Chancellor Service Fellowships

Chancellor Service Fellowships give students the opportunity to partner with world-class mentors and community leaders to design and lead innovative service projects addressing an unmet need in our community.  The application period for 2018-2019 Chancellor Service Fellows (CSF) is officially open.  I encourage you to apply because the CSF embodies our mission to develop a new generation of leaders from all fields equipped to advance and sustain population health.  The application deadline is February 9th, 2018.

Previous fellow projects have focused on improving health outcomes through better follow-up care, harnessing the power of music to help individuals with memory impairments, and creating programming to improve individual and community understanding and utilization of our health care system.  These projects have made real and positive impacts on the communities we serve as a health enterprise.  You can find out more about past projects here.  All projects should have the potential to be sustained beyond the funding period to facilitate future student and community engagement.

Students can find guidance on eligibility, the application process, and securing a mentor and project evaluation online. Submissions will be considered by a committee of medical students, faculty, and community representatives.  Questions and finished applications should be directed to CSF Chair Julia Salinaro (julia.salinaro@duke.edu).

Chancellor’s Service Fellowship

2018-2019 Application

The Chancellor’s Service Fellowship is a one-year interdisciplinary, mentored fellowship program focused on health-related community service and leadership development.

The Fellowship program is designed to provide health services to underserved populations by facilitating opportunities for students to:

• Serve – Fellows are expected to engage their chosen community with a well-designed and measurable project aiming to improve a specific facet of health or health awareness.  All fellows are expected to demonstrate depth of understanding of the community’s needs as well as a genuine desire to meet these needs.

• Innovate – Fellows will initiate novel projects or programming efforts that fill currently unmet health-related niches (as opposed to seeking funding for currently active projects).  This innovation could occur through the creation of a new student project or through a significant expansion of scope of an already existing group.

• Lead – Fellows should exhibit and develop their capacities of self-awareness, communication, teamwork, mentorship and motivation.  Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their leadership development and should seek leadership coaching throughout the project cycle.

• Sustain – Fellows are expected to design projects that have the potential to be continued successfully beyond the funding period.  Projects should possess the potential to become self-sustaining and have plans for future student and community engagement.

ELIGIBILITY

The Fellowship grant can be awarded to individuals, groups of students, or student organizations. Student organizations applying must identify at least two but no more than five persons as Fellows who bear the responsibility for the completion of the project. Applicants must be enrolled in the Duke School of Medicine, Nursing, Physical Therapy or Physician Assistant program throughout the Fellowship year. Only one project may be submitted per applicant (i.e. an applicant cannot be part of two initiatives). 

FUNDING

Students may apply for up to $5,000 of funding for their projects. The Fellowship awards up to $5,000 total each year that can be divided between different projects or allotted to a single project. While the Fellowship is one year in length and funding is designated for the first year of the project, the application budget should reflect planned finances for three total years. Preference will be given to projects that are predicted to be able to continue even after cessation of Fellowship funding. The allotted stipend should be used only for the proposed project and related activities.

PRIOR TO APPLYING

Prospective Fellows should design an innovative and sustainable community service project that seeks to provide direct service to an underserved population.  This project should focus on addressing health and/or the social determinants of health in the population served. Interdisciplinary partnerships with local agencies or other professional schools are encouraged.

The project should:

• Provide a direct service that meets a community-defined need and reflects global, national, and local health priorities. Prospective applicants should investigate and reflect on unmet local health-related needs, and think through the ways in which their own energies and talents might contribute, even in small ways, to ameliorating one or more of these problems. Applicants are required to communicate with community partners prior to submitting their applications and to be specific in their proposals about their relationships with their community partners.
• Be of meaningful value to the community/agency served.  The project proposal should include a long-term plan addressing the sustainability of the project.
• Involve one or more faculty mentors affiliated with Duke. This mentor must submit a letter of agreement acknowledging that they have read these instructions and agree to the time commitment and nature of this fellowship.

Of note, research or fundraising projects are not eligible.

Please also review the Duke SOM policy on community health activities prior to applying:

Fellows from Duke School of Medicine are required to comply with the institutional policy for community health activities.  The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance regarding the conduct of community health activities that require training and institutional oversight to assure patient continuity and appropriate resource allocation.  If a Duke Medicine employee or learner participates in a community health activity which has not been formally approved through the Community Health Activity (CHA) process, they will not be protected by Duke University Health System against liability claims for injuries arising out of the activity. 

Web links:

Access the Community Health Activity Request form.

Community Health Training Module, https://cfm.duke.edu/education/community-health-training-module

Community Health Activity Approval & Training Policy should be reviewed before beginning a project. Once logged in, under the Policy Center Search, search for “community health” to locate the policy.

For more information and details of the above policy contact: Eang King, by phone 919.681.6595 or email eang.king@duke.edu.

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES OF FELLOWS

Service Project: Each Fellow or group of Fellows must design and carry out a service project of at least 200 hours or 100 hours for each member of a group that addresses an unmet community health need. Each Fellow or group will schedule quarterly meetings of review and progress with their specified Duke mentor(s). The mentor should be available to provide support and guidance throughout the Fellowship year beyond these four meetings. The service hours must be conducted separately from any school course requirement. These are direct service hours and do not include administrative duties, research, or needs assessments. In designing a project, applicants should carefully consider the issues of evaluation and sustainability and include their ideas for addressing these aspects of the project. As noted above, applicants should also be familiar with the Duke SOM policy on community health activities.

Reports: Fellows are required to submit one-page biannual reports about their activities, including their expenditures to date. Fellows will receive e-mail reminders of these midterm and final reports. Furthermore, the written final report must be distributed to the Fellow’s mentor(s), the Davison Council, and the chancellor’s office.

Project Poster: Fellows are required to design a poster summarizing their project to be displayed at Community Health Day (in the early fall) and/or another designated event. Students will also be asked to present their work to the Chancellor at the conclusion of the year.

Budget: All expenditures of grant money must be approved beforehand by the Fellow’s mentor and by the Davison Council treasurer (Amy Wisdom) to ensure the funds are spent appropriately in line with the stated project goals. These expenditures may be paid in advance or reimbursed depending on approval.

PARTS OF THE APPLICATION

 Project Summary/Abstract (two pages maximum)

 About the Mentor (two paragraphs maximum)

 About the Student Applicant(s) (two paragraphs maximum per applicant)

 CV from Mentor and Student Applicant(s)

 Letter of Agreement from the Mentor

 Letter of Project Support from Community Mentor/Liaison

 Letter of Recommendation for the Primary Applicant or for the whole group

 Proposed Budget (one page maximum)

DEADLINE

The application deadline is Friday, February 9th 2018 at 5pm.  Please submit all application materials to Davison Council Service Chair Julia Salinaro (julia.salinaro@duke.edu) with the subject line: Chancellor’s Service Fellowship 2018 Application – (*Project Name*)

Winners will be selected by a committee comprised of individuals from across the Duke administration, student body, and faculty. Interviews may also be conducted prior to selection.