FAQs

UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM OVERVIEW

1. What types of opportunities are supported by the Undergraduate Fellowships Program?
2. What is the difference between a fellowship placement and a fellowship project?
3. Who can I speak to about the Undergraduate Fellowships Program?
4. Who should I talk to about Stanford in Government Fellowships and Stipends?

ELIGIBILITY

1. What are the eligibility requirements? Are seniors, coterms, and graduate students eligible? Can first-year students receive a fellowship?
2. Are non-U.S. citizens eligible for Haas Center fellowships?
3. Does the Haas Center offer any fellowships specifically for graduating seniors and coterms?
4. I will be participating in an off-campus Stanford program during the autumn/winter/spring. May I still apply??
5. If I have received a fellowship in the past, can I be selected for another one??
6. Can these fellowships be used for independent research projects?

APPLICATION AND SELECTION

1. How do I apply for a fellowship? What are the steps? What resources are available?
2. May I apply to more than one fellowship? Can I submit the same application if I am applying for more than one fellowship?
3. How do I request a Stanford transcript?
4. Who should write my recommendation letter?
5. How are fellows selected??
6. How competitive are the fellowships?
7. If I am selected to receive a fellowship, when must I notify the Haas Center Fellowships staff of my decision to accept it?

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

1. What is the time commitment for my fellowship placement or project?
2. Can I work remotely for my community partner?
3. Can I take a summer class or take on an additional summer internship position during my fellowship?
4. What are the program requirements outside of my work for my community partner?

STIPENDS

1. How much are the fellowships stipends? What can I use the money for?
2. What if I want to use my stipend to go abroad?
3. May I receive additional funding from another Stanford department or program for my fellowship placement or project?
4. May I receive an Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR) Student Grant and a fellowship award in the same summer?
5. May I receive a fellowship award and Federal Work Study (CSWS) funding for the summer?

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. Where can I find information about other fellowship opportunities?
2. If I find out that I have received an unpaid internship after the Fellowships Program deadline, is there other Haas Center for Public Service funding available to support me?

UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM OVERVIEW

1. What types of opportunities are supported by the Undergraduate Fellowships Program?
The Undergraduate Fellowships Program of the Haas Center provides summer, full year, and academic quarter-long opportunities for students to engage in intensive experiences working with nonprofits, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.S. and abroad. Students can choose to pursue prearranged placements or self-designed opportunities. In most cases, students are expected to seek out their own community partners prior to the application deadline and propose their own placements with agencies that meet the program’s requirements. For certain fellowships, Haas Center staff will make the arrangements and students apply to work at specific placements, or our staff will work with students in the spring quarter to determine an appropriate placement.

Stanford in Government (SIG) Fellowships offer domestic and international policy-oriented internship placements that are prearranged by SIG, while students are able to develop their own placements through the SIG Stipends Program. See SIG’s website for more information.
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2. What is the difference between a fellowship placement and a fellowship project?
Fellowship placements are more like traditional internships in that fellows work at an agency under a supervisor on priority work for that agency. Many fellowships require students to develop their own placements, while a limited number of fellowships allow students to utilize a Haas-arranged placement. Please see fellowship descriptions for details.

For the project-based fellowships (including the Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellowship, the Alexander Tung Memorial Fellowship, and the Andrew Daher Memorial Fellowship), students must design and implement a service project with immediate impact and resulting in a tangible deliverable used to sustain service to the community. Students work in collaboration with their community partner to identify the community need. Applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of completing their projects in the span of the fellowship and that there is a true need in the community for the work that they wish to undertake. Projects involve direct service and produce tangible outcomes.

Please see individual fellowship descriptions for more details about which fellowships offer structured placements, which allow students to propose their own placements, which have students finalizing placements post-selection, and which enable students to develop their own projects.
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3. Who can I speak to about the Undergraduate Fellowships Program?
Please feel free to contact Valerie Chow and/or Hilary Douglas, Program Directors for Undergraduate Fellowships, or the Fellowships Peer Advisors if you have any questions about the program.
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4. Who should I talk to about Stanford in Government Fellowships and Stipends?
Stanford in Government (SIG)  is a student-led affiliate of the Haas Center and administers a fellowships and stipends program. Haas Center staff serves in a close advisory role to SIG; however, students with specific SIG fellowships and stipends inquiries should contact SIG officers.
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ELIGIBILITY

1. What are the eligibility requirements? Are seniors, coterms, and graduate students eligible? Can first-year students receive a fellowship?
Eligibility requirements vary across programs; please see fellowship descriptions for details. Generally speaking, all fully-matriculated undergraduate students are eligible for most of the fellowships, but continuing undergraduates are usually preferred for summer fellowships. Committees base decisions on the current applicant pool, which varies from year to year.

