Author Archives: Linda Mayhew

All-Honors Park Cleanup Volunteer Event

Hi everyone! UT honors programs are coming together on March 5th from 8:30am-12:00pm to clean up Blunn Creek Nature Preserve! This is our second year participating in It’s My Park Day and we would love to have as much LAH participation as possible. You can

sign up for the event by using the link below. Specify that you are registering with another group by making an account and then clicking “Yes – Browse groups,” and selecting “UT All-Honors Volunteering Event.” Here’s the link:

https://austinparks.givepulse.com/event/15117-Blunn-Preserve-Its-My-Blunn-Preserve-Day

As the website specifies, the work includes restoring and improving the Preserve with invasive removal, native plantings, litter cleanup, and other work. It is also recommended that you wear closed-toe shoes, a hat, long pants, and gloves and bring a water

bottle. Get excited to mingle with other honors programs and plant lots of trees!

2016-17 Brumley Next Generation Fellows and Scholars

The Strauss Center is very pleased to announce the call for applications for the 2016-17 Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows and Undergraduate Scholars programs. These unique opportunitues provide research training and mentorships to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. The program is made possible by the generous support of Jon and Rebecca Brumley.

Graduate Students: Next Generation Fellows

The mission of the Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows program is to provide a transformative experience for UT graduate students from an array of disciplines, accelerating their path towards career success with an emphasis on building professional and scholarly skills and networks. Selection is not merely honorific; students selected for the Brumley Next Generation Graduate Fellows program will participate in the life of the Strauss Center, and receive support, in several ways:

Research, writing, and professional mentorship: First, each graduate student selected to be a Fellow will be linked to one of the Strauss Center’s many current research programs (based on the preferences expressed by the student in his or her application). More specifically, each Fellow will be paired with a Distinguished Scholar associated with that particular program. Under that scholar’s guidance, and backed by the financial support detailed below, the Fellow will conduct their own research and writing project(s). The Strauss Center scholar also will serve as a professional mentor, advising on career matters.

Graduate Fellows Colloquium: The Graduate Fellow Colloquium is a monthly luncheon during which Fellows and Strauss Center Distinguished Scholars will convene for two purposes: ongoing discussion of one another’s work, and engagement in a private setting with a visiting policymaker, practitioner, or scholar (selected by the Fellows themselves) in order to discuss both substantive issues and career development.

Resources: Fellows will receive a fellowship stipend in the amount of $2,500 for the 2016-17 academic year. Fellows will also be eligible to apply for funding to support travel for conferences, research, and other scholarly or professional activities.

Participation in Other Aspects of Strauss Center Life: Fellows are expected to maintain a deep level of engagement with the Strauss Center, including by selecting a speaker on their relevant research topic for a Strauss Center public talk and acting as co-host for that speaker’s visit.

Undergraduate Students: Next Generation Scholars

The Strauss Center launched the Next Generation Scholars (NGS) program in 2010 with the goal of providing new research and mentorship opportunities for promising UT undergraduate students interested in careers in international security and law. Through a partnership with the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, this program now also includes a focus on civic engagement, expanding the reach of the program by engaging more students and involving faculty members on a wider range of local, national, and international policy issues. Involving undergraduates in international affairs and civic engagement early in their career is an important part of the Strauss and RGK Centers’ missions to prepare the next generation of leaders to help develop solutions to the most pressing public policy challenges.

Program Components

This one-year program includes two key components: First, students will take a 3-credit research training and professional development course, taught in the Fall of 2016. This course is designed to introduce students to policy work, including basic skills in policy research, analysis, and writing. Students will be trained on designing research strategies and proposals, conducting policy analysis, writing resumes and statements of purpose, crafting op-eds and blog posts, and planning for the steps in their career development. This course will be led by Dr. Michael Mosser, Lecturer in the Department of Government, International Relations and Global Studies, and the Center for European Studies, and a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar.

