<p> The University of Texas at Austin Environmental Science Institute Scientist in Residence Program</p><p>Frequently Asked Questions: Fellows</p><p>Who is eligible to apply for a Scientist in Residence fellowship? To apply, you must be a US citizen, US national or permanent resident. You must also be enrolled in a UT-Austin graduate program. Although Fellows are primarily chosen from the College of Natural Sciences and the Jackson School of Geosciences, we also welcome applications from researchers in other graduate programs. How much financial support is provided as part of this fellowship?</p><p>Fellows are compensated at the same rate as a UT-Austin teaching or research assistant. This compensation does include both tuition and benefits! </p><p>What is the application deadline for fellows? Applications are due on Friday, November 13, 2015. Do all the letters of recommendation need be in by the same deadline? Yes Do I need transcripts? No When will applicants know if s/he has been selected? We will announce our selections by January, 2016. What is the application procedure after I submit my application? We will select 5-8 people to interview based on the competitiveness of applications received. Interviews will be held in November-December. If needed a second round of interviews will be conducted. We hope to make a decision by late January. When does the appointment start/end? Nine-month appointments will start in September, but program participants are required to attend a pre-program orientation workshop in the summer. What will makes a competitive applicant? We seek applicants that convey enthusiasm and genuine interest in the goals/objectives of our program. We would like to know what you will contribute as well as what you hope to gain. How many graduate students apply? This can range year to year. Some years we have a small applicant pool (<10 applications), but it can be twice the size for other years. We select 4-5 fellows/year. I am not in the traditional earth sciences (biology, geology, environmental science), will I still be a competitive applicant? Yes. We encourage applications from all types of math and sciences. Our goal is to bring science in its various forms and disciplines to K-12 classrooms. That being said, you need to have confidence in being able to relate your discipline to science curriculum of K-12 curriculum, which is strongly focused on earth and life sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc.). How does the program run? What is the workload like? Fellows are usually partnered with two teachers. Fellows visit each teacher’s class each week. You teach science lessons as a team. Some lessons teachers have created, some lessons fellows have added to, and some lessons fellows have created. The average number of hours per week is 15; it is generally flexible how you spend these hours (although the majority are spent in the classroom). </p><p>Where do Fellows normally teach? The Scientist in Residence program works with local Austin-area Independent School Districts. Partnership teachers from grades 5-12 are chosen from a pool of applicants. Each Fellow is then paired with two partnership teachers. When possible, we try to pair Fellows and teachers based on subject matter. For example, we would try to pair a Fellow researching geochemistry with a chemistry teacher. What kind of things will I have to do? - Teach science lesson plans to and plan/go on field trips with K-12 students. - Create or improve upon science lesson plans/activities - Meet with your partner teachers to plan classroom/fieldtrip activities - Formally write up two lesson plans (one per semester) - Attend monthly meeting with other program participants to share what you have been doing in the classroom - Attend a teaching seminar that meets 3-4 times per semester - Attend content knowledge and pedagogy workshops/seminars occasionally throughout the year</p><p>How much time is required to meet fellowship responsibilities?</p><p>ESI ensures that your time requirement as a Scientist in Residence Fellow is similar to that of a research assistantship position at UT. Therefore, Fellows can expect to average 15 hours per week on fellowship responsibilities. Please note that this time commitment does include all hours obtained during monthly meetings and periodic training workshops.</p><p>How much time will I spend in the classroom?</p><p>Fellows are normally expected to spend one day a week in the classroom. However, the classroom schedule is ultimately based on the availability of both the Fellow and the partnership teacher. Other factors, such as travel time and hours used to prepare a lesson, will affect the total number of hours spent in the classroom. Again, we make a concerted effort to ensure that Fellows are not spending more than 15 hours a week on their fellowship responsibilities.</p><p>What if I don’t plan on becoming a K-12 teacher?</p><p>The Scientist in Residence program specifically seeks graduate researchers, knowing that most (if not all) of the Fellows will not become formal K-12 educators. As a participant in this program, you will acquire extensive experience in scientific communication and the development of effective outreach initiatives. These are valuable skills for all scientific professionals. What is expected of my graduate adviser?</p><p>Faculty advisers are asked to guide their graduate student’s participation in the program and to further the Fellow's professional development by participating in one classroom observation/teaching activity (30-45 minutes). Your adviser is also encouraged to attend a single monthly meeting to get further acquainted with our program, and he/she is not required to prepare anything for the meeting ahead of time.</p><p>Who should questions and/or applications be sent to? Natally Mendez, Program Coordinator Email: [email protected] Phone: (512)232-5551 Office Location: E.P. Schoch (EPS) 3.102A</p>