The Impact Beloit Community Fellows Program provides high-achieving seniors opportunities to have sustained engagement with a community partner organization or business as an intern doing project-based work driven by the organization’s needs. Students are paired with a faculty or staff mentor and must commit to the program for the full academic year.

This professional development, coupled with mentorship from faculty advisors, give Fellows significant advantages as they pursue their future career paths and navigate their future professional workplaces. Fellows gain valuable, hands-on experience working on projects integral to the operations of the community partner organizations, develop and hone skills, and learn to adapt to a new work culture and learn more about the city of Beloit and how to be an engaged, productive citizen of a community.

Requirements for Participation

Successful candidates for Community Fellows positions must:

• be seniors (juniors meeting all other requirements may apply but seniors are given priority)
• demonstrate maturity and responsible, dependable behavior
• have completed a course with significant community-based learning component; an internship; a course with significant leadership development or project management content; or be nominated by a faculty or staff member who attests to the student’s ability to meet the expectations of the program

Summer orientation

Fellows arrive on campus a week before classes begin. Exact dates will be provided to students when they are accepted into the program.

Check-in sessions

Fellows will attend check-in sessions every other week with their faculty/staff supervisor. On alternating weeks, Fellows will attend a group check-in session with the other Fellows, all faculty/staff supervisors, and Impact Beloit staff.

At the check-in sessions (individual and group), Fellows will share updates on their projects, challenges, and successes and receive feedback and guidance from faculty/staff and peers. Check-ins will help the Fellows reflect on what they’ve learned, learn from their peers’ experiences, and get feedback that helps them perform better in their fellowship.

Reflections

Over the course of each semester, Fellows are also required to submit three written reflections that assess their progress against their goals, articulate what they have learned and how it ties to their coursework, how it may be helping them in their career decision-making process, and identify areas in which they’d like to learn more or revise their goals.

Compensation

Each Fellow receives the following as compensation:

• One unit of credit each semester in exchange for 10 hours of work each week
• A $2,500 stipend with $1,250 distributed at the beginning of each semester
• Coverage of room and board for the one-week summer training session