ELITE Fellowship Opportunities

About

The ELITE Graduate Program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) is pleased to offer the ELITE Fellowship Program. The ELITE Fellowship Program is an “experience” members of the ELITE Cohort are eligible to participate in. The “experience” is in collaboration with either a TAMUCC department or a community organization and can consist of research, participation in special projects or tasks, shadowing, or other experiences related to the student’s field or major discipline under either a TAMUCC faculty mentor or a community industry mentor.

ELITE Cohort Members can select from a database of faculty mentors or community industry mentors. Once a selection is made, an interview between the ELITE Cohort Member and the faculty or industry mentor will be set up. Upon a successful interview, the ELITE Graduate Program will assist in setting up the fellowship.

Hours Per Week: Each research or field experience requires 10 hours of commitment per week. These 10 hours can be flexed, upon mutual agreement between the Faculty or Industry Mentor and ELITE Cohort Member.

Availability and Deadlines: Fellowships are awarded on a first come first serve basis with priority consideration given to students who have not had a fellowship opportunity in the past.

Fellowships are also awarded based on availability. We normally award about 20 fellowship opportunities per semester. Once we have reached our maximum allowable number of fellowships for the semester, no future contracts will be accepted. To ensure there is still availability, please contact us as soon as you decide you want a fellowship.
Contact Elizabeth.benson-landau@tamucc.edu, 361-825-2510

Fellowship Database: Fellowship Jobs  

Commitment: Within six months of beginning the fellowship, participants will be required to prepare a research project (paper, poster, power point, etc.). In addition, participants will be required to present at the TAMUCC Annual Research Symposium held each spring semester on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi campus. Participants are encouraged to present at any other research presentation/symposium events.

Compensation: Hourly rates are as follows:

• Masters graduate students = $12.69/hour
• Doctoral graduate students = $23.08/hour
• Doctoral candidates (doctoral students who have passed comprehensive exams) = $24.23/hour

Important Guidelines and Procedures: Any ELITE Graduate Program Research Fellow dismissed from their fellowship opportunity will no longer be eligible for future consideration for funding from the Title V-Graduate Program and the ELITE Graduate Program.

Students

The ELITE Fellowship Program is an “experience” members of the ELITE Cohort are eligible to participate in. In order to be awarded an ELITE Research Fellowship, graduate students have to meet certain criteria and expectations. Your faculty or industry mentor understands the requirements of this program and will urge you to satisfy the requirements to continue to receive funding. Failure to fulfill the terms of this contract will result in dismissal from program, loss of your stipend, and/or loss of other benefits of the program.

Instructions for ELITE Cohort Members:

1. View the ELITE Fellowship Database, by visiting the following website: http://elite.tamucc.edu/fellowshipjobs/
2. When you have selected the job you are interested in, please do the following:
   1. Contact the mentor directly and let them know you are with the ELITE cohort and would like to request an interview for their job posting. Please be prepared to provide a job title and description because some mentors have multiple positions listed in our database.
   2. When you go for the interview, please take this form along with you:
      ELITE-Fellowship-Contract-Mentor-and-Mentee.pdf
3. After you have been selected for a fellowship, you will need to follow the following steps:
   1. This step is for the mentor and student - ELITE Fellowship Contract & ELITE Research Action Plan: Once you are a match, you will need to sign these forms and return them to us as soon as possible so that we can start processing the hiring paperwork through the university. For these forms, we will need to have the original signatures. 
   2. ELITE-Fellowship-Contract-Mentor-and-Mentee.pdf
   3. ELITE Fellowship-Research Action Plan
4. This step is for the student - Employment Packet: Please go to: On-Line Employment Packet 2010.pdf. This paperwork will allow us to set your up in the university payroll system so that you can get paid. Download these forms, fill them ALL out and bring them to ECDC 211A with two (2) forms of government issued identification, one of which has to be your Driver’s License or ID card.
   1. Drivers License (mandatory)
      1. Social Security Card
      2. Birth Certificate
      3. Passport
      4. Permanent Residency Card / Green Card
5. Student Timesheets: You will be required to submit online weekly timesheets. Once the university has set you up in the online employment management system, Single-Sign On (SSO), you will be able to begin tracking your hours worked under the ELITE Fellowship Program.  Please ensure you track your time accordingly and submit your timesheet BEFORE the DUE DATE. If you do not submit your timesheet before the due date, the timesheet will be canceled and you will NOT be paid for those hours worked until the following pay period. In the event that you should miss submitting your timesheet, you will be required to submit a paper timesheet with your Mentor’s signature provided, and bring the timesheet to my office in order to have the hours manually added to the next pay period.
6. Paper Timesheet: Timesheet
   Online Time Submission: https://sso.tamus.edu
   TAMUCC Bi-Weekly Pay Period Schedule: FY 2012 BI-Weekly Time Traq Pay Schedule
7. Please Note: Your compensation will be issued bi-weekly and you are only paid for a maximum of 10 hours per week. Anything over 10 hours will not be paid under this Fellowship Program.  

If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us:

• General Questions: Elizabeth Benson-Landau, 361-825-2510, Elizabeth.Benson-Landau@tamucc.edu
• Payroll Questions: Elizabeth Benson-Landau, 361-825-2510, Elizabeth.Benson-Landau@tamucc.edu

For Mentors

The ELITE Fellowship Program “experience” is in collaboration with either a TAMUCC department or a community organization and can consist of research, participation in special projects or tasks, shadowing, or other experiences related to the student’s field or major discipline under either a TAMUCC faculty mentor or a community industry mentor.

As a faculty or industry mentor, you agree to mentor your student in a research or field experience and assist your student completing the requirements listed above. As a mentor, your responsibility is to provide the graduate student with a research or project experience in their field of study and assist the student in preparing a research project for presentation.

Your role as mentor for the student is a very important activity. As a mentor, you are expected to:

• Oversee the work done by the student and meet with him/her weekly if not more frequently
• Encourage the student to attend all classes and do well in their studies

Participating students will be paid a monthly stipend for their work through the TAMUCC Payroll Department. Appropriate documentation may need to be completed and/or submitted. All payment and payroll documentation will be handled through Ms. Lizzy Benson-Landau, Program Coordinator, 361-825-2510, or at elizabeth.benson-landau@tamucc.edu

To become a fellowship mentor, please complete the form below or call 361-825-2510 for more information. After completing the form, please submit this contract as soon as possible. Once we receive the contract we will activate your submission in our database.

ELITE Fellowship Contract - Title V & Mentor

Forms

1. ELITE Fellowship Contract - Mentor & Mentee
2. ELITE Fellowship Research Action Plan
3. ELITE Fellowship Contract - Title V & Mentor
4. Paper Timesheet
5. TAMUCC Bi-Weekly Pay Period Schedule

Promotional Information:

1. The ELITE Fellowship Program Handout
2. ELITE Fellowship Flyer
3. Graduate Fields of Study

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