have a formal agreement with the student's CVM, this period with FSIS can go toward meeting the
elective credit requirements. The length of the externship week may vary from school to school and also
depends on the student's interests and availability, the learning objectives established, and course credit
requirements, if applicable.
The Colleges of Veterinary Medicine with whom we currently have formal VSP agreements in place are
(in the order they were signed):
- Mississippi State University CVM
- Michigan State University CVM
- University of Tennessee CVM
- University of Missouri CVM
- Iowa State University CVM
- University of Minnesota CVM
- Colorado State University CVM
- Virginia-Maryland Regional CVM
- Kansas State University CVM
- North Carolina State University CVM
- Tufts University CVM
- Cornell University CVM
- Tuskegee University CVM
- Oklahoma State University CVM
- Texas A & M University CVM
If we do not have a formal VSP agreement with the student's CVM, the student can still participate in this program
by signing a Student Agreement form.
The student will most likely be paired up with one of our Veterinary Medical Officers (Public Health Veterinarians) to
serve as their mentor during this experience. Our Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) will show students what our in-plant
PHVs do to ensure that meat and poultry products that reach the consuming public are safe, wholesome and correctly labeled.
If time is limited, then our main purpose will be to expose the student to the variety of roles PHVs have in our public
health regulatory agency. Time permitted, our Agency will expose the student to a variety of positions such as:
- Consumer Safety Officer
- Inspector In Charge
- District Veterinary Medical Specialist
- Frontline Supervisor
- District Office Staff
At a minimum, students will be asked to be available and commit to 1 week of full-time volunteer service during their
school break (summer, winter, senior year blocks etc.). If we have a formal VSP agreement in place with the student's CVM,
then student may need to commit to more weeks and other stipulations. It doesn't matter when the student starts, it just
depends on the student's schedule and the availability of the FSIS mentor. If a mentor is not available during the
student's availability, then we will work with the student on another location* option.
We have mentors in various locations throughout the country. However, please keep in mind that many of the locations are
in small towns. In order to match students with mentors, students will be asked where geographically they are interested
in working. The student's location will be determined based on their geographical interests and the availability of a
mentor in, or close to, that location. Since expenses will NOT be covered by FSIS, we suggest you try
to find a location where you can stay with family/friends or near your college.
If the location in which the student indicates interest, and is selected for, requires the student to relocate from their
current school location, FSIS will NOT be responsible for any travel or relocation expenses incurred
to and from duty station.
Please keep in mind that there is no guarantee that there will be a mentor available in the area student would like or
the dates student has available. Please contact laura.sepulveda@fsis.usda.gov
in or order to start this process or if you have any questions regarding the VSP.
Location - the geographic location (city and state) where the student
will spend their time.
How to Indicate Interest
Common Questions
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Last Modified:
November 8, 2010 |
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