Fellowships and Internships Coordinator

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Job Description Summary:

William and Mary's Batten School and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has a three-part mission of research, education, and advisory service. Our over-arching goals are to:

• Make seminal advances in understanding marine systems through research and discovery.
• Translate research findings into practical solutions to complex issues of societal importance.
• Provide new generations of researchers, educators, problem solvers, and managers with a coastal and marine sciences education of unsurpassed quality.

Unit Mission Statement

The Virginia Sea Grant College Program (VASG) is a multi-institutional partnership that leverages the collective expertise at Virginia’s seven premier universities to address vital coastal and marine challenges. The program’s mission is to improve the environmental, social, and economic health of the Commonwealth's coastline and communities through university-based research, marine advisory and extension, and education programs.

VASG is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce) with matching support from the state of Virginia and other federal and non-federal sources. The program is housed at William and Mary’s Batten School and Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS).

Job Description:

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director, this position collaborates closely with VASG’s Assistant Director of Research to support the development, execution, and management of VASG's fellowship and internship programs. The role focuses on program coordination, student support, reporting and evaluation, program development, and ad hoc program support.

Key duties include:

• Program Coordination: Designs and executes fellowship and internship opportunities. Develops and manages requests for student applications and oversees associated projects. Recruits reviewers for VASG-managed competitions including fellowships and internships, biennial research competition, program development awards, and other opportunities.
• Student Support: Creates and hosts career development and enhancement opportunities for VASG-funded students. Maintains a database of current and former VASG-funded students and cultivates lifelong relationships by developing career growth opportunities.
• Reporting and Evaluation: Prepares reports and project updates for VASG. Evaluates the impact of VASG’s fellowship and internship programs.
• Program Development: Assists with coordination of VASG-managed and/or led proposals, strategic planning process, and other initiatives.
• Other Duties: Provides additional support to advance VASG’s mission.

Required Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in coastal and marine field, or other relevant field,

Experience

• Project management experience, e.g., time and deadline management, scheduling meetings, using online software tools, staff and volunteer supervision and coordination, and data management.
• Experience writing, preparing, packaging, and submitting grants.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts, or work plans.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• At least five (5) years of experience for program or project management, monitoring, and coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects/activities simultaneously, solve problems, make effective decisions, and contribute to shared goals.
• Possess excellent listening, oral, and written communication skills.
• Strong commitment to quality, with a customer-oriented and collaborative team approach.

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

• Ph.D. or Master’s degree in coastal and marine field, or other relevant discipline,

Experience

• Experience managing competitive funding.
• Experience evaluating effectiveness of grant making.
• Experience and strategies for engaging individuals from different backgrounds in research and/or fellowships.
• Experience working in higher education institutions in Virginia.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Working knowledge of competitive grant-making.
• Working knowledge of coastal and marine science, technical, law and policy, social science, or other related environmental fields.
• Problem-solving skills, innovation, and creativity.

Salary: Starting at $70,000, commensurate with experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

Conditions of Employment:

• This position is restricted to a three (3) year term, with option to renew.
• Position contingent to available funds.
• Occasional evening and weekend work.
• Occasional travel in the state, regionally, and nationally.

Job Duties & Responsibilities:

