Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistantship - Call for Applications

Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistantship - Call for Applications

Call for Applications for the Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistant (OFGA) 2018-2019
The Office of Fellowships seeks a doctoral candidate with an outstanding record of undergraduate mentorship to join them during the 2018-2019 academic year. The OFGA participates in all facets of the office’s interactions with undergraduates from individual advising and group discussions to application review and mock interviews.
At the end of the academic year, the OFGA’s learning outcomes include:
• facility with Oxbridge tutorial style essay review and interviews
• broad knowledge of external funding bodies and their priorities
• familiarity the relationship between academic and administrative office across the university

Please note TGS’s stipulations for this 20hr/week $2,683/month position:
• Student must be in good academic standing
• Student must have the approval of the program DGS and primary thesis advisor to accept the appointment
• Student may not be beyond their fifth year in the term of appointment
• Must be a TGS student

To apply, please review the detailed job description which follows then send a cover letter and resume to Elizabeth Pardoe by Tuesday, 29 May 2018 at 9am.

Position Description of the Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistant (OFGA)
1. Fall Quarter: The OFGA takes notes in Fulbright interviews as a way to familiarize him or herself with the nature of the application process as well as the particularities of fellowship writing and interview styles. The OFGA helps Fulbright candidates understand the nature of their interview feedback and assists with revisions. The OFGA participates in British Scholarship mock interviews and assists applicants for other awards as needed. At the end of the quarter, the OFGA participates in the Truman Scholarship nomination process.
2. Winter Quarter: The OFGA supports Truman nominees in their application preparations and any mock interviews for finalists. As the quarter progresses, the OFGA begins holding “Talent Search” intake meetings with high-potential, faculty-recommended students faculty. The OFGA participates in mock interviews for international and domestic internship-based awards such as the Clinton Fellowship for Service in India and the Congressional Hunger Fellowship. The OFGA coordinates the Senior Associate Director’s departmental workshops and arranges an evening event at which the TGS Presidential Fellows discuss graduate school with undergraduates considering further study.
3. Spring Quarter: Many winter quarter activities -- including Talent Search meetings, mock interviews, and workshop scheduling -- continue. In addition, the OFGA arranges an evening event to presents material from his or her dissertation suitable for discussion with an interdisciplinary, undergraduate audience. As the quarter concludes, the OFGA assists as we track winners across the university and honor them at a large event each May.

Learning and Tracking for the OFGA

1. Training/Pedagogical Methods
a. Academic: The OFGA spends fall quarter in participant observation of application reviews and interviews. At the transition from fall to winter quarter, the OFGA graduates to closely supervised interaction with undergraduate students, offering application feedback and fully participating in mock interviews. As the quarter progresses, the OFGA moves to conducting independent intake conversations with undergraduates, having already observed and learned the variety of opportunities available and the skills required to pursue them. By spring quarter, the OFGA is able to operate as an undergraduate fellowship adviser while honing interdisciplinary seminar teaching skills with their evening presentation.
b. Administrative: Fall quarter, the OFGA conducts research projects suitable to his or her interests, which have varied from assembling a calendar of graduate fellowship deadlines to researching the past winners of undergraduate Truman Scholars in preparation for the campus nomination process. Winter quarter, the OFGA assists the Senior Associate Director for Operations with surveying graduate programs and scheduling fellowship workshops in addition to coordinating the office’s ever-popular workshop on the nature of graduate study with the TGS Presidential Fellows. By Spring Quarter the OFGA is familiar with awards and able to help track winners and prepare materials for information sessions as well as the annual winner’s party.
2. Goals and Priorities
a. Academic: At the close of the year, the OFGA is a fully qualified undergraduate fellowships adviser. Because our advising sessions take the form of Oxbridge tutorials, our OFGAs are extraordinarily well prepared to teach in small, interdisciplinary settings.
b. Administrative: The OFGA develops a broad and deep knowledge of academic funding and institutional structures through interaction with external funding bodies’ applications and outreach to all segments of the university (as our office recruits student applicants and faculty committee members).
3. Mentorship: The OFGA interacts with all members of staff, which include four PhDs (from across Arts, Humanities, STEM, and Social Sciences) and an MA in International Education, gaining knowledge of all their domains. The Director tracks the OFGA’s activities across the office, answers queries as needed, and holds individual consultations. During the Truman process, the Director holds joint advising sessions with the OFGA and the university’s nominees as intensive training and feedback prior to the OFGA’s individual meetings with students. The Senior Associate Director for Operations serves as the main point of contact on scheduling and data projects in the later portion of the year.
4. Expectations and Feedback: The OFGA attends monthly staff meeting at which all members of the office provide updates on activities and distribute pending tasks. Feedback is ongoing as the OFGA works in close partnership with the staff. In addition, the Director has quarterly meetings with the OFGA to discuss their activities.