Call for Applications: Humanities EXCEL Fellowship with Leadership Santa Cruz County, 2024-2025

We encourage work-study and non-work-study students to apply. This role is only open to undergraduate students with a declared or proposed Humanities major or minor and requires work authorization.

Application Deadline: November 10, 2024

The Humanities Division and The Humanities Institute are excited to announce an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz to work with Leadership Santa Cruz.

The Humanities Experiential Career Exploration and Learning (EXCEL) Program connects Humanities majors and minors to organizations in the community for paid internships. In this cohort program, EXCEL Fellows gain practical experience and professional training while learning about positions outside of the university that build on their studies in the humanities. At the same time, community partner organizations benefit from students’ assistance and academic expertise. EXCEL Fellowships build upon the success of THI’s Public Fellows program, and they foster positive collaborations between the campus and community, demonstrating the value of a Humanities degree for a range of careers.

Applicants must have a declared or proposed major or minor in the Humanities Division at the time of their application to be eligible. Please see the Humanities Division majors and minors list to check your eligibility before applying.

About Leadership Santa Cruz

The Leadership Santa Cruz County “Class 38” program educates, fosters connections, and increases the participation of individuals in leadership roles in Santa Cruz County, enabling them to address issues, needs, and opportunities facing the county now and into the future. 53 people from diverse roles across the county participate in this experiential learning program over nine months to learn about the county across many dimensions. The participants in the course reflect the demographics of Santa Cruz County.

Position Description: New Leadership Fellow

RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS

• Research (30%): Research curriculums of existing leadership programs (such as executive development programs) and curate relevant readings, podcasts, and videos that the Leadership Santa Cruz course can utilize.
  • You’ll have access to an existing database to identify innovative materials.
  • Develop topic-specific fact sheets in advance of monthly program days.
• Project Management (20%): Event coordination and support before, after and on monthly program dates and the culminating graduation ceremony.
  • On days of events, you’ll primarily be supporting logistics and observing.
• Storytelling (30%): Engage participants on the day of events to tell their stories and capture their perspectives.
  • Work with the Leadership Santa Cruz team to develop an outreach strategy that shows the value of investing in the course. Develop a plan to capture and highlight all participants throughout the course.
  • Use Canva (or similar tools) to create social media posts for program outreach and promotion
• Administrative Support (20%): Miscellaneous admin tasks as assigned.

What we’re looking for in a candidate:

• You are a declared or proposed major or minor in a department in the Humanities Division and are in good academic standing. If your major or minor is proposed, you can declare by the end of the academic year in June. [strict eligibility requirement]
  • Eligible majors: Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism, Classical Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Feminist Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
  • Eligible minors: Black Studies, Classical Studies, East Asian Studies, History of Consciousness, History, Italian Studies, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
• You have work authorization. (required)
• You can work independently and collaboratively (required)
• You have a deep interest in Santa Cruz County
• You are open-minded and interested in engaging with complex topics such as incarceration, substance abuse, etc. You can respect and listen to different perspectives.
• You are comfortable in a space promoting dialogue rather than having the answer.
• You are comfortable taking the initiative to talk to diverse people and getting them engaged. Others may describe you as charismatic or outgoing.
• You enjoy doing light graphic design work.
• You’re creative.
• You may be curious about what skills and knowledge it takes to be a leader in Santa Cruz County.

Internship Term: January 2025–June 2025

Hours: 10-12 hours/week

• Note: one day per month (Fridays) will be 8:30 am-4:30 pm. The schedule of in-person days is available here.

Compensation: $20/hour

Location: This role is hybrid – the team meets regularly at NextSpace Coworking in downtown Santa Cruz (101 Cooper St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060), but otherwise, this role is remote. The monthly class sessions are held in person at various locations throughout Santa Cruz County.

• The Fellow will travel via Metro or car to the sites with the Leadership SC team. If needed, UCSC Humanities funds a ZipCar account so that you can book a vehicle to travel to work or required events.

Mentorship: You will report to Leadership Santa Cruz’s Executive Director, Ryan Coonerty, with direct oversight by the Deputy Director, Laura Knobel. The Deputy Director will delegate tasks and review your work, provide coaching, and help you understand what working in this field is like. You will meet to check in at least once per week

Apply By Submitting

1. Your updated resume
2. A short cover letter (no more than one page) answering these questions: Why are you interested in this position? How does your academic expertise and skillset prepare you for this role? What are you hoping to gain from this opportunity?

REVIEW these resume and cover letter resources to ensure you are a strong candidate!

• Address your cover letter to Ryan Coonerty.

Once the application window closes, there will be an interview process with top candidates, likely the week of November 18, 2024. This job is expected to start during Week 1 of Winter Quarter 2025.

APPLY NOW

Please contact the EXCEL Program coordinator, Kylie Rachwalski, at hum-experiential-learning@ucsc.edu with any questions.

The Mellon Foundation, The Helen and Will Webster Foundation, The Humanities Institute, and the UCSC Humanities Division generously support the Humanities EXCEL Program.