Graduate Student Career Accelerator Fund

The goal of the Graduate Student Career Accelerator (CAF) is to provide financial support for skill-building, networking, and professional development that will facilitate career exploration and education outside the professoriate. This includes experiential learning (like internships) as well as other career-building activities (like joining professional organizations, attending professional conferences, etc.) that can help a student develop valuable skills, professional contacts, expanded understanding of an industry or a non-academic career pathway, and more. 

Curious about past Graduate Student CAF funded opportunities? Check out these testimonials from past recipients!

Receiving Graduate Student CAF funding made it possible for me to attend the 2024 YIVO Summer Program in Yiddish Language and Culture and enjoy the opportunities of the program to the fullest. Over the course of the program, I was able to immensely increase my Yiddish language skills, meet people from all over the world, and connect with Yiddish cultural projects happening in New York City. I now can pursue translation projects, and the networks with which to collaborate, find publishing opportunities, and continue a lifelong project of learning Yiddish.

— Isaiah Back-Gaal, MFA ’24, Department of English
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

Receiving the Graduate Student CAF award enabled me to spend my summer becoming further qualified and gaining advanced certification in ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching. Not only has it helped me build my resume, and advance my teaching knowledge, knowledge and experience, but I have also built an invaluable network of emerging ESL teachers.

— Deanna Holroyd, PhD ’24, Department of Comparative Studies
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

With my summer internship being unpaid, it was so helpful to have this fund, as it relieved the stressors that I would’ve had if I were earning no income. I was able to work just the internship and fully focus on that position and my professional growth within that. I’m happy that the Graduate Student CAF is a resource available for graduate students!

— Chelsey Sarante, MA ’25, School of Communication
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

Working on a grant-writing project at Columbus Museum of Art this summer, I’ve engaged in the research and planning stages of grant-writing, learned more about interdepartmental and community collaboration processes, and deepened professional relationships.

— Julia Harth, PhD ’25, Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

The Graduate Student CAF allowed me to attend a certification course in interpretive programming. I was able to gain experience in a potential career path, make contacts, and learn many tools. Thank you for this opportunity!

— Julia Vrtilek, PhD ’26, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

The Graduate Student CAF award enabled me to have a summer internship at Riverain Technologies, where I developed advanced machine learning algorithms for medical imaging, significantly enhancing my skills in neural network design and data simulation for real-world applications.

— Zhongshu Xu, PhD ’26, Department of Mathematics
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

The Graduate Student CAF provided essential support during my training in audiology at Johns Hopkins. It helped alleviate financial pressures, enabling me to connect with and learn from distinguished clinicians and researchers at Hopkins and even other institutions in the DMV region. I am deeply grateful for these new connections and skill sets that I have developed, which I will be able to carry into my career after graduation that I otherwise would not have.

— Breanna Langenek, Doctor of Audiology ’25, Department of Speech and Hearing Science
Summer 2024 Graduate Student CAF Recipient

Apply for the Grad Student CAF HERE

Award Amount:

Recipients, the number of recipients, and the amount of support shall be determined in accordance with current guidelines and procedures. The maximum award is $5,000.

Graduate Student Submission Criteria:

Summer 2025 Application Period: January 2^nd 2025 - March 6^th, 2025 (6:00 pm ET)

You must have applied to, be applying to or successfully obtained an unpaid or minimally paid internship or non-academic professional development experience prior to application submission.

EXAMPLES OF FUNDABLE ACTIVITIES: Activities that have been considered for a Graduate Student CAF award include:

Low or unpaid internships

Other experiential learning opportunities like volunteering, service-learning, job shadowing

Career-related skilling-building experiences like training programs, boot camps, workshops

Networking and professional development like professional organization membership, conference attendance

*International students: Please be advised that any paid or unpaid off-campus work experience must have a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) form on file with the Office of International Affairs (OIA).  International students can learn more about CPT here. We strongly encourage all international students to consult with OIA prior to submitting their Grad Student CAF application.

