The Foreign Service Journal, May 2020

64 MAY 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Outreach to Students, Professors and the AFSA Community On Feb. 24 and 25, AFSA Pres- ident Eric Rubin appeared at Dartmouth College’s John Sloan Dickey Center for Inter- national Understanding for a packed schedule of visits with students, faculty, staff and the local community. Ambassador Rubin met with postdoctoral fellows and undergraduate students in international relations courses. He also spoke with the student editorial board of World Outlook , Dartmouth’s undergraduate journal of international affairs, which publishes two editions a year and maintains a blog and pod- cast for discussion of current international issues. Amb. Rubin was also interviewed for “The Outlook,” the podcast produced by the World Outlook student staff, about the role of the Foreign Service and careers in foreign affairs. In addition to classroom visits and conversations with students and faculty, Amb. Rubin gave a talk on “The Future of American Diplomacy” to an audience of students and members of the community, including several Foreign Service retirees. He was introduced by Director of the Dickey Center Daniel Benjamin, who joined Amb. Rubin for the Q&A following the talk. On March 5, inWash- ington, Amb. Rubin hosted his first webinar with AFSA retiree members settled across the United States and the world. The webinar format is intended to offer a virtual town hall for the AFSA presi- dent to share the work AFSA is doing in support of our membership and the Foreign Service as a whole. Amb. Rubin provided an update on AFSA’s advocacy work on Capitol Hill and with our member agency leader- ship, upcoming outreach ini- tiatives and AFSA’s response to current events affecting members. Participants were invited to ask questions. AFSA aims to schedule webinars with Amb. Rubin quarterly and invites all retired members to join the conversation. Also in March, Amb. Rubin spoke at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The event provided an opportunity for AFSA to engage with students and fac- ulty on the role of the Foreign Service as the platform for U.S. global engagement. n AFSA President Eric Rubin speaks on Feb. 24 to a class of Dartmouth College students. AFSA President Eric Rubin participates in a roundtable with Dartmouth College students. LARSBLACKMORE LARSBLACKMORE NEWS BRIEF CONT I NUOUS DOMEST I C SERV I CE : S I X-YEAR RULE EL IMI NATED AFSAwas pleased to see the recent change in the assignment rules that did away with the six-year limit on service in the United States. This will provide more flexibility for those who, for example, may need to take care of elderly parents, or who want to see their children through high school. The eight-year limit remains in place because it is enshrined in Section 504 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, which also encourages the assignment of a member of the Foreign Service to duty in the United States at least once every 15 years. Please see 20 STATE 27828 for more information on this welcome change. n