The GradFirst Fellowship (GFF) provides two graduate students with research opportunities for hands-on experience working with faculty members seeking research assistance over the academic year. The GFF gives students a unique opportunity to use their technical and analytical prowess to contribute to a range of faculty projects while also building real-world skills and competencies with the support and guidance from a faculty mentor in the Faculty Scholarship Collaborative (FSC). The GFF will be supervised by FSC faculty mentor and will be expected to meet weekly with their faculty mentor.

Fellows will be called upon to support faculty research identified by the FSC. Depending on the Fellow’s skill set, such research assistance may include conducting literature reviews; doing data collection, cleaning and coding; conducting demographic and neighborhood analyses; performing quantitative or qualitative data analysis; doing program evaluation; or mapping. Fellows will be assigned to work on these requests and produce deliverables to share with and present to the faculty member. Fellows will also be expected to attend weekly meetings with their GFF mentor, periodic trainings and 1-2 quarterly Urban Collaborative events per academic quarter.

Students must be enrolled in a College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences graduate program, with priority given to areas of study that comprise the Urban Collaborative and its affiliated units: Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, Public Policy, Public Service, Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, Social Work, Sociology, and Sustainable Urban Development.

Qualifications (minimum level of education and/or experience needed to be successful in the position):
The best candidate will be an incoming graduate student with a background in research methods, data analysis, and data visualizations. In order to be invited to join the GradFirst Fellowship program, students will need proficiency in one or more of the following:

• Statistical Analysis – software skills in Stata, SPSS, SASS, Excel, and/or R
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – preferably ESRI’s ArcGIS platform (StoryMap, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, etc.) although other GIS software can be utilized

Other preferred skills:

• Proficiency in conducting literature reviews
• Qualitative analysis- eg. software skills in Nvivo, Excel
• Data collection- interview, survey design

Incoming graduate students who represent the first generation in their family to enroll in graduate study and who are pursuing a master’s degree in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, with priority given to the areas of study that comprise the Urban Collaborative and its affiliated units: Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, Public Policy, Public Service, Refugee & Forced Migration Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Sustainable Urban Development.

Students may hold both the GradFirst fellowship and a Graduate Assistantship (GA) in the same year, assuming that the hourly allotments for both positions do not exceed the student’s weekly on-campus employment limits. International students may work up to 20 hours/week and domestic students may work up to 25 hours/week. GA stipends have a weekly commitment of hours, decided by the academic unit, and that is a factor in whether holding a GFF and a GA-ship at the same time is possible. Students may apply to both the GFF and GA-ship and, if selected, determine if the feasibility of holding both positions. It is critical that, upon selection, the student indicate other potential on-campus employment (GAship, student assistant, resident advisor, etc.). If you have been awarded a GA-ship, please consult with your academic unit to confirm the weekly hours associated with that role.

Incoming graduate students with experience in research methods, data analysis and data visualizations will be the best fit to serve as GradFirst Fellows. To become a Fellow, applicants should have some proficiency in one or more of the following:

• Statistical Analysis- software skills in SPSS, Stata, SASS, Excel, and/or R
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS)- preferably ESRI’s ARCGIS platform (StoryMap, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, etc.) although GIS software can be utilized

Other desired skills:

• Qualitative Analysis- software skills in Nvivo and other related software
• Literature Review
• Data collection- survey design, interview etc.
• Program evaluation

Under the supervision of a faculty mentor, fellows are expected to work 5 hours per week on faculty projects and attend trainings and events held by the Faculty Scholarship Collaborative, Urban Collaborative, or other related activities. Research activities are related to faculty projects with flexible hours to work on a range of faculty research requests within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Students must include the 5 hours per week as a part of the total allotted hours for on-campus employment and notify any other potential on-campus employers of these hours. This hourly allotment must also be considered when applying for a Graduate Assistantship. While students may complete tasks remotely once hired, they must live in or adjacent to DePaul/Chicago to be considered a fellow.

Fellows are awarded for the academic year, with the option to renew for a second year based on satisfactory academic progress. In order for a student to be renewed for the 2nd year, they must have a 3.25GPA or above and be in good standing within the University and their program.

Students are awarded once they matriculate in their program in the fall quarter. The $9000 scholarship is disseminated over three quarters, equating to $3000 per quarter. The scholarship is posted through the student’s financial aid and may not be moved to the summer. The scholarships are awarded after the last day to drop classes in each quarter. The stipend will begin in mid-September, but the start date is dependent on the awardee properly completing all hiring paperwork. In order to receive the stipend, the student must be able to be paid by a US institution. The $3000 stipend will disburse every two weeks from mid-September through the beginning of June, assuming continued enrollment and satisfactory academic performance. Exact dates will be confirmed once selected.

Students should apply by May 15^th for the 2023-24 academic year by uploading a resume/CV, an unofficial transcript is recommended, and responses to questions on the application. Submit application here.

GradFirst Fellows have the opportunity to connect with our wide network of faculty, peers, alumni and staff who are dedicated to understanding urban issues and advancing solutions. In addition, Fellows are required to meet with their faculty mentor and join faculty and staff of the Faculty Scholarship Collaborative and Urban Collaborative at 1-2 events quarterly.

Email urbanresearchcorps@depaul.edu.