Program Coordination - 50%

• Administers fellowships, internships, and other student and post-graduate funding opportunities. This includes VASG’s Graduate Research Fellowship, Commonwealth Fellowship, Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, and summer internships.
• Develops/revises request for proposals and/or applications (including data management and abbreviated environmental compliance forms).
• Works with VASG’s communications team to ensure that the associated webpages are up to date.
• Monitors submissions using the proposal management system, serves as a technical resource for proposers and applicants, and their home institutions/departments with preparation of proposal and application materials, and for reviewers for state, regional, and national competitions.
• Develops/revises applications intake and review processes and facilitates communication with all applicants.
• Tracks, organizes and packages proposals and applications submitted to VASG funding opportunities, ensuring completeness and compliance with solicitation guidelines.
• Develops/revises review questions and rubrics for evaluation of proposals and applications.
• Administers reviews of proposals and candidate interviews, including coordinating relevancy reviews from key stakeholders, identifying subject matter experts, securing technical panel reviewers among subject matter experts, managing online review panel, arranging interview teams and scheduling candidate interviews, addressing conflicts of interest, facilitating compilation of panel summaries, sharing funding decisions, etc.
• Works closely with VASG’s Assistant Director of Research, and VASG’s Fiscal Officer to ensure financial compliance.
• Coordinates with VIMS Human Resources (HR), as well as HR departments at other schools as necessary, to hire and fund various student positions including, but not limited to Knauss, Commonwealth fellows, and interns.
• Completes project management tasks such as budget tracking, compliance with federal and state requirements.
• Together with VASG’s Assistant Director of Research, represents VASG within the national Sea Grant’s Research Coordinators and Fellowships Coordinators Network (RCFCN).

Student Support - 25%

• Develops/coordinates professional development opportunities for VASG funded students and alumni, notifying successful students, hosting orientation meetings, regular check-ins, alumni proposal coaching for applicants, and other services.
• Supports the career development of VASG funded students by connecting them to career development and enhancement opportunities, and mentors.
• Maintains student database and mailing lists including RFP announcement, fellowship and internship opportunities, VASG funded students and alumni.
• Works directly with students to receive and provide feedback on interview and application processes.
• Serves as a technical resource for applicants and reviewers using VASG’s proposal submission and review system.
• Documents, compiles, and distributes all proposal materials to internal and external reviewers
• Communicates with VASG fellows and interns concerning expectations, processes, deadlines, milestones, and progress.
• Communicates with VASG partners that serve as host offices regarding expectations, processes, deadlines, milestones, and progress related to student opportunities.

Reporting and Evaluation - 15%

• Conducts exit interviews with all fellows, and interns to identify areas for improvement or other available opportunities. Looks for potential synergies, mentoring, and engagement opportunities for VASG funded students and alumni.
• Assesses the impacts of career development and enhancement experiences and mentoring on a student's career journey and prepares impact reports.
• Improves fellowship and internship recruitment and selection processes based on feedback from applicants.
• Follows up with fellows, and interns in the years following their funded project to obtain publications that were not yet completed, additional deliverables, and to keep them connected to VASG and its network.
• Collects and synthesizes reporting data across for all Sea Grant functional areas including research and fellowships, extension, education, law and policy, and administration for preparing reports for the university, state, and federal governments.
• Submits reports to the 90-2 webform, the PIER database, eRA, and other databases as appropriate for the award.
• Streamlines the reporting and evaluation processes, making it easier for PIs and less time consuming for VASG staff and partners.

Program Development - 10%

• Assists with event management.
• Supports strategic planning.
• Supports research development.Contributes to reporting and research communications.
• Performs other duties assigned that are critical to achieving the VASG mission.

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EEO is the Law. Applicants can learn more about William & Mary’s status as an equal opportunity employer by viewing the "Know Your Rights" poster published by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. https://www.eeoc.gov/know-your-rights-workplace-discrimination-illegal

Background Check: William & Mary is committed to providing a safe campus community. W&M conducts background investigations for applicants being considered for employment. Background investigations include reference checks, a criminal history record check, and when appropriate, a financial (credit) report or driving history check.

Applicant Notice: By applying for this position, you consent to William & Mary's use, review, and retention of your application materials for recruitment and employment purposes. Materials may be shared with authorized individuals participating in the hiring process and will be managed in accordance with applicable laws and university policies.

Probationary Period Notice: Individuals selected for full-time staff positions will be required to complete a twelve (12) month probationary period in accordance with university policy.

Remote Work Disclaimer: Remote work eligibility is not guaranteed and is subject to approval. Employee eligibility depends on the likelihood of the employee succeeding in a remote work arrangement and the supervisor’s ability to manage remote workers. Departments and/or Human Resources may amend, alter, change, delete, or modify eligibility.