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Call for Applications for the Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistant (OFGA) 2021-2022

May 17, 2021

The Office of Fellowships seeks a doctoral candidate with an outstanding record of undergraduate mentorship to join them during the 2021–22 academic year.  The Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistant (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 with the relationship between academic and administrative offices across the university

Please note TGS’s stipulations for this 20hr/week $2,848/month position:

  • Must be a TGS student
  • Student must be in good academic standing
  • Student must have the written approval of the program DGS and primary thesis advisor to accept the appointment
  • Student may not be beyond their seventh year in the term of appointment

To apply, please review the detailed job description that follows, then send a cover letter and resume to e-pardoe@northwestern.edu. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis.

Position Description of the Office of Fellowships Graduate Assistant (OFGA)

  1. Fall Quarter: The OFGA takes notes in Fulbright interviews to get familiar 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 The OFGA assumes control of the office Twitter feed and focuses it on information of use to fellow graduate students.
  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. The OFGA participates in mock interviews for awards such as the AIF Banyan Impact Fellowship, the Congressional Hunger Fellowship, and the Fulbright Student Program. 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
  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 present material from their 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

Learning and Tracking for the OFGA

  1. Training/Pedagogical Methods
    1. Academic: The OFGA spends fall quarter in participant observation of application reviews and interviews. At the transition from fall to winter quarter, the OFGA closely supervises 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
    2. Administrative: Fall quarter, the OFGA conducts research projects suitable to their 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 winners
  2. Goals and Priorities
    1. 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
    2. 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
  4. Expectations and Feedback: The OFGA attends regular staff meetings 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

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