MDARD-MSU Speaker and Writing Workshop Series Coordinator

Would you like to gain experience in leading a program and team, coordinating speakers and creating a schedule, and collecting & analyzing data? Are you interested in working for the MSU Graduate School in coordinating a program with the Michigan state government and the Colleges of Arts and Letters, Social Science, and Natural Science? 

This opportunity is open to graduate students who will graduate in the next year from a program in any of these three colleges: Colleges of Arts and Letters, Social Science, and Natural Science. (Note: Familiarity with the Citizen Scholar Program is preferred.)

You will work as part of a pilot program to serve MSU students interested in non-academic careers. This project teams up the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) in a reciprocal program where MDARD staff will educate and support MSU students interested in applying for governmental positions AND MSU will provide DEI training and institutional design support to MDARD.

 What is involved to become the MDARD-MSU Speaker and Writing Workshop Series Coordinator:

  • Coordinating and leading in facilitator meetings (3-5 over the semester). You will report to the Director of PhD Career Development, Julie Rojewski
  • Working with your counterpart at the MDARD to help coordinate the MSU speakers for MDARD and the MDARD speakers for MSU.Likewise, you will help create, coordinate, and communicate the schedule for the speakers at MSU and the online platform meeting rooms for participants and audiences.
  • Providing support and troubleshooting for the Workshop Coordinators at each of the three colleges
  • Writing a compilation report using the information collected from: the start and end of pilot survey, the Workshop Coordinator reports (collected and submitted by participants and Workshop Coordinators), and any other data collected; the report will focus on achievements, goals and recommendations made by all the participants of the pilot
  • Designing the surveys used to college the start and end of pilot surveys, as well as other methods of evaluation to be used throughout the events of the program
  • Responsible for communication and organizational tasks as needed to meet the goals of the pilot 
  • Designing a training seminar for faculty and staff on how to support graduate students on the non-academic job market (to be done at the end of the pilot)
  • Market materials for the pilot to graduate students and circulate it to the three participating Colleges and Citizen Scholars to circulate among the students
  • Market the faculty and staff training within the three participating Colleges
  • Designing the surveys used to college the start and end of pilot surveys
  • Encouraging members to participate in pilot surveys at the start and end of the program

What you get:

  • Practice in the transferable skills of project management, data analysis, team building, communication, collaboration, leadership, facilitating writing group meetings, providing feedback, and working on your own job-materials writing and application process while providing support for other writers and job seekers
  • The ability to better understand and talk about the diversity of writing that occurs in your discipline and how it applies outside of academe
  • A better understanding of transferable skills attained and can use in the job market
  • Better awareness of applying for non-academic positions and how to express the skills gained in the pursuit of your degree to a non-academic market
  • An opportunity to interact with other job-seeking students in your college
  • A $6,400 fellowship for the semester for fulfilling the Coordinator responsibilities and duties 

Who is eligible:

  • Late-stage graduate students in any field in any of the three colleges participating in this pilot session (CAL, CSS, and CNS) and who can commit to the program for the summer semester

How to apply

  • Write a cover letter (no more than 500 words) outlining:
  1. Where you are in your PhD requirements and why you are interested in looking for non-academic positions upon completing your program
  2. How this fellowship will help you and what you will bring to the fellowship
  3. What kinds of writing experience do have and how much experience you have project management, data analysis, and team leadership can you bring to the position?
  4. How will you make sure you meet the requirements of this fellowship over the summer semester
  5. Briefly propose how you plan to organize and lead this project with the Director of PhD Career Development 
  • Send your cover letter and a copy of your CV via e-mail (with subject line “Writing Workshop Leader“ + your college, be it CAL, CNS, or CSS) to Handshake. 
  • Deadline for applications by noon on March 29