A collaboration between Novato City Hall and the Dominican University could set a strong model for encouraging young people to pursue careers and involvement in public service.
Novato Mayor Josh Fryday compares the “Reimagining Citizenship” plan to a civilian mini-version of the GI Bill, a landmark program that provided men and women who served in our military forces with the promise of a college education.
Fryday and Dominican president Mary Marcy are the architects of the proposal. Fryday said he has been concerned that few young people are interested in getting involved in civic service. He says he wants to do something that helps rebuild public passion for getting involved, either as volunteers or as careers.
The promising collaboration between Novato and the university, which could be started as soon as next fall, would involve Novato high school graduates enrolling at Dominican, in the new program, which includes a $100,000 scholarship over four years and a two-summer program of working for the city, getting hands-on experience in government and public service.
Students would be paid $5,000 during the two summers they would be required to work for the city.
Ten students per year would be enrolled in the program, through which they get a scholarship and a career-centered college experience. City Hall gets an infusion of summer workers, committed to learning and getting on-the-job experience in local government. And Dominican gains students and a fulfillment of its goal of being a “community asset” in Marin.
The scholarships and paying summer jobs are huge incentives.
As Marcy points out, the program reflects the “Dominican experience,” providing a pathway for students to “make a difference in the community.”
We look forward to seeing the program’s promising results.
