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Thomas Jefferson
Agricultural Institute Food and Society Fellowship guidelines Program overview: With primary support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a national program of professional fellowships is being offered to improve communication about food and agriculture issues in the U.S. The program addresses the need for consumers and societal leaders to better understand the issues and challenges associated with sustaining family farms and food production in the U.S. today. This fellowship program is being administered by the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute (Columbia, MO), in partnership with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (Minneapolis, MN). Fellowship recipients from across the country will be provided part-time salary funding for a two-year period to support activities as described below. The first round of 8 to 10 fellowships will be awarded in the summer of 2001. It is expected a similar number of fellowships will be awarded each year for the next 5 years. Fellows will receive training and communications support through the program, and will receive assistance in placing articles with news outlets and publications. Fellows will not be required to take any particular position or viewpoint in their communications activities, but are expected to communicate in general about issues affecting the sustainability of the U.S. food and agriculture system. Some fellows will likely work on issues related to community-based food systems, or issues that connect diet and health to our food system. Fellowship activities: Fellows will carry out their activities from their existing workplace or residence, and are expected to gain release time from their current job duties. During the two-year fellowship period, fellows will be expected to generate a variety of communications pieces on food and agricultural issues, ranging from articles in periodicals or newspaper op-ed pages, to testimony in state or federal hearings. Most fellows will participate periodically in policy forums or other conferences. In some cases, fellows may develop written responses to proposed agency guidelines or rules. The audience for communication activities will often be consumers, but at times may be a narrower audience of policy-makers or other food and agriculture professionals. Fellowship recipients will be required to do a modest amount of travel in conjunction with their fellowship experience, including participation in multi-day training programs. One of the training programs will be a study tour of community-based food and agriculture systems in Europe, held in early October for the first round of fellows. The other training program will involve meetings with leaders in Washington who work in food and agricultural policy. During their fellowship program, fellows can expect to have networking opportunities with other program fellows from across the country. Each fellow will have the opportunity to impact a broad range of other institutions or organizations through their communications activities. Program participation: Applicants should be U.S. residents actively involved in a professional career in some aspect of the food and agriculture system. Some fellowship recipients are likely to be program directors or professional staff at non-profit organizations working on food and agriculture issues. Farmers or ranchers with a strong interest and some experience in communicating about food and agriculture issues are also encouraged to apply. Funding provided: Fellowship recipients in general will receive funding support to cover up to half of their salary and benefits (or equivalent if self-employed as a farmer). Travel expenses to participate in fellow training events will be covered. Fellowship applicants can also request a modest level of additional funds to cover phone and mail expenses incurred in conjunction with fellowship activities. In most cases, fellowship funding will be provided for a two-year period, although producers and others can apply for a period of somewhat different length to accommodate seasonal farm demands or other considerations. Fellows who gain release time from an organization or institution are expected to have some degree of on-going administrative or office support provided through their current workplace (ie., fellowship funds can not be used to pay for office support staff). Selection process: An evaluation committee will review applications, and conduct telephone interviews of a selected pool of candidates. After phone interviews with candidates and their references, fellowship offers may be provided, or a follow-up interview may be scheduled. First round fellowship recipients are expected to be selected by August, 2001. Applicants who are not selected in the first round of fellowship funding may reapply in a later year of the program, but applications will not be held over. To apply: Applications are requested by June 29, 2001. Interested individuals should apply for fellowship consideration to the address below. Please include a 2-3 page letter that describes any previous experience you have had in communicating about food and agriculture issues, and discuss your perspective on improving the sustainability of our food and agriculture system. You should outline some of the types of writing or speaking you would be interested in doing (fellows will develop a formal work plan after going through initial training). Your letter should also detail the level of funding support you need to cover the percentage of time spent working on fellowship activities (you may propose any level up to half-time), and any monthly office expenses for which you expect to need funding assistance (such as a monthly amount to cover phone and mail). Please enclose a resume or some description of background and experience. Please provide a list of three references with contact information and two writing samples. Applications should be mailed to arrive by June 29th to the Jefferson Institute, 601 W. Nifong Blvd., Ste. 1D, Columbia, MO 65203. For more information contact Mark Ritchie (email: mritchie@iatp.org).
About Thomas Jefferson
Agricultural Institute |
