A new community of independent learners comes together every fall and spring
New podmates, Monica Nirmala, Alicia Nelson, and Cris Alonso, get to know each other during an orientation meeting
Rose Service Learning Fellowship
The Rose Service Learning Fellowships are funded by a generous gift from Dr. Deborah Rose, SM ’75, to support students and post-doctoral fellows at Harvard Chan to travel and engage in service learning projects.
While typically most awards fund international travel, some awards are also made for U.S.-based projects, including in the Boston area. There are currently two funding cycles per year, in the fall and spring.
The Rose Service Learning Fellowships will fund rigorous service learning projects, which are designed to:
Address community-identified needs, working in partnership with the community and partner organization(s).
Develop and strengthen reciprocal partnerships between Harvard Chan and the organizations and communities in which the service learning projects take place.
Help Fellowship recipients develop community-oriented competencies that will enhance their future work as public health leaders, including a deeper commitment to health equity and social justice, and social responsibility.
Service learning is an approach to teaching and learning in which students use academic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs. The term is often used synonymously with experiential learning, community-engaged learning, or public service learning.
Service: The student experience must provide service to the host organization or community in which the student work takes place. The project is done at the request of the community or based on needs developed or defined by the community; the community is involved in the design of the project; the primary goal of the project is to provide assistance to the community or organization. Work is grounded in the principle of reciprocal learning, which seeks to eliminate the distinctions between teacher, student, and sponsor.
Learning: Student learning occurs within an explicit developmental framework, which emphasizes preparation of the student in advance, supervision, and support during the project, and reflection by the student about the experience. Students develop specific learning objectives for their work, and the educational institution also develops specific learning objectives and/or competencies that it wants students to develop through the experience (e.g., cultural competency, civic engagement, ethical dimensions of community-based practice, a commitment to social justice and health equity).
Student reflection is an explicit part of the experience.
Students often participate in some type of learning community, which brings together students involved in service learning activities. This learning community can be a formal course or take a less formal form, such as meetings of students working on projects with a particular focus, or in a particular geographic region.
Students share the results of their service learning experiences in some type of structured setting (e.g., a course, a conference, a poster session, etc.).
Eligibility
Students in all degree programs at Harvard Chan as well as Harvard Chan post-docs are eligible to apply (including international students and international post-docs).
Students graduating March 2025 or later are eligible to apply for the Spring 2024 Fellowship funding cycle.
Students must have completed at least one semester of coursework at Harvard Chan before the beginning of the proposed project.
Students must be currently enrolled throughout the time of their project.
Applicants must be able to attend in-person meetings during the Fellowship program (typically an orientation and debrief session), as well as any Zoom meetings.
Spring 2024 orientation session: May 1, 2024 (8 – 9:30 a.m.).
Applicants are expected to engage in person, full time for a period of time with their partner organization and community, in the spirit of community engaged learning. Therefore, this fellowship is not appropriate for part-time students who also hold full-time jobs, unless special arrangements are made by the student.
Past applicants whose proposals were not previously funded are eligible to reapply.
Funding Amounts and Allowable Expenses
Fellowships will be available in amounts up to $10,000. Budgets are required. Allowable expenses include but are not limited to transportation; living expenses (e.g., lodging, food); and project-related materials, supplies, or services (e.g., software, translation). Most fellowships that take place in the metro Boston area are capped at $5,000, but it depends on the nature of the project.
Fellowship awards are considered taxable income, so it is important to include taxes in the budget to avoid unanticipated out-of-pocket expenses.
Initial Fellowship payments are typically made approximately one month after the award decision, as long as all required documentation is complete. The final Fellowship payment is issued at the conclusion of the Fellowship upon receipt of final report.
Fellows will receive payment through the Harvard University Buy-to-Pay system, and students will need to be set up in this system in advance of receiving payment.