Second, the program also matches each selected student with a research agenda underway by a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar or RGK Center Faculty Fellow to provide opportunities to directly engage in policy-relevant research and practice skills taught in the fall course. Students who perform well in the research training course in the fall will be eligible to then continue as a paid research intern for their respective faculty members at the Strauss or RGK Center in Spring 2016. Students promoted to full intern positions will be expected to commit approximately ten hours per week during the spring semester and will earn a stipend of $500 for the spring semester. Students may use this stipend for independent research, travel to a study abroad program or summer internship, travel to a professional conference, or other experiential and scholarly pursuits approved by Dr. Mosser. Funding permitting, and contingent on positive performance evaluations, students may have the possibility of continuing as research interns at the Strauss or RGK Center after the year-long Next Generation Scholars program concludes.

Please see the attached documents for application information. The application deadline both the Brumley Next Generation Fellows and Scholars programs is March 25, 2016. For more information about the programs, please contact Anne Clary at anneclary@austin.utexas.edu.

Volunteers Needed for MDA Summer Camp

Event: Volunteers Needed for MDA Summer Camp

Event deadline: April 25, 2016

Contact:

Jasmin Sheth

jasminsheth12@utexas.edu

Event summary:

     Texas MDA is looking for dedicated and service-minded volunteers to serve as camp counselors for kids with muscular dystrophy at MDA summer camps. This experience is life-changing as counselors build meaningful relationships and assist campers as they zip line, canoe, fish, and swim, amongst many other camp activities these kids look forward to all year. Counselors gain experience in healthcare, social work, and public health and will receive 165 service hours. Camp dates are June 4-11, 2016, and July 9-16, 2016. If you are interested in applying or would like more information, please email Jasmin Sheth at jasminsheth12@utexas.edu.

     If this is a great opportunity for the members of your student organization and would like to schedule a short presentation at one of your meetings, please email Jasmin Sheth.

LAH Study Abroad Scholarship

The Liberal Arts Honors Program will award scholarships in varying amounts to support LAH students and Humanities majors who will be studying abroad.  An LAH student may apply for this scholarship by writing a one-page statement of his or her study abroad plans. The statement should include where and what the student will be studying, the projected cost involved, and the role that study abroad and the mastery of a foreign language plays in the student’s academic and career goals.

Now is the time to apply for Liberal Arts Honors Study Abroad Scholarships! Deadlines are: 5:00 pm March 1 for Fall and Summer.

Please submit your application online through the study abroad online scholarship application, Global Assist and select “Get Started”. The website will prompt you to set up an online profile and show you a list of scholarships which criteria you meet. If you are applying for a study abroad program not affiliated with UT, please enter program code 300999.

Both LAH students and Humanities majors are eligible to apply for the LAH Study Abroad scholarship. Please contact the LAH office with any questions.

Orange Jackets Event: Women Inspiring Lifelong Leaders

 Every year, Orange Jackets host the Week of Women, a week long eventthrough which we aspire to highlight the accomplishments of women from not only our campus but also the larger community. This year, our theme for the week is “Empower from Within” and  we are excited to introduce W.I.L.L –  Women Inspiring Lifelong Leaders – a panel discussion and informal networking event focused on empowering freshman college students to embrace themselves, follow their passion, and serve their community during their next few years at the University. On the panel will be: Julie Casey, Rebecca Rosen, Lyn C. Wiltshire, Catherine Weaver, and Stephanie Gharakhanian.

See the attached pdf for more information: WILL Bio

FULBRIGHT GRANT INFO SESSIONS

Wednesday, March 2

4-5pm in CLA 1.106

&

Friday, April 8

4-5pm in CLA 1.106

 

Fulbright awards graduating seniors, recent graduates and alumni to travel for academic work in all disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, and the performing and creative arts.  A number of countries also offer grants for those who wish to serve as English teaching assistants.

If your students aren’t quite ready, the competition happens every year, and we’d like to put the Fulbright Program in exceptional students’ minds as a goal to strive for after graduation!  Fulbright@austin.utexas.edu

The Fine Print:

The 2017-2018 Fulbright U.S. Student competition will open on March 31, 2016.  The Fulbright U.S. Student program is open to graduate students at all levels, undergraduates who will have completed their degree by the beginning of the grant period (for most countries, Sept. 1, 2017) and alumni who hold a bachelor’s degree.  The program is restricted to U.S. citizens.  The grants are for study and research abroad, and are available for most countries.  Grants are awarded for all disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, and the performing and creative arts.  A number of countries also offer grants for those who wish to serve as English teaching assistants.

