McGrath Graduate Fellowship Program
Virtual Info Session Recording
Program Overview
The McGrath Graduate Fellowship Program will allow participants to engage and grapple with a diversity of experiences and questions that challenge humanity and the earth we live on. Topics including gender, education, sustainability, pandemics, connectivity/technology access, equity, and inclusion will provide a framework for USF graduate students to explore, investigate, and develop skills and new ways of thinking toward the future. An experiential Summer international immersion component will serve as the foundational experience of the program.
The fourth edition of the program in the 2024-25 academic year will introduce participants to the vision and work of Jesuit Refugee Services and their commitment to accompaniment, service, and advocacy. Learning alongside the international Jesuit Network and other agencies with core commitments to humanity, evidence-based data, social analysis, reflection, and long-term solutions to global issues, participants of the program will interrogate the big questions of the global community in alignment with USF’s strategic values focusing on environmental sustainability, diversity, and inclusion, global focus, and responsibility. Coupling the immersion experience with the mission of USF to “change the world from here,” participants will engage an interdisciplinary lens to inform their leadership vision and practice to create a more humane future for all.
Read about the 2023 immersion to Cambodia via the Jesuit Network
Read about the 2023 immersion to Cambodia via USF News
For questions, contact us at changeinstitute@usfca.edu
Program Learning outcomes:
Objectives of the program are to provide graduate students an opportunity to:
- Develop and nurture a sense of reflection and contemplation to assist in a deeper understanding of human reality.
- Engage with the pressing questions facing humanity and our planet.
- Develop their inclusive leadership skills and their abilities to integrate differences.
- Refine their abilities to synthesize complex ideas and divergent viewpoints.
- Encourage innovation and nurture creative problem-solving skills.
- Enhance their adaptability and nimbleness and their capacities to navigate ambiguity, uncertainty, and unfamiliar circumstances.
- Distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace of graduate students seeking employment opportunities.
2024 Program Outline
- Cohort Meet & Greet | Mid–Apr. (date/time dependent on cohort availability)
- Change Institute Celebration | Wednesday, May 8, 7–8:30 p.m. in Xavier Auditorium, Fromm Hall
- Pre-Immersion Summer Sessions | Jun. & Jul. (date/time dependent on cohort availability)
- Summer International Immersion to Cambodia | Friday, Jul. 26–Friday, Aug. 9
- Fall Cohort Development Spaces | Weekly on Wednesday evenings from 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Aug. 21–Nov. 27
- Optional: Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in Washington, D.C. | Friday, Oct. 25–Monday, Oct. 28 (optional)
- Final Experience Presentation | Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 6–8 p.m.
2024 Eligibility & Requirements:
- Must be a full–time graduate student through December 2024
- Must be able to travel internationally to Cambodia and Thailand
- Must maintain good academic and judicial standing
- Must attend all in–person/hybrid events
2024 Fellow Recruitment TimelinE
- Applications Open | Wednesday, Jan. 24
- Applications Due | Wednesday, Feb. 21 5 by 11:59 p.m.
- Interview Offers | Wednesday, Mar. 6 by 5 p.m.
- Virtual Interview Period | Monday, Mar. 18–Friday, Mar. 22
- Fellowship Offers | Wednesday, Apr. 3 by 5 p.m.