The Futures Initiative is seeking applications from Graduate Center doctoral students in any field for 2020-2021 fellowships. These are one-year positions, and may be renewed for one additional year (two additional years for students who have not received five-year GC fellowships). We are seeking one or more new fellows for 2020-2021, depending on program needs and funding, and therefore the specific duties are still somewhat in flux. 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 approximately $28,128. 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 April 30, 2020. A CV is also required and should be emailed to futuresinitiative@gc.cuny.edu.

About the Futures Initiative

The Futures Initiative is an incubator that designs and implements 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, BMCC, Guttman Community College, Hostos Community College, and LaGuardia Community College) and the Leadership Fellows program (a CUNY-wide undergraduate leadership and peer mentoring program, initially funded by the Teagle Foundation and currently partnering with the Promise and Perils of Democracy Project supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York). Other key partners within CUNY include the Teaching and Learning Center, the GC Digital Fellows Program, the PublicsLab, 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 Dartmouth College 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 17,500+ 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 Opening

Please note: Specific responsibilities may vary depending on program needs and funding.

Website and Content Manager

• – Support website development, administration, and maintenance on futuresinitiative.org (built using CBOX – WordPress/BuddyPress) and hastac.org (a Drupal site)
• – Post events, news, reflections, and other updates on futuresinitiative.org and hastac.org, and ensure content featured on both sites is up-to-date
• – Collaborate with other FI Fellows on graphic materials for print and online distribution
• – Review and update relevant Wikipedia entries related to the organization
• – Work with other team members to ensure events, news, and achievements are communicated to constituents and publicized adequately in traditional and social media
• – Offer guidance and ideas on design for futuresinitiative.org and hastac.org
• – Evaluate site analytics and other markers of traffic and engagement, and make suggestions for improvements to the website and communications
• – 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 site users
• – 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

Other roles may also be available.