Day: November 8, 2011

DOE Graduate Fellowship Program NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) established the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE SCGF) Program (http://scgf.orau.gov/overview.html) in 2009 to support outstanding students to pursue graduate training in basic research in areas of physics, biology (non-medical), chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computer and computational sciences, and environmental sciences relevant to the Office of Science and to encourage the development of the next generation of scientific and technical talent in the U.S who will pursue careers in research critical to the Office of Science mission at DOE laboratories and in academia.

The fellowship award provides partial tuition support, an annual stipend for living expenses, and a research allowance for full-time graduate study and thesis/dissertation research at an accredited college or university in the United States or its territories for three years.

DOE Fellows receive a yearly stipend (for up to 3 years) of $35,000.  Additional benefits are listed here: http://scgf.orau.gov/benefits.html

You are eligible to apply if one of the following circumstances applies to you at the time of applying:

  • You are an undergraduate senior, planning to apply to qualified graduate programs (see below) this year and be enrolled by Fall 2012.
  • You are a first year or second year Master’s or Ph.D. student in a qualified graduate program.
  • You are in your last year of a BS/MS program and plan to be enrolled in a qualified Ph.D. program by Fall 2012.
  • You are not currently enrolled in a graduate program, but have been accepted into a qualified graduate program that will begin in the Spring or Fall of 2012.
  • You have completed your undergraduate degree and are not currently enrolled in a graduate program, but plan to apply to qualified graduate programs and be enrolled in Fall 2012.

Applicants to the DOE SCGF program must meet all of the requirements in the following areas to be eligible to apply:

  • Minimum age and U.S. citizenship
  • Academic Status
  • Enrollment in a Qualified Graduate Program
  • Other Federal Graduate Fellowships

You are NOT eligible to apply if one or any combination of the following describe your graduate education status:

  • You will be in your third year of a Master’s program in Fall 2012.
  • You have completed more than 6 semesters/9 quarters (*) of cumulative graduate work at the time of applying.
  • You have completed more than 3 semesters/5 quarters (*) of cumulative graduate work in a Ph.D. program at the time of applying.
  • You seek to pursue a second Ph.D. degree.
  • You are currently in your second Master’s degree program and will not be in a qualified Ph.D. program by Fall 2012.

*Full or part-time

Creating a Veteran-friendly Campus

When Jillian Richards came to Michigan Tech from the military, she traded discipline for self-discipline, regimen for free time, camaraderie for aloneness. The changes have been “a culture shock,” she says.

A native of Stevensville, Richards, 26, served eight years in the Army. Now she is a junior in civil engineering, and the transition from military to civilian life has been difficult. So much so, she sought counseling for insomnia and questioned whether getting out of the military was the right thing to do. Civilian life is a different world for her.

Consider: In the military, she was told, “This is what you have to learn, and this is how you’re going to learn it.” In college, she must be more self-directed. “We have to relearn how to learn,” she says.

Consider, too: In the military, there is a tight buddy system. “We looked out for each other. We trusted each other. We were brothers and sisters. Here I’m on my own. It’s frustrating.”

Then she stumbled on a fellow veteran at a birthday party. They started talking. “We were both frustrated with classes and other students,” she says. “I vented to him. He was someone who understood.”  The company of a compatriot buoyed her. She’s sleeping better these days and is now the president of the Student Veterans Organization.  The primary goal of the group, which has about 20 regulars, is to find a resource room where veterans can gather to meet, hang out and do homework together. “It would be good for our well-being,” Richards says. “Reaffirm we’re all doing the right thing.”

An estimated 200,000 soldiers a year are leaving the military, some returning home from war. Many will go to college on the GI Bill, which covers eight semesters of tuition, fees and books. (Veterans can transfer these benefits to their children.)  Against this backdrop, efforts are underway to make Michigan Tech a veteran-friendly campus.

It’s a distinct mission: veterans are older, more experienced, more mature, and often are married with families; as well, some are saddled with combat experience and suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Rob Bishop, who is an advisor to the campus veterans group, says he would never have made it through college without a veteran-mentor. He hosted a webinar in late October for the campus; it addressed the needs of student-veterans.

The message: Veterans make good employees, but they don’t know it. They’re focused, reliable, good leaders and adept at teamwork, but they struggle to market themselves. They need to be confident that a leader in Iraq makes a leader in a corporation, that it’s not a big jump to go from being an artillery spotter to a student of physics.

Kathy Pintar, registration coordinator, is the point person who certifies benefits for veterans and monitors their academic progress.  “We, as a campus, have a lot more to learn and do to embrace these veterans,” she says.  She reports that there were 44 veterans on campus in spring 2009; now there are 86, ranging in age from 20 to 50.

Since 2008, Michigan Tech offers in-state tuition to out-of-state students who are the offspring or spouse of a person on active US military duty. Tech is also a “yellow-ribbon school”—a federal designation for a program where Tech commits $2,500, which the government matches, to help offset the tuition of nonresident students. Tech also provides veterans and current military personnel with a National Service Graduate Fellowship—a program initiated by the Graduate School to provide a tuition award to those who have provided service to our country.

Other initiatives are planned:

  • Holding a special session at Orientation to direct veterans to Tech’s wide array of student services, as well as their GI Bill benefits.
  • Steering them to the Veterans Hospital in Iron Mountain and local mental health providers.
  • Encouraging veterans in the larger community to connect with student-veterans.
  • Helping faculty learn to spot veterans who are suffering from PTSD.

Some plans are substantive; some are symbolic: In January, there will be a military appreciation night at a hockey game to recognize all veterans and ROTC cadets. Starting in December, veterans will sport red, white and blue honor cords at commencement, a salute to their service to the country. All of it is not only helpful, it’s good business. Says Bishop: “If we can create a network and an opportunity, we can become a destination for vets.”

Published in Tech Today.

Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship

The Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship program awards $330,000 annually to 56 Fellowship recipients: 51 Fellowships at $5,000 each and 5 Fellowships at $15,000 each. The Fellowship program is designed to provide support to active Phi Kappa Phi members as they prepare to enter their first year of graduate or professional studies in the upcoming 2012-2013 academic year. Eligible applicants cannot have earned more than nine (9) semester hours of graduate/professional school credits by the deadline date of April 15, 2012.

140 Love of Learning awards at $500 each are funded each year. Love of Learning Awards help fund post-baccalaureate studies and/or career development for active Phi Kappa Phi members to include (but not be limited to): Graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career development, travel related to teaching/studies, etc. Past recipients of the Fellowship award are not eligible to apply.

Applications cab be downloaded from our website, http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Awards/Fellowship.html and http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Awards/Love_of_Learning.html

For any additional information, please contact Society Headquarters at 1-800-804-9880 ext 35 or via email at fellows@phikappaphi.org