The Futures Initiative is seeking three Graduate Center doctoral students in any field for 2018-2019 fellowships.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: Applications are due February 9, 2018.

These are one-year positions, renewable for up to three years. We are seeking three new fellows for 2018-2019: a HASTAC Scholars Director, a Communications Specialist, and a Research Analyst/Web Developer. We aim to build a team that is diverse in every way. Doctoral students who have backgrounds underrepresented in the academy are especially encouraged to apply.

Graduate Fellows are at the heart of the Futures Initiative, and the work we do is designed to support our mission and the professional goals of every Fellow. Our past fellows have gone on to do meaningful, inspiring work, both in the academy and beyond. In the same way that we advocate peer-to-peer communities online, peer mentorship, and student-centered learning in the classroom, so are we organized around the ideal of peer administration and peer leadership as the basis of agency and activism in the development of future leaders of a more equitable society and system of higher education.

Futures Initiative Fellowships offer a total compensation of $28,128 for 2018-2019. The FI Fellowship has two components: a graduate assistant appointment and a financial aid fellowship. The graduate assistant appointment carries eligibility to purchase low-cost NYSHIP health insurance and offers in-state tuition remission for Fellows who are within their first 10 registered semesters of study. Fellows are required to work 450 hours for the academic year/225 hours per semester. This translates into 15 hours of work per week during each 15-week semester. Determinations of re-appointments are made on an annual basis depending on individual eligibility and GC needs.

Please apply using this form by February 9, 2018. A CV is also required and should be emailed to futuresinitiative@gc.cuny.edu.

About the Futures Initiative

The Futures Initiative leads a wide range of initiatives supporting equity, innovation, engaged pedagogy, leadership for change, support of public higher education, and the use and development of technologies that enable these goals within the CUNY community and beyond.

Our current collaborations include the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-sponsored Humanities Alliance (in partnership with the GC’s Teaching and Learning Center and LaGuardia Community College) and the Leadership, Liberal Arts, and the New Majority (a leadership and peer mentoring program, initially funded by the Teagle Foundation, that extends throughout the entire CUNY community). Other key partners within CUNY include the Teaching and Learning Center, the GC Digital Fellows Program, the Office of Educational Opportunity and Diversity, and the Office of Career Planning and Professional Development.

We amplify our mission beyond CUNY through co-leadership with Arizona State University of the international open online network HASTAC (“haystack”): Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory). HASTAC is dedicated to “Changing the Way We Teach and Learn” with commitment to a second social and technology mission: “Difference is not our deficit. It’s our operating system.” A free and open community, HASTAC is a platform that allows any of its 15,000+ members to have a voice, to contribute, and to emerge as a leader.

Goals and Contributions of All Futures Initiative Fellows

• Be a valued member of a supportive team that prizes mentorship, growth, and leadership with a core mission of innovation founded on equity and a commitment to meaningful social and institutional change
• Have a key voice in a visionary organization that is working toward meaningful institutional and cultural change in higher education
• Gain skills in project management, events planning, leadership, communications, grant development, social media and web support, and programmatic support that will serve you in whatever career goals you aspire to
• Connect meaningfully with the CUNY and HASTAC communities
• Contribute to the program’s engagement with the public, including by regularly sharing and communicating relevant research, events, and opportunities via our various communications networks and platforms
• Build an ongoing portfolio of your contribution as a graduate student and an FI Fellow through monthly blog post communicating your research, teaching, and community experiences
• Participate in and co-lead weekly team meetings and assist with the designing and building of the program
• Assume leadership roles for running the program, including events and weekly meetings
• Share skills with one another and with others at the Graduate Center

Current Openings

HASTAC Scholars Director

• Lead the international network of graduate and undergraduate students in the HASTAC Scholars network
• Help to recruit new HASTAC Scholars, especially from members of HASTAC’s leadership, as well as institutions that have been involved in past years
• Expand the HASTAC Scholars community through outreach to HBCU’s, regional colleges, and community colleges
• Communicate regularly with HASTAC Scholars through various communication channels
• Help Scholars to cultivate project ideas from inception to fruition
• Develop ways that Scholars can connect more deeply with the Futures Initiative’s work and vice versa
• Share announcements with the Scholars community and encourage Scholars to do the same
• Update the HASTAC website and social media with new Scholars content as appropriate
• Create, maintain, and archive documentation related to processes and procedures, including Scholars Handbook
• Work closely with FI Leadership Fellows Co-Director and Humanities Alliance Director to develop undergraduate and CUNY-centered initiatives
• Develop new modes of connecting with and tracking outcomes for alumni
• Participate in biweekly HASTAC staff meetings
• Stay informed about initiatives and priorities of HASTAC@ASU partners

Communications Specialist

• Develop a robust social media strategy (including a metrics strategy) to maximize the reach of the Futures Initiative’s work, both within the CUNY community and beyond
• Curate and edit content for the Futures Initiative’s monthly newsletter. Content may include announcements and blog posts from FI fellows, faculty, peer mentors, and staff as well as announcements, events, and more from affiliated groups at CUNY and beyond
• Contribute a carefully curated selection of material to the monthly HASTAC newsletter for national distribution
• Collaborate with other FI Fellows on graphic materials for print and online distribution
• Post events, news, reflections, and other updates on futuresinitiative.org (built using CBOX – WordPress/BuddyPress) and hastac.org (a Drupal site)
• Cultivate outreach and connection with individuals and communities beyond the Graduate Center
• Recognize, encourage, and support knowledge production from both within and beyond the academy
• Highlight and celebrate the voices of individuals in historically marginalized groups
• Note: the position requires some fluency in Adobe Creative Suite; a background that includes visual design work is desirable

Research Analyst and Web Developer

• Develop a key research question for the year that relates to the Futures Initiative’s priorities and that helps examine the program’s impact and opportunities for growth
• Conduct research and analysis in content areas relevant to the Futures Initiative’s goals
• Meaningfully report on the research conducted through written reports, blog posts, and/or data visualizations
• Contribute to the administration of a multi-site network (futuresinitiative.org) using the Commons In A Box platform, built on WordPress and BuddyPress
• Evaluate site analytics and make suggestions for site improvements
• Present on areas of digital expertise, including the Futures Initiative’s use of technology, in public venues such as blog posts, conferences, and journals
• Provide technical support, documentation and digital guidance for City University of New York students
• Participate in program outreach
• Offer guidance and ideas on design for futuresinitiative.org and hastac.org
• The position requires familiarity with tools for data visualization and design
• Some fluency in Adobe Creative Suite as well as other web design software is also desirable