Archive for March 2010 – Page 4

Fellowship Opportunity for New Admits: Fall 2010-Spring 2011

Last year a newly admitted follower of this blog won the following award – I hope for repeat performance this year.  Deadline to apply is April 15, 2010.

cicrimage

The Fund for Global Environment and Conflict Resolution, The Center for International Conflict Resolution and The Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Masters Fellows: Fall 2010-Spring 2011

Overview

The fellowships for Masters students will be awarded to two, incoming and/or current students from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University who have demonstrated excellence in the fields of conflict prevention, conflict resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, sustainable development, security and the global environment.

The Fellowship is open to incoming and current SIPA graduate students and will be for two full semesters; the fellowship is designed to foster new scholarly experts in the following countries or regions: Italy, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Colombia, China, the Middle East, and/or North Africa; therefore, preference will be given to applicants from the foregoing countries or regions.

All applicants should submit their candidature by 15 April 2010. The decision will be undertaken by a selection committee at CICR, and will be announced in July. All decisions are final, and applications received after the 15 April 2010 will not be accepted.

The research work of the selected fellows will involve 10-15 hours of work per week at CICR. The research will revolve around lessons learned and best practices regarding environmental concerns and the role of climate change in three specific fields with various geographical areas of focus:

  • Conflict prevention and control in areas where current tensions indicate the potential for conflict, specifically China, the Middle East, and North Africa
  • Conflict resolution with respect to conflict and post-conflict areas, specifically the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru and Colombia.
  • International security in general in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Colombia, China, the Middle East, and/or North Africa.

The Fellows will be awarded $9,000 towards their university fees each semester and a stipend of $500 per month over the course of the academic year (nine months), and will be known as an “Empedocle Maffia Fellows”.

Application Process

A successful application will include:

I. A completed application form (to be provided).

II. 500-800 word essay detailing candidate’s motivation for applying to the Global Fund for Environment and Conflict Resolution at CICR.

III. Current CV/Resume and copy of passport and visa where appropriate.

IV. Minimum one, maximum three recommendation letter(s).

The applications should be sent when fully completed to CICR’s Assistant Director, Josie Lianna Kaye at [email protected] with the title GECR: Masters Candidate.

Masters Fellows 2010 Application Link

New York City Career Series

The following was composed by John Hughes, a second year MIA student studying Political and Economic Risk Analysis.

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On February 18th SIPA held its annual New York City Career Series networking event at the Gabarron Foundation, a chic art gallery and cultural center in Murray Hill.  The event brought together first and second-year SIPA students interested in possible career opportunities in New York with over 100 alumni who work in the city and region.  The alumni represented a multitude of industries and sectors, coming from banking, the UN, non-profits, environmental consultancies, media companies and multinational corporations, to name a few.

As attendants skirted through the crowd with trays of hors d’oeuvres and wine, students and alumni mingled around the room, stopping to speak with each other for a few minutes about careers and interests before moving on to a new conversation.  Students received a list of alumni attending beforehand, so many had already reached out to a few alumni and now had the opportunity to meet in person.  Others used the opportunity to learn about new fields they may not have thought of.  Regardless, students found that the alumni were all very approachable and eager to help, with many offering their business cards and an invitation for students to follow up to learn more about their organizations and fields.

This event is just one indicator of the strong alumni-student bond at SIPA, a true strength of the program.  Whether students choose to attend events like this one or not, all have access to the alumni database.  There students can search thousands of alumni to find those in careers of interest to them.  An e-mail or phone call can easily lead to an informational interview and another person to add to the student’s network.  Though not all students necessarily get concrete job offers out of these efforts, many find that having access to such a wealth of dedicated, successful alumni certainly helps towards this goal.

Moving Right Along

The Admission Committee continues to move right along in finalizing decisions.  I just wanted to provide quick update and state that over 60% of our decisions have been made.  In addition, I can let you know that decisions will be posted well into next week.  So hang in there, we still have a way to go but are working as quickly, and accurately, as we can and appreciate your patience.

University Alumni Connections

It is true that those who study at SIPA become part of an extensive network of SIPA alumni, but it is also true that graduates of SIPA are also tied to the larger Columbia University Alumni network.  Columbia University is comprised of seventeen schools and graduates of each are connected to the larger whole.

There are over 275,000 living alumni of Columbia University in the world and over 16,000 of those are graduates of SIPA.  Those who have see The Hurt Locker or took in the recent Academy Awards ceremony might not have known that the winner in the Best Director category is an alumna of the Columbia University School of the Arts.

Columbia alumna becomes first ever woman to receive an Oscar for best directing

Kathryn Bigelow (SoA’81) became the first woman to receive a Best Director Oscar, for her film The Hurt Locker.  She was only one of four total women nominated in this category over the award’s 81 years of history. The film, which she produced, also received an Oscar for Best Picture, as well as Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.

You can read a full profile of Kathryn Bigelow at the website of Columbia magazine:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Winter2009-10/feature1.html

feature_1-1Image Credit to Summit Entertainment

SIPA and Careers in the U.S. Government

The Admissions Committee continues to work away and today I present the following student entry.  The following was prepared by SIPA student Joshua Huneycutt, a second year MIA student concentrating in Energy and Environmental Policy.

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So you’re interested in working for the U.S. Government, but are worried that SIPA may be too far from Washington, D.C. for you to effectively work your way in.  Well, have no fear – SIPA has a strong track record of placing graduates in civil service positions and a large (and friendly) alumni network within government.

For those students at SIPA seeking government jobs, opportunities abound for networking and gaining entry to special career development programs at various agencies.  SIPA career panels frequently feature U.S. government-employed alumni, and the annual D.C. Career Fair features site visits with alumni to various government agencies.

Another great way to gain access to a career in government is through the Presidential Management Fellows Program.  Thanks in part to the dedicated effort of the Office of Career Services and the various workshops, guides, and one-on-one consultations, 18 SIPA students were recently named as PMF Finalists for 2010.

Below you can find the employment statistics for recent graduates, provided by the Office of Career Services.  A link to the information is here.

Program & Year

# of Hires

% of Program Graduates

Median Salary

2009 Graduates

MIA

32

15.6

$55,000

MPA

5

3.5

$73,100

2008 Graduates

MIA

23

11.36

$55,000

MPA

6

3.3

$72,500

In addition to SIPA being a great “in,” you will also have the pleasure of enjoying all that NYC has to offer, prior to beginning your days as a resident of the lovely, yet very culturally different, city of Washington D.C.  Policy schools in D.C. certainly have many things to offer, but a significant advantage over SIPA for government positions is not quite one of them.

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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