Community Fellow Program
What is the Community Fellow Program?
The Community Fellow Program connects ³Ô¹ÏÍø students with public, government or nonprofit organizations of the Walla Walla Valley to complete part-time fellowships addressing some of the area’s social, economic and cultural challenges. Fellows work with leaders of Walla Walla Valley organizations, receive mentoring and professional development guidance, and collaborate broadly to address important issues in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, from environmental stresses to food justice and social equity.
Whitman’s Community Fellow program is primarily funded by the Donald and Virginia Sherwood Internship Endowment, which was established in 2012 thanks to a grant from the Sherwood Trust.
What do Community Fellows do?
All kinds of things! Developing and hosting art shows, supporting immigrant rights, assisting with mental health projects, and collaborating with schools to host educational outreach events–our fellows are engaged in all kinds of work to uplift and support the Walla Walla community. Past fellows have created blogs showcasing their collaborations–find out what they’ve been up to!
To find a fellowship
Fellowships are posted on (login required) in the spring. Applications are generally due in early April.
- Students with U.S. work authorization to hold employment off campus are eligible for these positions.
- Fellowships offer professional development and growth for students through training, onboarding, networking, collaboration, and evaluation.
- Host sites must be nonprofit or government organizations or coalitions.
- Fellows are primarily third- and fourth-year Whitman students who apply to selected fellowships and become fellows of that organization.
- Fellows are paid by ³Ô¹ÏÍø and expected to work 8-10 hours per week for a total of 260 hours for the academic year.
- Fellowships created by organizations must be for an academic year, and students must be on campus for the entire academic year (September-May).
- Fellowships must be open to all students and may not be discriminative based on race, color, religion, gender, sexuality, national origin, disability, or age.
- $4,700 educational award, paid monthly as requirements are met:
- Submit a draft of the project work plan in the spring and a final draft in the early fall of the year your fellowship begins.
- Attend Community Fellow cohort meetings.
- Attend one event or meeting in the community each semester.
- Complete ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Online Sexual Harassment Prevention Training.
- Record and submit two fellowship blog or vlog posts.
- Host a fellowship presentation during spring.
- Complete a final fellowship survey.
Requirements
- Fellowships must allow the fellow to work on community-facing projects that address social, economic, or cultural challenges.
- Fellows are paid by ³Ô¹ÏÍø and expected to work 8–10 hours per week for a total of 260 hours for the academic year.
- Fellowships created by organizations must be for an academic year (September–May).
- Fellowships must offer professional development and growth through training, onboarding, and evaluation.
- Fellowships created for consideration must be open to all students and not be discriminative based on race, color, religion, gender, sexuality, national origin, disability, or age.
- ³Ô¹ÏÍø does not sign internship affiliation agreements for this program.
Community Fellow process and key events
- January: Request for proposal (RFP) due
- February: Selected partner organizations refine RFP into a Fellow Position Description, which is advertised via Whitman on Handshake
- March-April: Partners review applications, interview, and select a candidate
- April-May: Program orientation (for partners) and onboarding (for fellows)
- September: Collaborate on a Project Work Plan; fellowship begins
- December: Partner cohort gathering to assess/refine project
- May: End of year celebration and exit interviews
Organization eligibility
- Host organizations must be public agencies or nonprofit organizations or coalitions (preference given to 501(c) nonprofits) and must be based in the Walla Walla Valley region.
- No religious congregations, partisan-affiliated organizations, or for-profit organizations are eligible for this program.
- Fellowships may be designed for one-, two-, or three-year fellowships, though the Fellow would likely be a different student from year to year.
- Organizations that have been funded for the last three consecutive years are not eligible for a fourth consecutive year.
Participating organizations