Certain fellowship programs may be well suited for a Stanford freshman because there is a high-level of mentorship. These fellowships include: Spirituality, Service, and Social Change, Huffington Pride, and Stanford in Government State/Local and County Fellowships.

The Donald A. Strauss Scholarship is awarded to current sophomores or juniors, and the East Palo Alto Social Venture Fellowship is awarded to current juniors and seniors continuing on to a coterm degree.  

To be eligible for a fellowship, students must have health insurance for the duration of service.
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2. Are non-U.S. citizens eligible for Haas Center fellowships?
Non-US citizens are eligible for all of the fellowships; however, there may be citizenship restrictions for a few of the Stanford in Government Fellowships.  Please check with the SIG team for more information.
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3. Does the Haas Center offer any fellowships specifically for graduating seniors and coterms?
Graduating seniors and coterms are eligible to apply for most fellowships, but preference will be given to continuing undergraduate students. Please see fellowship descriptions for more information. Graduating seniors are not eligible for additional financial aid beyond the base stipend amount and cannot receive both a summer fellowship and a postgraduate fellowship.
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4. I will be participating in an off-campus Stanford program during the autumn/winter/spring. May I still apply?
Yes. It is the responsibility of the applicant to compile, collate, and submit a complete application. Please note that the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship requires completed applications submitted in hard copy form, delivered to the Haas Center by the indicated deadline.

Should you be invited to interview for a fellowship opportunity, fellowships program staff and selection committees will work with you to accommodate your off-campus status. Of course, you will have to take responsibility for keeping in touch with staff and community partners and completing all necessary preparatory and follow-up work. If you will not be matriculated prior to or following the summer fellowship period, please consult with program staff about your eligibility.

Education and Youth Development Fellows and Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellows must be on campus during Spring Quarter to enroll in a mandatory preparatory class. Philanthropy Fellows are required to complete academic coursework. Please see individual fellowship descriptions for requirements.
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5. If I have received a fellowship in the past, can I be selected for another one?
With the exception of the Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellowship (formerly Haas Summer Projects Fellowship) and the Education and Youth Development Fellowship, you cannot receive the same fellowship more than once. However, if you have received a fellowship in the past, you may receive a different one in the future.
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6. Can these fellowships be used for independent research projects?
Generally, no. Students should consider applying for the Community-Based Research Fellows Program or for Undergraduate Advising and Research Student Grants if they are interested in conducting research over the summer.

Please note that some fellowship placements do involve research for an organization that is not considered independent research; for example, many SIG, Public Interest Law, and some Urban Summer placements may require quantitative or qualitative research.
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APPLICATION AND SELECTION

1. How do I apply for a fellowship? What are the steps? What resources are available?
The first step in applying for a fellowship is to read all of the application information online completely and carefully. Know what you need to do and when deadlines occur. Fellowships program staff and peer advisors will have office hours, so students can sign up for individual advising appointments. Feel free to contact Valerie Chow or Hilary Douglas to request advising appointments.

In addition, visit the Bing Information Resource Center, browse the Resources for Fellowships Applicants page, and sign up on our listserv. To subscribe, send a blank email to: service4all-join@lists.stanford.edu. These are the best ways to keep informed about the Undergraduate Fellowships Program.

You may also want to get in touch with a former fellow to find out more about the program.  Lists of past fellows are available on the Meet the Undergraduate Fellows section of our website, and you can use Stanford Who to find specific e-mail addresses. If you need assistance, please contact program staff.

Keep in mind that there are resources outside of the Haas Center to help you prepare a competitive application. Talk with professors and advisors about your plans. Seek input from fellow students and build an authentic relationship with a community partner/organization. Before submitting an application, bring it to the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking for a critical review; doing so will ensure that you have done everything possible to make a good application great! You can make an appointment at the Hume Center or take advantage of their drop-in service. The Career Development Center another excellent campus resource. Staff there can help you to polish your résumé and sharpen your interview skills.

Selection occurs on a rolling basis. Fellowships program staff will contact students via email (provided on application) to update applicants on selection status.
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2. May I apply to more than one public service fellowship? Can I submit the same application if I am applying for more than one fellowship?
Applicants may apply to a maximum of three Undergraduate Fellowships administered by the Haas Center. Students can receive only one fellowship in any given summer. Students who are selected for more than one fellowship must choose which one they want to pursue by designated deadlines.

