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James Peacock REACH Fellowship

James Peacock REACH Fellowship

Purpose

The REACH Fellowship, named in honor of UNC-Chapel Hill anthropology professor James Peacock, serves as a competitive professional growth fellowship that aims to complement Carolina’s durable graduate education model. This fellowship seeks to provide a robust, funded professionalization opportunity for Carolina doctoral students who are interested in diversifying their graduate portfolio by exploring alternative academic (alt-ac) careers. The REACH Fellowship places one fellow during the summer and one during the academic year in a non-teaching and non-research internship.

REACH fellows will work as part of the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs, on projects aligned with Carolina Next’s Globalize Strategic Initiative. A primary aim of the Globalize Initiative is to preserve and, where possible, strengthen Carolina’s ability to work with partners around the world, to educate our students and to address the most pressing challenges of our time.

Eligibility

This fellowship is open to all doctoral students including international students at UNC-Chapel Hill. (Priority is given to students in the humanities, social sciences and the fine arts.)

Applicants must be enrolled full time during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Applicants must apply for only ONE fellowship type and cannot apply for both summer and academic year opportunities. See additional eligibility requirements below.

Summer REACH Fellowship

A summer fellow will work an average of 20 hours per week from May 19, 2021 to August 3, 2021. The topic of focus will change each year, but the 2021 summer fellowship will focus on the following:

  • Support for Embark Carolina, such as helping to ensure site content is accurate, relevant and comprehensive;
  • Support global exhibitions and programming at the FedEx Global Education Center;
  • Provide support for the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program, part of the Connecting Carolina Classrooms with with World initiative; and
  • Support the team’s work to communicate and report about the 7th pillar, Globalize, in Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good.

Summer Eligibility

Applicants must be in the first or second year of study at the time of application. Summer fellows cannot be ABD.

Summer Funding

The Summer REACH Fellowship offers a $5,000 stipend.

Academic Year REACH Fellowship

Academic year fellows will work an average of 20 hours per week from August 2021 to May 2022 (excluding breaks). The topic of focus will change each year, but the 2021-2022 Academic Year fellowship will focus on the following programs:

Academic Year Eligibility

Applicants must be ABD at UNC having completed all course requirements.

Academic Year Funding

The Academic Year REACH Fellowship offers a stipend of $18,000 as well as full remission of tuition and University fees and the student health insurance premium for single-person coverage.

Application and Selection Process

Application Instructions

The REACH Fellowship application must be completed online; you can view a preview of the full application before you begin. The application consists of the following:

    1. Basic demographic data
    2. Contact information for two references (letters should not be solicited)
    3. A resume (PDF format)
    4. A cover letter (PDF format)
      • Please clearly articulate relevant skill sets, interests, experience and future career goals.
      • The letter should also include a description of why you are interested in pursuing alt-ac opportunities and your specific learning objectives.
      • Applicants must explain which one of Carolina Next’s “Globalize” strategic objectives and/or opportunities is of particular interest to you and why.

Deadline

Applications for both the fellowships, summer and academic year, is March 15, 2021.

Evaluation of Applications

The Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs and a select group of faculty and staff will select fellows based on how ready they are to productively use the time of the summer and academic internship. We will pay close attention to the quality and feasibility of the applicant’s learning objectives as described in the cover letter as well as the impact this fellowship can have on the applicant’s goals.

All applicants must possess the ability to work independently, efficiently and reliably with demonstrated excellent research and communication skills. Although the fellow will further develop their intercultural competency, they must exhibit a high level of cultural sensitivity and self-awareness in order to work well with others.

As part of the application process, semi-finalists will be invited for an interview with the staff from the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs.

Notification of Award

Applicants will receive funding decision notifications four to six weeks after the deadline via email.

Award Requirements

Award recipients will be required to submit a final report at the end of the fellowship. This process allows the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs to collect narratives and data about funded projects to enable the Office to determine whether its programmatic purposes are being met. A summary of award requirements will be presented to award recipients before funds are disbursed.

Questions?

For questions related to the REACH fellowship or the application process, please contact Heather Ward at heather.ward@unc.edu.

NOTE: Programs listed on this section of the website are housed within the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs, and global programs at Carolina are not limited to those listed in this section. In addition, UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, students and staff will find global opportunities available through Carolina’s area studies centers, the Study Abroad Office and across other departments and professional schools.