Archives for March 2015

Skillpoint Alliance is a 501(c)3 social enterprise that builds partnerships among industry, education and the community, leading to college and career success for Central Texans, while meeting employers’ needs for a qualified workforce.

The Skillpoint Alliance Velocity Programs provide high school students with over 120 hours of relevant, hands-on work experience and exposure to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Teams of 20 rising juniors and seniors form a consulting company and work for an actual client on a real world problem.

Students in Velocity Prep work full-time for four weeks during the summer to earn a stipend. Working with the client and other experts, participant’s research, plan, develop, and present deliverables to address the client’s real-world problem in a hands-on setting.

Do you have a passion for working with students? Want more experience working in project-based environments? This internship is looking for enthusiastic individuals that want to engage students in STEM and serve the community.

The Project Facilitator collaborates with Skillpoint Alliance staff to ensure Velocity Prep program delivery. The facilitator is responsible for preparing for the program, facilitating each meeting time, and helping students organize their project and workflow to develop an effective solution.

The Facilitator manages logistics and works with both the host school and external partners to ensure program success. In turn, the Facilitator will gain valuable experience by working directly with an industry client, serving as project manager for a large group and experimenting with facilitating in a project-based environment. Sample projects include: working on helping students to design viable power solutions, design civil engineering solutions, or to design mobile applications.

Responsibilities:
• Attend Velocity Facilitator Orientation
• Create desired outcomes and evaluation procedures for project;
• Define student workflow, establish metrics, deliverables, and other processes for measuring project progress;
• Manage student expectations, maintaining student schedule, instituting accountability measures and addressing student motivation and performance issues as necessary;
• Serve as “sounding board” for student brainstorming and ideas;
• Serve as student role model by modeling productive work habits, positive attitude and effective professional relationships;
• Coordinate student engagement with industry/subject matter experts (e.g. site tours, guest lectures);
• Manage documentation for all Velocity Capstone program operations;
• Prepare a summary report describing project goals, accomplishments, student outcomes, expenditures, and suggestions for improvement ;
• Oversee the development of written and presentation deliverables including, but not limited to: business plans, and PowerPoint presentations;
• Engage students in discussion and research relevant to the project at hand.
• Additional Responsibilities as assigned by Velocity Program Lead

Required Skills

Location and Schedule

• Spring: Flexible planning time spent working remotely
• Summer: 4 Weeks, 40 hours per week | 8am – 4pm, M- F | Austin area high schools
• $1,500 stipend per Velocity Prep (four weeks)

To apply:
• Please submit your resume along with a cover letter highlighting your career interests to resumes@skillpointalliance.org with “STEM Project Facilitator” in the subject line.