You will need to submit a separate and unique application for each fellowship to which you apply.
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3. How do I request a Stanford transcript?
Students must request and submit an unofficial transcript as part of the fellowships application. Unofficial transcripts may be requested online via Axess. Once you have received your unofficial transcripts, save as a PDF and upload to your application. Please contact the Registrar for additional information.
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4. Who should write my recommendation letter?
Complete applications will include a completed recommendation form. Recommendation forms can be found on individual application pages. Recommenders can include Stanford faculty, staff, graduate teaching assistants, residence fellows, appointed lecturers, former employers, teachers etc. Fellow undergraduate students should not serve as recommenders. Please feel free to contact program staff for more information.
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5. How are fellows selected?
Applications will be screened by a committee and finalists selected to be interviewed (for approximately 20 minutes) with the goal of awarding fellowships prior to spring break. The selection committees, which are made up of faculty, staff, former fellows, and community partners, look at the whole application and reach decisions by consensus.

Selection criteria can be found on the fellowships website along with individual program descriptions. All committees will be instructed to consider the presentation of the application in their decision (neatness, clarity, high quality writing, accurate spelling and grammar), as well as a candidate’s interview skills.  Applicants will be evaluated on their commitment to public service, relevant experience, leadership, and communication skills.

For applicants proposing project-based fellowships, additional criteria are used including the applicant’s ability to identify true community needs and their ability to design and implement a project to meet those needs with measurable outcomes, feasibility, and innovation. For applicants applying for international service fellowships and/or projects, committees also consider language skills, familiarity with the host country’s culture and history, and contacts within the host country.
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6. How competitive are the fellowships?
Competition for each fellowship program varies from year to year. Competition is based on the applicant pool and it is impossible to determine in advance how many students will apply for which fellowships. That said, the amount of funding available for each program determines how many fellowship awards are available within each program; the approximate number of awards that will be given is listed on the website.
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7. If I am selected to receive a fellowship, when must I notify the Haas Center Fellowships staff of my decision to accept it?
We generally require all selected students to accept or decline fellowship awards within 48 hours of notification. See website for selection committee schedule.
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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

1. What is the time commitment for my fellowship placement or project?
Students selected to participate in the summer fellowships program are expected to begin service after the conclusion of spring quarter classes and no later than July 5, 2016. Students who want to begin service outside of this window must meet with program staff to discuss alternatives.

All summer fellows are required to work with their community partners at least 35 hours/week for nine consecutive weeks at their placements. Prior to the summer experience, it is expected that the student will build an authentic relationship with the student’s community partner to ensure a reciprocally rewarding experience. Selection committees will look for demonstration of well-developed relationships. The time commitment begins well before the service experience.

Students selected for the Jane Stanford Fellowship are also expected to work full time for nine consecutive weeks during the fall, winter, or spring quarters. The start date of the fellowship should be discussed with program staff.

The Donald A. Strauss Scholarship and the East Palo Alto Social Venture Fellowship support the implementation of projects over the duration of a one year. Projects funded by the Strauss Scholarship are usually implemented between May to April of the following year, and projects funded by the East Palo Alto Social Venture Fellowship are usually implemented between June to August of the following year.
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2. Can I work remotely for my community partner?
Generally, no. We expect students to work full time on-site at their host organization’s offices, in order to be fully immersed in the organization’s day-to-day operations and to have an opportunity to meet and network with their colleagues. Fellows are expected to work during the organization’s regular business hours.
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3. Can I take a summer class or take on an additional summer internship position during my fellowship?
Generally, no. Because of the significant time commitment required by the fellowships program, we expect the fellowship to be the student’s only summer activity during the nine-week period.
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4. What are the program requirements outside of my work for my community partner?
Because the Undergraduate Fellowships Program is a service-learning program, the service work is only one of the expectations of fellows. Other program requirements include preparatory activities, debriefings, reporting, donor stewardship, and group reflection, which vary from fellowship to fellowship.
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STIPENDS

1. How much are the fellowships stipends? What can I use the money for?
Generally, summer stipends are $4,000. Additional financial aid (up to $2,200 maximum, based on demonstrated need) is available to students who qualify, as determined by the Financial Aid Office. Graduating seniors are not eligible for financial aid.

Fellows who will be spending the summer in domestic high cost-of-living areas (specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) will receive an additional $500 cost-of-living supplement. Supplements for safety/security, vaccinations, and airfare may be available for fellows who are traveling internationally, but are not guaranteed. Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellows, Alexander Tung Memorial Fellows, and Daher Memorial Fellows may apply for up to $1,000 (above their stipends) to support project expenses. Summer stipend awards will not exceed $7500.

Stipends are not salaries; they are intended to support travel to and from the service site and living expenses (e.g., room and board, airfare, daily commute) while at site. Fellowship funding cannot be used to pay organizational program/training fees.