How to Apply for the Graduate Student Career Accelerator Fund

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible for a Graduate Student Career Accelerator award, students must:

Be currently enrolled as a graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences

Remain enrolled for the award period (summer 2025)

In good standing, as defined in the Graduate School Handbook (5.1)

Schedule and attend a 30-minute career coaching appointment for Graduate Student CAF planning with an ASC Career Coach on Handshake

Submission Deadline: Thursday, March 6, 2025 (6:00 pm ET)

Submission Instructions:

Step 1:

Review the application form and its various requirements. Determine which materials may be required for your unique application along with any formatting requirements (e.g., naming conventions, document type).

You may start and save your application, so we encourage you to review it in its entirety early.

Step 2:

Confirm with Student Financial Aid that a Graduate Student CAF award would not adversely affect your aid/award package from the institution. Awards will be disbursed at the start of the summer term.

Step 3:

Schedule and attend a 30-minute career coaching appointment for Graduate Student CAF Planning prior to application submission to verify that your experience is eligible, review potential budget worksheet requirements, and to answer any questions you may have on the application. Attending a Graduate Student CAF Planning appointment prior to application submission is required to be eligible for grad student CAF funding. For directions on how to schedule a Graduate Student CAF Planning appointment on Handshake with ASC Career Success, please see Question #5 in the FAQ section below.

Step 4:

Prepare the following materials.

ALL applicants are required to provide the following:
- Budget Worksheet.
  - Applicants must use the budget template available here: Graduate Student CAF Budget Worksheet
  - Detailed guidelines on what can and cannot be included in your budget worksheet may be found here: Grad Student CAF Budget Guidelines
  - Applicants are strongly encouraged to review a sample budget here: EXAMPLE Grad Student CAF Budget Worksheet
- Resume. Applicants are asked to submit a resume - not a CV.
  - Click here to access a guide from the Princeton Center for Career Development on transforming a CV to a resume. The resource also includes multiple sample resumes. https://go.osu.edu/transformingyourcvtoresume
  - You may also discuss creating/refining your resume during the required 30-minute coaching appointment prior to submission.
- Description of position or activity from the organization’s website.
  - Acceptable documents include (which makes the most sense may depend on your proposed activity):
    - Position posting from Handshake or other job board
    - Description of position or program from the organization’s website
    - Letter or email from an on-site mentor, supervisor, or leader detailing the primary duties and responsibilities of experience
    - Detailed daily/weekly schedule.
- Letter of support from a faculty member. The letter should clarify the faculty member’s role in relation to the applicant’s academic work, articulate their support for the proposed activity, and state how the proposed activity relates to the applicant’s career development/exploration outside the professoriate. Click here to access a template for a Faculty Support Letter. Grad Student CAF Faculty Support Letter Template
Depending on your proposed activity, you may be asked to provide:
- A letter from an onsite supervisor, mentor or leader detailing the primary duties. Please encourage your supervisor/mentor/leader to use the letter template available here: Grad Student CAF Employer Certification Letter
- Detailed daily/weekly schedule

Review of Applications:

Graduate Student CAF applications are reviewed by a committee of ASC faculty and staff. Reviewers are asked to consider the potential impact of the proposed experience on the student’s non-academic career exploration/goals relative to its cost.

Questions?

Please thoroughly read our FAQ section on this webpage before and during your application process. We encourage prospective applicants to attend our Grad Student CAF Information Session to ask initial CAF-related questions. No registration is needed. Use the link below to join.

For all other questions, email Maddie Kindig (kindig.13@osu.edu).

Grad Student CAF Info Session Monday, January 13^th, 2025| 5:00-5:30 pm ET | [https://go.osu.edu/maddiekindig]

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, if the applicant is still a current graduate student in good standing within the College of Arts and Sciences, they are eligible for a Graduate Student CAF. Please note that for applicants graduating from a master's program in the spring but continuing to a PhD program in the fall, Graduate Student CAF awards depend on their commitment to a College of Arts and Sciences PhD program. As a result, we will request evidence of their commitment to a PhD program in the College of Arts and Sciences if they are awarded Graduate Student CAF funds.

For graduate students on a Graduate School fellowship through the summer term: If applicants plan to pursue Graduate Student CAF funds to support a no- or low-paid internship, please consult with the Graduate School in advance of submitting the application materials at grad-schoolfellowships@osu.edu. 

Yes, artist residencies are eligible for Graduate Student CAF funding. However, the applicant must demonstrate a strong case for how this opportunity relates to their non-academic professional and career development.

