Intergenerational Fellow Position Information for STUDENTS applying for 2020-2021:
Payment: Unlike previous years, we currently do not have funding so this is a volunteer position
Dates: 13 weeks in Fall and 13 weeks in Spring semester (do not have to work during interim on project). It is possible to apply for only one semester.
Hours: approximately 2 hours per week. Each fellow will have a set 1hr workshop with the day/time determined by both their own schedule and the schedule of the location. The other hour per week will be used for preparation and assessment of the program.
Who: Wofford students from any major are encouraged to apply. Students should be: compassionate, responsible, organized, committed, be comfortable being uncomfortable, a problem-solver and flexible thinker.
Information: See this general information and feel free to read the full grant proposal and renewal proposal. See stories in the media and 2017-18 workshop stories/products here.
Duties:
- Work with designated community location that serves low-income older adults to set date/time of weekly 1-hour creativity workshops. Each fellow will be responsible for their own designated series of workshops at a particular location, day and time. Workshops will ideally include half older adult participants and half students. The GOAL is to create “intergenerational connections” – aka young and older adults talk together in order to learn from each other! So we need both age groups of people present. The fellow is organizing these meetings, what we are calling ‘workshops’.
- Develop creative activity schedule for a series of 10 workshops held at location in each semester. The activities planned for workshops will depend on ability and interests of workshop participants (see here for examples). As an example of a creative writing workshop format see: http://www.livingwordsprogram.com
- Help identify Wofford students to attend workshops (consistently or a one-time basis). We hope to identify faculty that will require students in their class to engage in these workshops, but the fellow might also help identify students throughout the year to attend (e.g. a conversation with a student leads to organizing a small group of their friends to interact with older adults at a workshop as a volunteer/service experience.)
- Attend and lead weekly 1hr workshop.
- Keep track of data, such as: attendance, activity, engagement and products of each workshop. Assess effectiveness of workshops and adapt as continue through the year. We will work together to determine best practices for this work.
- Communicate about progress on this project with Dr. Bopp and/or Ms. Story on campus. Meetings will allow time for reflection, idea sharing and problem solving.
- Work to create a ‘deliverable’ product that displays creative works to larger Spartanburg public; especially showcasing the needs of this invisible population at the end of the school year. See exhibit here.
- Write reflective essays regarding project goals and impact at start, middle and end of project.
- The PRIMARY duty of the fellows is to facilitate interactions between the younger college students and older adults leading to the development of relationships. What those interactions look like depend on the people, place and other factors. The benefits of these relationships are listed in the grant application (or see media release page).
Complete the application using this link.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Kara Bopp (boppkl@wofford.edu) or Ms. Jessalyn Story (storyjw@wofford.edu) with any questions
For current Fellows: See Moodle page for instructions for assessments!