Although Stanford is providing funding for a project or has recommended a student for a project, Stanford’s evaluation of the project has been limited to its academic merits. Haas Center staff do not necessarily have direct experience with, nor do we professionally endorse, partner organizations. Among other things, Stanford is not in the position to evaluate, and therefore has not evaluated, whether the project will take place in a safe and secure environment. Stanford is not responsible for matters that are beyond its control, and cannot warrant the safety or convenience of the circumstances under which the student will be traveling, living or working. Students are solely responsible for evaluating the safety of the environment in which they will be traveling and/or working and for taking appropriate precautions to safeguard their health and personal belongings.
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2. What if I want to use my stipend to go abroad?
Many of the fellowships offer students the opportunity to serve abroad. The following fellowships may be applied internationally: African Service, Halper International Fellowship, the Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellowship, the Alexander Tung Memorial Fellowship, Stanford in Government Fellowships (for international placements) and Stipends, Huffington Pride, Roland Longevity, Community Arts, the Strauss Scholarship, the Jane Stanford Fellowship, and the Corporate Social Responsibility Fellowship.

Note that international service brings with it additional academic, logistical, and ethical considerations; your application should reflect an understanding of these challenges and the knowledge and skills to handle them appropriately.

The safety of travel to any international destination is reviewed up until time of departure. The fellowship program must adhere to the Provost’s International Travel Policy, which states: Stanford-sponsored or Stanford-organized trips involving undergraduates to countries where a State Department Travel Warning has been issued is prohibited. NO university funds can be used to support travel to these locations. Department of State travel advisories can be obtained online.
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3. May I receive additional funding from another Stanford department or program for my fellowship placement or project?
Generally, no. You cannot receive additional stipends from other Stanford departments or programs for the same work for which you are being funded for through the Haas Center’s Undergraduate Fellowships Program (including SIG Fellowships and Stipends). You may be able to receive funding for a separate project you are engaging in following your nine-week fellowship commitment, subject to the guidelines provided in these FAQs and approval by Fellowships program staff. In general, the maximum funding received by a student through the Undergraduate Fellowships Program (including SIG Fellowships and Stipends) and another campus department should not exceed $7,900 in one summer.
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4. May I receive an Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR) Student Grant and a fellowship award in the same summer?
In some cases, but the maximum funding received by any individual from the Undergraduate Fellowships Program (including SIG Fellowships and Stipends) and UAR cannot exceed $7,900  for a single academic year, and you cannot receive dual funding for work during the same time frame. For example, you could receive a small grant for research to be conducted BEFORE the beginning of your summer fellowship.

You may NOT receive funding for more than one of the following: Major Grant, Chappell Lougee Scholarship, Community Service Work Study and the Haas Center Undergraduate Fellowships Program (including SIG Fellowships and Stipends). These opportunities are each significant time commitments, and are each intended to support your full-time efforts.
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5. May I receive a fellowship award and Federal Work Study (CSWS) funding for the summer?
No. You must choose between a fellowship award and Community Service Work Study funding. The only exception allowed would be for consecutive service work. For example, you could start the summer with a fellowship, and following your nine-week commitment, you could receive Federal Work Study funding for work with the same organization or a different organization. You cannot receive funding from both the Fellowships Program and the Federal Work Study Program for service work during the same time frame. Consecutive work MUST be pre-approved by both Fellowships and CSWS program staff.
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OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. Where can I find information about other fellowship opportunities?
There are a variety of fellowships (not sponsored by the Haas Center, both on and off-campus) for which you may apply. Information is available in the Bing Information & Resource Center (BIRC) on the first floor of the Haas Center.  Additional undergraduate fellowships opportunities sponsored by our campus partners are listed in this fellowships table, and you can use the Fellowships, Internships and Service Projects (FISP) Database for off-campus funded opportunities.
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2. If I find out that I have received an unpaid internship after the Fellowships Program deadline, is there other Haas Center for Public Service funding available to support me?
The Community Service Work-Study Program has a late April/May deadline, and is an excellent option for students who have not yet secured funding for domestic internships. Eligibility is different than for year-long work-study, so contact Yvette Zepeda to determine your eligibility.

The Stanford in Government Stipend Program has a Round II application deadline in early April, and is another great option for students who have secured policy internships.

Depending on funding availability for a particular year, the Undergraduate Fellowships Program may also have a Round II application deadline in early April. Note that it is not guaranteed that a Round II application deadline will be available each year, and students are strongly encouraged to apply by the February application deadline. Please contact Valerie Chow or Hilary Douglas for more information.