Information sessions and Q & A for prospective applicants will be held Wednesday, March 2 and Friday April 8 in CLA 1.106.

 

Deadlines and Procedures:

1.  The applicant should go to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program website

(http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html) for country summaries, information about preparing an application, and, starting March 31, to begin the online application process.

 

2.  The applicant should also review our campus website:

http://world.utexas.edu/abroad/funding/scholarships/fulbright

 

3. Potential applicants should register with us by beginning an application in the Embark Application System.

 

4.  Campus Deadline: The applicant must submit a preliminary application through the Embark Online Application system by 5 PM on September 8, 2016. Interviews with the Fulbright Campus Committee are tentatively scheduled between September 19 and September 30. 

 

5. National Deadline: Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 4pm Central time.

 For the most recent statistical year (2014-15), UT Austin was ranked as a Top Producing School, with 13 of our 57 applicants receiving the award. As a Fulbrighter myself (Brazil, 1990), I can testify to the lifelong value of this extraordinary program, and I am hoping that we can make that experience available to our students as well.

Best,

Lindsay Hale, Ph.D.

University Extension | Continuing Education

Chair, Fulbright U.S. Student Program Campus Committee

 

STUDY ABROAD IN RIO – EXTENDED DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 22nd

EXTENDED DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 22nd

2016 SUMMER STUDY ABROAD

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Black Diaspora in the Americas

June 5 – July 1, 2016

Info about the program: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/llilas/student-programs/study-abroad.php

Course dates are June 5th through July 1st, 2016. Application extended deadline is Feb. 22nd. During the program, students will volunteer with the NGO Criola and its affiliates. Criola serves black women, teenagers and girls in Rio de Janeiro. Students receive 3 credits for LAS W324L/ANT W324/AFR W321 (undergraduate) or ANT 391 (graduate) – Black Diaspora in the Americas. Students are also required to take ANT W379 – Research in Black Diaspora. Scholarships available through CoLA, AADS, LLILAS and others.

Associate Professor Vargas is a native Brazilian who has worked for over 15 years on gendered dynamics of race in both Brazil and the United States. He has collaborated with Criola on this program for almost a decade.

To learn more about the program and application requirements, please contact Carla Silva-Muhammad, program coordinator.

Academic Counselors Association 2016 Student Development Scholarship

The Academic Counselors Association (ACA) is proud to offer $300 scholarships to University of Texas at Austin students who support the vision and values of the academic advising community. It is the hope of ACA that these scholarships will assist students in their academic pursuits and endeavors.

Eligibility requirements: Candidates must be undergraduate students who assist in advising or other academic/student support services and have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 (to be verified by the ACA Awards and Recognition Committee). 

To apply for this award, please follow the instructions on our 2016 Student Development Scholarship online application. Please note that the application will require you to upload an application document. 

Questions? Please contact Christine Anderson at canderson@austin.utexas.edu. 

CALL FOR TRAVEL GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR STUDY ABROAD IN LATIN AMERICA!!

The Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies is now offering a number of travel scholarships for study abroad in Latin America, both for summer 2016 and for academic year 2016-2017.  For summer 2016, we are offering eight $2,500 travel scholarships.  Students must attend degree-granting institutions in Latin America this coming summer and return with at least six hours of college credit.  For academic year 2016-2017, we will award six $5,000 travel scholarships for semester-long study abroad in Latin America.  Awardees must attend degree-granting institutions in Latin America and return with at least 12 hours of college credit.  

Applications and letters of recommendation are due on March 7, 2015, without exception.  Please follow the link to the scholarship portal:

http://bit.ly/WNaeWm

Senate AIS Scholarship

My name is Jeremy Doran and I am an at-large representative from the Senate of College Councils. Every year, our committee, Recruitment and Retention, gives out two $500 scholarships to two hardworking students who have shown significant improvement in their academics. Students who are qualified for this are those who have attended at least 2 semesters at UT and could be a sophomore, junior, or senior. The student must have had at least a 2.75 GPA two semesters ago and have improved significantly the next semester (GPA-wise). We also look at how the students utilized campus resources to help them improve their GPA. The due date of the application is Wednesday, March 2nd at 11:59pm.

Attached below is the application for the scholarship. The application also requires an unofficial transcript and must be submitted to senateacademicimprovement@gmail.com.