Director of Student Fellowships

Job Description:

Position Summary

The Student Fellowships Director provides overall administration of Hamilton’s national fellowships and scholarships advising program, and oversees all operations in the Student Fellowships Office. The Student Fellowships Office helps Hamilton students and recent alumni connect with transformative experiences and opportunities. The Director helps students explore their academic and co-curricular interests, make informed decisions regarding applying for fellowship/scholarship opportunities, and guide them through the pre/post-application process.

The current portfolio of fellowship opportunities includes overseas and domestic study and research, extended leadership opportunities, teaching opportunities, graduate studies, study abroad, and critical languages study. Awards include, but are not limited to: Beinecke Scholarship, Boren Scholarship and Fellowship, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Critical Languages Scholarship, Freeman-ASIA Scholarship, Fulbright Grant, Gates-Cambridge Scholarship, Gilman Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarship, Humanity In Action, Marshall, Mitchell, Project for Peace, Rhodes, St. Andrew’s, Truman, Udall, Watson Fellowship, the Hamilton College Bristol Fellowship, and the George Watson’s College Teaching Assistantship in Scotland. Hamilton College is a charter member of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (NAFA 2001), and the Student Fellowships Director position is designed on the NAFA philosophy that the exploration, application, and interview processes are developmental and rewarding to students, whether or not they receive an award. Consideration of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Responsibilities (Essential Functions) Include % of time for each Essential Function

Manage the procedures for all internal and external fellowship processes.

Advising and Outreach (80%)

• Promote and advertise opportunities to students (all class years) and alumni through programs, information sessions, guest speakers, outreach events, and webinars; conduct outreach to individual students and to student organizations

• Assess students’ academic profiles, interests, strengths, commitments, and professional trajectory to match students with relevant fellowship/scholarship opportunities

• Provide comprehensive advisement and support to students and recent alumni on all aspects of the application process, including: feedback on writing compelling proposals and personal statements; pre-writing consultations regarding content choice, and how to emphasize fit between student’s skill set and scholarship criteria; close reading of application materials and feedback about organization and proposal feasibility; discuss, in-depth, strategies for highlighting strengths, skills, and qualifications; help applicants to identify strong recommendation writers (and foreign language evaluators, when applicable); and prepare for national interviews

• Advise a rotating six-member Committee regarding application procedures for Fulbright and Watson awards, and others ad hoc; manage all committee application review and interview arrangements

• Organize and participate in fellowship interviews and selection/nomination process

• Write campus committee evaluations and letters of endorsement/nomination

• Manage final nomination process and the submission of all applications

• Conduct on-going recruitment to identify students for whom fellowship and scholarship opportunities may be viable pursuits; outreach efforts are designed to increase awareness of opportunities early in the college experience, and to broaden the applicant pool

• Develop pipelines to identify students through partnerships across campus, including: Faculty, Student Life, Communications, Career Center, Financial Aid, Opportunity Programs, Global Learning, Levitt Center, COOP, Office of Experiential Learning, Academic Resource Centers

• Cultivate relationships with faculty and staff colleagues to identify promising students, mentor students, and write recommendation letters

• Study requirements to understand the nuances, including what makes a competitive applicant, and the application processes for all awards

• Attend workshops and participate in webinars and online information sessions for continued education on best practices for fellowship and scholarship advising
  

Administration (20%)

• Track scholarship applications and outcomes, and manage student-related data

• Manage all details for Hamilton’s Bristol Fellowship, and the George Watson’s College Teaching Assistantship in Scotland

• Serve as liaison to national fellowships and scholarships foundations

• Invite foundation representatives to campus to conduct information sessions

• Coordinate campus interviews for Watson Foundation representative; and coordinate campus interviews for Bristol family representatives; arrange Bristol Fellowship dinner to recognize most recent returned Bristol Fellow(s)

• Work with Communications office to manage fellowships website, and to recognize students receiving awards

• Coordinate stipend disbursement and reporting processes for Watson, Bristol, and George Watson’s College Teaching Assistantship

• Serve on College committees and perform other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience

Master’s degree and experience working with nationally-competitive fellowships and scholarships at liberal arts colleges.

Equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Comprehensive understanding of the objectives, eligibility requirements, and nuances of individual national awards

• Ability to advise students through the complexities of the application process, and to complete applications that are cohesive narratives and competitive at the national level

• Ability to explain to students the value of the scholarship application process, fit between student and award, and factors that influence competitiveness

• Organizational skills: ability to prioritize work, and manage concurrent and time-sensitive tasks, ability to meet concurrent internal and national deadlines

• Oral and written communication skills, close reading and editing of documents, attention to detail

• Familiarity with academic and co-curricular opportunities, and resources at Hamilton

• Computer skills; ability to navigate many different external web-based systems and online applications, including Embark application systems (Fulbright, Critical Languages Scholarships); Proficiency in MS Office including Word and Excel, and Adobe Acrobat Pro, PowerPoint

• Ability to take initiative, and work independently and collaboratively

• Ability to work effectively and diplomatically with national foundation directors and award managers

• General awareness of current world events

Compensation Range:

$75,000 - $85,000 per year.

EEO Policy:

Benefits:

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Employment - Work at Hamilton - Hamilton College