Career Accelerator Fund

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Career Accelerator Fund (program icon)

Providing financial support for College of Arts and Sciences students participating in unpaid or minimally paid internships, research roles or other career building experiences.*

 

*To be considered for a CAF award, you need to have obtained an unpaid or minimally paid internship, research role, or other career building experience.

Amount of award

Recipients, the number of recipients, and amount of support shall be determined in accordance with current guidelines and procedures. The award amounts will be in $250 increments but will not exceed $5,000 per recipient.

Submission Criteria:

  • Spring 2022 Application Period: October 26, 2021 through November 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.
  • Summer 2022 Application Period: January 3, 2022 through February 7, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
  • See detailed Career Accelerator Fund - Application Checklist [pdf] for steps and materials required to complete application

Please Note:

  • There are 3 sub funds within the CAF, each with additional eligibility criteria. Please read on to see if you qualify.
  • The award cannot be used to cover expenses from opportunities completed in previous terms.
  • Those who have obtained a STEP award or other funding to support experiential learning as well as those with a Morrill Scholarship or other “full ride” scholarship are not eligible to apply for a CAF.
  • Full-time Ohio State employees are not eligible for the award.
  • Students who received the award during a previous semester are not eligible to apply.
  • Federal law prohibits students from receiving aid that exceeds the estimated cost of attendance as established by Student Financial Aid. It is your responsibility to contact Student Financial Aid if you are unsure of how the fund would affect your financial aid award package.
  • Any award $2,500 and over will require receipts.
  • Students who have been placed on academic probation or special-action probation are not eligible for a CAF until removed from probation.

Impact of the Fund

Sarah Bach (head shot)

Sarah Bach
Major: English
Minor(s): Writing, Spanish
Internship: Professional Writing Capstone Experience

The CAF Award allowed me to make the most of my last summer in college; I would not have been able to accept an unpaid summer internship without its funding. In this difficult time, I’m fortunate to not worry about fundamental expenses like rent and utilities.

Victoria Piper (head shot)

Victoria Piper
Major: Psychology
Minor(s): Integrative Approaches to Health & Wellness, Studio Art
Internship: Social Neurochemistry Lab

Joining the Social Neurochemistry Lab was an outstanding opportunity for it offered me the chance to work on big questions in my top three desired fields: health psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, and social psychology... This fund... allowed me to shed my doubts about redistributing hours from work to spending time in the lab.

Emma Siefring (head shot)

Emma Siefring
Major: Psychology
Minor(s): South Asian Studies, Studio Art
Internship: Nationwide Children's Hospital

I am pursuing a career as a Clinical Health Psychologist, and knew that conducting research on the bio behavioral effects of cancer on children would be something that would have long term benefits to pediatric cancer patients... I have been an undergraduate research assistant in various capacities and had only received compensation for my work once, so I thought I would see if this would be an option for me.

More Student Stories from the Career Accelerator Fund

 

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Career Accelerator Fund Types

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To be eligible for Career Accelerator Primary Fund, students must:

  • GPA 3.00 or higher
  • Secured an unpaid or minimally paid internship/research opportunity for the Spring or Summer 2022 term.
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To be eligible for Career Accelerator Browning Public Policy Fund, students must:

  • GPA 3.00 or higher
  • Pell Grant Eligible
  • Secured an unpaid or minimally paid internship/research opportunity involving Public Policy for the Spring or Summer 2022 term.
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Eligibility criteria:
To be eligible for Career Accelerator OSEP Fund, students must:

  • Be completing a Humanities major in the College of Arts and Sciences
  • GPA 3.00 or higher
  • Secured an unpaid or minimally paid internship, research role, or other career building experience in the Visual or Performing Arts for the Spring or Summer 2022 term.
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Eligibility criteria:
To be eligible for Career Accelerator Entrepreneurship Fund, students must:

  • GPA 3.00 or higher
  • Provide a brief (one-page) description of your business plan with a detailed need and use of funds to propel the business to the next level. Include documentation of the cost quotes that the funds will be used for.

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Application Resources

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To be considered for a CAF award you need to complete an appointment this semester with a Career Coach. Follow the steps below to obtain an appointment.

  1. Log into Handshake.
  2. IMPORTANT – These two steps are required to access appointment scheduling in Handshake:
    • Select and save your Academic Year (Freshman, Junior, etc.) next to your profile picture.
    • Select your college (Arts and Sciences) under the “Education” section.
  3. Click on the Career Center dropdown in the menu bar and select Appointments.
  4. To request a new appointment, click the Schedule a New Appointment button.
  5. Select the category and type of appointment you are interested in scheduling.
  6. Select a date and time that works for you.  You can also click on Staff Member at the top of your screen to see the availability of different staff members.
  7. Enter details about the appointment in the What can we help you with? section, then click Request at the bottom of your screen.
  8. You will be taken to the overview of the appointment where you can cancel the appointment or add comments before the appointment.
  9. Make sure that you check your notifications for updates on the status of your appointment.
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To document your financial need, please use the Career Accelerator Fund Budget Worksheet (Microsoft Excel File).  You’ll need to attach the completed worksheet to your application.  For guidelines on what can and cannot be included as expenses, please refer to the Career Accelerator Fund - Budget Guidelines. Please know that if you receive a CAF award for $2,500 or more, you will be required to submit receipts for the various expenses you incur during the internship. That documentation will need to be submitted after your internship concludes. You’ll want to refer to these guidelines at the start of your internship so that you can plan ahead for organizing the receipts and other payment records to submit to Career Success.

Review our budget guidelines:

 

Download our budget worksheet:

 

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Career Success will need to verify that you have obtained your internship/learning opportunity.  Please share the below letter template with your supervisor and have them send it back to you so you can upload it with your application that is due by November 30, 2022

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For questions about the Career Accelerator Fund, please contact Career Coach Barbara Harvey.