Chancellor's Graduate Internship Award

• Award Description
• Terms of Award
• Eligibility Criteria
• Selection Criteria
• Review Process
• Conditions
• Application Instructions
• Deadlines
• Awards and Student Loans
• Contact
• FAQs

Award Description

Increasingly, graduate students are seeking positions outside the traditional tenure-track professoriate. To this end, the Graduate College has greatly enhanced its career and professional development offerings to help graduate students consider new career options and to build translatable skills. The Chancellor’s Graduate Internship Award Program is part of this effort. It incentivizes graduate students to independently identify short (3-month) internship opportunities that might lead to employment following graduation. This internship program is limited to full-time students, in good academic standing, who are in a PhD or terminal master’s program.

This mechanism will not fund students in programs that have mandatory internships as part of their curriculum; instead, it will fund students, with the consent of their advisor, to seek novel opportunities outside of traditional academe, e.g., in a museum, cultural center, nonprofit organization, or in university administration or academic publishing. The Graduate College will award $5,000 over three months with the assumption of a 20-hour weekly obligation. The student and the host organization may negotiate additional expectations and compensation.

Who is hiring interns? While the Graduate College can offer limited advice based on extant partnerships internally at UIC and externally in the Chicago area, students are encouraged to make their own arrangements.

International students are responsible for verifying that their visas will allow them to participate.

Terms of the Award

Non-renewable, the award amount will be $5,000 paid out over three months: June 16-August 16. There is no tuition and fee waiver attached. Each student’s taxation situation is unique. Awards are reported on the 1098-T form.

Eligibility Criteria

• The prospective recipient must be a full-time student, in good academic standing, who is in a PhD or terminal master’s program that does not require an internship or similar experience.
• Students graduating in May or August 2018 are not eligible.
• Students who are more advanced in their program of study will be preferentially considered.
• The faculty advisor/mentor must support the proposed internship as demonstrated by a letter of recommendation.

Selection Criteria

• A clear articulation of the goals of the internship.
• Demonstrated investment of internship provider in the graduate student’s experience.
• The extent to which the identified internship aligns with the applicant’s career goals.
• An excellent record of academic performance, as attested to by the student’s CV and letters of recommendation.

Review Process

Reviewers of the applications will consist of faculty and staff members appointed by the Dean of the Graduate College. The reviewers will evaluate the applications using the eligibility and selection criteria. The reviewers will make recommendations to the Graduate College Dean, who will determine the final recipients.

Conditions

• A final report from the award recipient is due to the Graduate College by the end of the internship or September 1, 2018 (whichever is later).
• Completion of the Graduate College’s Individual Development Plan (IDP) by September 1, 2018.

Application Instructions

The student collects and compiles the required documents and submits them to their academic degree program for review. The Director of Graduate Studies of that program submits the documents to the Graduate College.

Click here for forms or select the hyperlinks below. 

Applications must include all of the following, in order:

1. DGS Transmittal Form - The Director of Graduate Studies needs to complete this brief form.

2. Applicant Transmittal Form - The student completes this form.  [NB: An older version of this form refers to a "Mentor Agreement" that is not required; the mentor's LOR (see below) fulfills this requirement.]

3. Internship Description (Limit: 3 pages of content including any references; single spaced; 10-12 Arial font; and one-inch margins) -- A concise, substantive description of the proposed plan for the internship and general interaction between the student intern and the proposed host/partner organization, including a justification for the duration of the proposed internship, timeline, and expected mutual benefits and outcomes of the experience. Written for the educated lay person, the jargon-free Internship Description must describe how the student intern will:

• integrate the proposed internship activities into the student’s graduate degree program and future career goals;
• benefit from mentoring and specialized expertise, experiences, equipment, facilities, and/or other resources at the host organization.

4. Résumé or CV (Limit of 4 pages) - Include previous and current research experience, professional accomplishments (i.e., awards, honors, publications, presentations), and pertinent work experience.

5. Statement of Commitment - Signed by an authorized representative of the host/partner organization, the statement of commitment should include duties, duration, weekly time commitment, additional compensation/benefits (if applicable), and potential for future employment with the internship provider. The internship provider should indicate how the host/parent organization commits to providing the graduate student intern with the best possible experience.

6. Two letters of recommendation - Of the two, one letter must be from the applicant’s faculty advisor/mentor. The letter should be written on UIC letterhead and describe the anticipated benefits of the internship project for the student’s graduate studies and/or the anticipated impact on the student’s career. The letter must also indicate that the student making satisfactory progress in their graduate degree program. The second letter may be from a UIC or external faculty member or from a staff/executive member of the host organization.

The student is responsible for arranging for the electronic delivery of all forms and documents to their degree program. The Director of Graduate Studies will review the application and submit it to the Graduate College by the submission deadline. Incomplete applications will not be considered. *NOTE: As the student’s department/program must review all student applications prior to submitting them to the Graduate College, consult with it as to any internal deadline.

Deadline

DGS or dedicated staff member must submit completed application via BOX by 4:00 p.m. CDT on March 16, 2018. [EXTENDED TO 4 pm ON 3/21/18.] Students do NOT submit directly to the Graduate College.

Awards and Student Loan Information

Accepting an award may affect federal student loan or work-study eligibility. For example, students with awards may not be able to receive federal loans, or may alter your existing loan package. Check with the Office of Student Financial Aid on eligibility requirements.

Students who accept an award but have already received a refund from a federal loan for the current year may have to pay back the loan refund. Contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for further information.

If applying for loans and/or work-study, a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be completed. See the Graduate Student Guide from the Office of Student Financial Aid for more information.

Awards will be reported on the IRS 1098-T form.

Contact

Benn Williams, Fellowships and Awards Coordinator: bwilli7@uic.edu