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, completing certification courses, attending professional skill workshops, 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 last cycle’s Graduate Student CAF funded opportunities? Check out these testimonials!
Internship
The Grad Student CAF funded experience helped me explore career paths beyond the professoriate by connecting me with the Latino community in Columbus through a summer internship. Through hands-on projects and community engagement, I saw how my academic skills could translate into impactful, community centered work outside traditional academic roles.
Ileana Perez, PhD, 2026
Department of Spanish and Portuguese,
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Volunteer Experience
The Grad Student CAF gave me the chance to volunteer with the National Weather Service in Nashville, TN. I honed my forecasting skills, gained interview experience and new connections, and worked on a project to improve tornado warning issuance. Without this funding, I couldn’t have pursued such a valuable and career-confirming opportunity.
Ashlee Ziegler, MS, 2026
Department of Geography (Atmospheric Sciences),
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Networking Event
Attending the Congress for the New Urbanism gave me a chance to connect with professionals, learn from real-world projects, and explore new ideas in planning and design. I’m thankful to Grad Student CAF for supporting my trip—it helped me build relationships and learn about future job opportunities.
Aniket Sangwan, PhD, 2026
Department of Geography,
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Language Course
This summer I took an intensive German Language class at the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt, Germany to improve my professional German. While in Germany I was also able to network with museum professionals and conduct informational interviews in German to learn more about working in German museums after I complete my PhD.
Emma Todd, PhD, 2029
Department of History,
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Internship
The Grad Student CAF allowed me to gain invaluable experience with an Urban Arts Space internship, where I developed operational skills and applied career readiness competencies like leadership and critical thinking. This opportunity strengthened my preparation for a career in arts administration.
Jessica Lieber, MA, 2026
Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy,
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Conference Attendance
The Grad Student CAF enabled my attendance at a genomics conference with attendees primarily outside the professoriate. This funding directly led to valuable networking with industry and government, significantly enhancing my career prospects. I'm especially proud to have made a strong connection with team leads across well-established and start-up companies, leading to potential job opportunities.
Kayla Cross, PhD, 2025
Department of Microbiology,
Summer 2025 Graduate Student CAF Recipient
Award Amount:
Recipients, the number of recipients, and amount of support shall be determined in accordance with current guidelines and procedures. The maximum award is $5,000.
Graduate Student Submission Criteria:
Summer 2026 Application Period: Closed
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. Priority will be given to applications that successfully obtained their opportunity at the time of submission.
EXAMPLES OF FUNDABLE ACTIVITIES: Activities that have been considered for a Graduate Student CAF award in past cycles 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.
*Important Note for Applicants with Proposals Abroad: If your proposed opportunity occurs partially or entirely outside the United States and is not an official OSU sanctioned Global Education Program, ASC Career Success will consult with the Office of International Affairs (OIA) Global Health and Safety to ensure compliance with all relevant international risk management policies.
- Prior to any consideration by the selection committee:
- Office of International Affairs Approval: You are strongly encouraged to review the OIA Global Health and Safety website to confirm necessary travel approvals and procedures for the proposed country/countries.
- Risk Assessment: ASC Career Success reserves the right to adjust or withdraw funding for any Graduate Student CAF award to high-risk destinations that are deemed to pose an unacceptable level of risk by OIA Global Health and Safety.
- Vetting Opportunities Abroad: Exercise extreme caution and best judgement when choosing experiences abroad that are not OIA Global Education programs.
- For more information on OIA Global Education Programs, click here for OIA’s Study Abroad: Education for Global Citizenship flyer.
- Visa Services: Please be advised that international travel may have an effect on the type of visa you currently have and/or the type of visa needed to travel to/stay in a destination. For more information on visa services, please click here.
Mandatory Traveler Insurance: Graduate Student CAF applicants with an international opportunity not affiliated with OIA Global Education programs are required to purchase supplemental traveler insurance for the duration of their stay. For information and rates for traveler insurance, please click here.