The Graduate Student CAF is different from many other funding opportunities in the College of Arts and Sciences. For example, the Graduate Student CAF is specifically seeking applications for non-academic career development. These opportunities could range from low or unpaid internships, job shadowing programs, non-academic conferences, bootcamps or certification programs, etc. To determine eligibility, we highly recommend reading through all FAQs prior to accessing the application, attending the Grad Student CAF Info Session on Monday, January 13^th at 5:00 pm (see above for Zoom link), and attending the required Graduate Student CAF coaching appointment.

To schedule a required career coaching appointment with ASC Career Sucess, first log in to the platform Handshake. Select Career Center on the left-hand side of the homepage. Select Appointments, and Schedule a New Appointment. Next, you will select the appointment category Arts and Sciences: Graduate Student CAF Planning. Once selected, click on the appointment type ASC: Graduate Student Career Accelerator Fund (CAF). Select a a date and time that works for your schedule. This appointment must be completed prior to application submission.

For questions or difficulty in scheduling a required Graduate Student CAF Planning appointment, please email Maddie Kindig (kindig.13@osu.edu).

The “professoriate” refers to faculty or instructor positions at universities and colleges. These positions typically involve teaching, research, and service. Postdoctoral positions may involve these tasks, too, but usually a person can hold this kind of position only for a few years. “Outside the professoriate” includes all the many jobs that exist that aren’t university faculty/teaching roles. We say “outside the professoriate” rather than “outside academia” because many people who have graduate degrees choose to work in staff or administrative roles within universities—so they are working “inside academia” but not inside the professoriate.

Yes, professional conferences and bootcamps/summer schools are eligible activities for the Graduate Student CAF. Please note that it will be important for applicants to demonstrate that there is a clear and strong connection between the professional conference/summer school/boot camp and their professional and career development outside the professoriate.

Should the applicant receive an award from the Graduate Student Career Accelerator Fund, it may affect their overall aid and scholarship package. Before submitting the application, the applicant must confirm with Student Financial Aid that receipt of a Grad Student CAF will not adversely affect their financial aid and other awards. Contact Student Financial Aid here: https://sfa.osu.edu/contact-us.

Graduate Student CAF award will only be applied toward activities taking place during the summer term. The activities that extend into the fall (or begin early in the spring) cannot be covered by the award. For instance, for an internship that begins on April 1 and runs through July 31, the Grad Student CAF funding could not be used to help cover the cost of housing for the weeks prior to the start of the summer term.

Applicants are not precluded from submitting a CV, but they are STRONGLY encouraged to take the time to generate a resume. Our recommended resume resources are as follows: 1) ASC Career Success resume template 2) Transforming your CV to a Resume tipsheet from the Princeton Center for Career Development. You may also discuss crafting/refining your resume during the required 30-minute coaching appointment prior to submission (see Question #5).

Additional resources include: Beyond the Professoriate and Beyond Graduate School, OUAB’s Technical Tuesdays series, Buckeye Careers resume workshops, and The Ohio State Writing Center.

It is understandable that a faculty member may request that their support letter stay confidential. In that case, please have the faculty member email the support letter as a PDF file to Maddie Kindig at kindig.13@osu.edu. Simply upload a PDF file containing the faculty member’s name, email, and date you requested their letter to continue completing the application.

Yes, ASC graduate students who previously earned a Graduate Student CAF award can reapply for future cycles. However, first-time applicants will receive priority consideration over repeat applicants in the review process.

Full-time Ohio State employees are not eligible for the award. Postdoctoral researchers are not eligible for CAF funding.

An applicant’s academic research and their non-academic career development are not mutually exclusive. Research skills are highly valuable and can open many professional doors. But this award is NOT meant to fund research. The goal of the Grad Student CAF is to provide financial support for skill-building, networking, and professional development that will facilitate career exploration and education outside the professoriate. That said, we recognize there may be a connection between the applicant’s research and non-academic career goals.

Graduate Student CAF applications are unique to each applicant and their opportunity. However, our committee stresses the following be taken into strong consideration before submitting: Complete and meticulously detailed budget worksheet with supplemental documents and links, consistent and clear emphasis on the career goals outside the professoriate, naming concrete skills gained by the opportunity, and highlighting the potential impact of the proposed experience on the applicant’s non-academic career exploration/goals relative to its cost.