Applications are now open to PhD students in the humanities for a yearlong (AY 2024–25) RA-ship with the We CU Community Engaged Scholars Program (We CU). We CU empowers undergraduate and graduate students to make a positive impact in the community while building their resume and enriching their university experience. We CU honors students for their community-based work and provides them with training, connection to like-minded peers, access to service opportunities with partner organizations, and support from We CU program leaders.

If you are keen to enhance or develop skills that link your academic interests with student-oriented university community engagement work, this is the opportunity for you. Whether you plan on an academic career or imagine yourself in a job beyond the academy, this RA-ship can help you prepare for what’s next. We are seeking a graduate student with a commitment to racial and social equity in public engagement to continue to enhance this aspect of the We CU Program.

Among the responsibilities and tasks that this 50% appointment will entail are:

• Manage a newly developed We CU scholarship program (Humanities in Action) for historically excluded groups pursuing humanities majors or concentrations on campus.
• Research and update scholarship resources on the We CU website.
• Provide student support by organizing trainings and responding to student questions and requests for assistance.
• Provide faculty support for service learning for humanities faculty by supporting training, researching, and curating resources, and creating offer letters for community partners.
• Manage online GivePulse system by inputting service opportunities, tracking student hours, and matching students with projects.
• Help to manage the mini grants program (participating students may apply to receive funding for activities).
• Help to read and review final reflection projects, organize recognition celebrations, and create and distribute certificates.
• Attend weekly team meetings and collaborate with We CU team to enhance our commitment to racial and social equity in public engagement.
• Be willing and able to commit to some weekday evening ours to run student-facing events.

The We CU RA will also meet monthly with Professor Antoinette Burton; will learn how to represent this work experience in CV and cover letters; and will write up a ten-page account of their RA-ship which connects their research and teaching interests to their We CU experience, due June 1, 2025.

Eligibility: you must be a fully enrolled PhD student in good standing to apply, and if selected, also in good standing to take up the RA-ship in AY 24-25. Priority will be given to ABD students in the humanities and related fields.

For full consideration, please submit a resume, a two-page cover letter, and a one-page personal statement to apply-hri@illinois.edu by 5:00 p.m. on March 25, 2024. These documents should make the case for why this work is meaningful to you as a humanities PhD student now; they should connect the personal to research; and they should address your experience with and/or commitment to community-centered public engagement that is racially inclusive and socially just by design.

Please fold all the application documents into a single PDF.

Selection will be made by April 16, 2024.