- When filling out the required Budget Worksheet, please do include the traveler insurance costs in your requested total amount for funding.
- Post-Award:
- Travel Registration: All awardees with international travel components are required to register their travel plans with the official university travel registry.
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 2026)
- 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 12th, 2026 (11:59 PM)
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: 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 #4 in the FAQ section below.
Step 3: Prepare the following materials.
- ALL applicants are required to provide the following:
- 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.
- Career Impact Personal Statement.
- You will be required to submit a Career Impact Personal Statement in your application. Your statement must articulate a clear connection between this opportunity and your career exploration/development outside of the professoriate. Specifically, address how this opportunity will advance your non-academic career goals or exploration. You must identify the specific skills or knowledge you expect to gain, and outline the concrete actions you plan to take to apply these learnings directly to your career path/interest(s). Limit 3,000 characters.
- 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 the company’s website, Handshake, or other job board
- Description of position or program from the organization’s website
- Letter or email from on-site mentor, supervisor, or leader detailing the primary duties and responsibilities of the experience
- Detailed daily/weekly schedule.
- Acceptable documents include (which makes the most sense may depend on your proposed activity):
- 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 two sample budget worksheets here: EXAMPLE Grad Student CAF Budget Worksheet 1 (Internship) and EXAMPLE Grad Student CAF Budget Worksheet 2 (Other Career Building Opportunity)
- Resume. Applicants are asked to submit a resume - not a CV.
- Letter of support from a faculty member. The letter should make clear the faculty member’s role in relation to the applicant’s academic work, articulate their support for the proposed activity, and explain 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 on-site 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
- A letter from an on-site 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
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 required. Use the link below to join.
For all other questions, email Maddie Kindig (kindig.13@osu.edu).
Informational Session
For more information about the Graduate CAF, or to ask questions, watch our virtual info session.
Learn how the Grad Student CAF can fund your summer 2026 career development opportunities, including:
- Low or unpaid internships.
- Non-academic professional conferences and networking events.
- Certification programs, training boot camps, and specialized skill workshops.
- Volunteer opportunities and job shadowing/mentorship.
- and more!
Click here to learn about eligibility requirements, the application process, and get your questions answered as you prepare to submit your application!
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.
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.
- 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 [TBD] (see above for Zoom link), and attending the required Graduate Student CAF coaching appointment.
- To schedule a required career coaching appointment with ASC Career Success, 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.
- An applicant is limited to only TWO appointments maximum for their Graduate Student CAF planning. The planning appointment is NOT designed solely for resume review and is not to learn more about the fund.
- For questions or difficulty in scheduling a required Graduate Student CAF Planning appointment, please email Maddie Kindig (kindig.13@osu.edu).
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.
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 abroad 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.
- Please see *Important Note for Applicants with Proposals Abroad above for information and disclaimers for risk assessment, directions, and considerations for Grad Student CAF funding for opportunities abroad.
- 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.
- Yes, you can apply to the Graduate Student CAF if your opportunity has not yet been confirmed and/or accepted. However, please note that opportunities that have already been confirmed and/or accepted will receive priority consideration from the selection committee.
- Applicants who are selected to receive a Grad Student CAF award and do not yet have a confirmed opportunity will be required to submit acceptance no later than April 15, 2026 to Maddie Kindig via email (kindig.13@osu.edu). If the applicant fails to provide evidence of acceptance, ASC Career Success reserves the right to rescind their CAF award.
- "Minimally paid" is defined as a level of compensation (salary or stipend) that is not financially sustainable for an applicant based on the location's cost of living, the professional nature of the work, the amount of hours the applicant is expected to work, and other sources (if any) of income/stipend the applicant receives during the summer term.
- We encourage all applicants to use this Living Wage Calculator, or similar resources, to help calculate how much they will need to make based on the location of their opportunity.