Community Partner Fellows Program Application: 2025

Background

The ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ is proud to continue its Community Partner Fellows initiative to foster and grow research + practice + community partnerships. The Community Partner Fellows program is a partnership between community organizations and the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ in which advanced doctoral students work with community partners to enhance local organizations’ equity-focused education research and evaluation capacity. For our PhD students, it provides critical professional development opportunities and funding to support the next generation of community-based practitioners and scholars. 

As one of Unite:Ed's key initiatives, Community Partner Fellows work in collaboration with community partners to increase local organizations' capacity to complete the important work of learning and collaborating with Seattle communities. Past partners include:

  • Equal Opportunity Schools
  • Washington STEM
  • Seattle Public Schools African American Male Achievement initiative
  • Seattle Public Schools Research & Evaluation Department
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of King County
  • College Success Foundation
  • Puget Sound College & Career Network
  • Treehouse
  • Technology Access Foundation & Pacific Science Center
  • Supporting Partnerships in Education and Beyond (formerly known as Somali Parents Education Board)
  • Schools Out Washington
  • Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC)
  • Black Education Strategy Roundtable (BESR)
  • One America

Doctoral students selected for these internships will work collaboratively with the organization on projects to help achieve educational justice. Past projects include:

  • Performing landscape analyses
  • Conducting statistical analyses
  • Conducting oral interviews and observations
  • Conducting environmental scans
  • Engaging in the co-design and study of educational initiatives & programs
  • Curriculum design and implementation

Fellowship Support

The Community Partner Fellows internship award includes a tuition waiver, non-resident tuition waiver (if needed), a scholarship, and a stipend. Students are eligible for health insurance benefits through the Graduate Appointee Insurance Program (). 

For incoming PhD student applicants, the Community Partner Fellows award provides 4 years of guaranteed funding. The first two years are supported by the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ through a Research or Teaching Assistantship, and the second two years will be supported by the community partner internship placement. Please be aware, years 3 and 4 of the Community Partner Fellowships are not considered a Graduate Student Employee (GSE) appointments or part of the UW collective bargaining.

*For continuing fellowship applications, please check back towards the end of spring quarter. 

*For continuing fellowship applications, please check back towards the end of spring quarter. 

How to Apply

For incoming PhD students newly admitted to the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ for the 2025-2026 academic year, we will award 3 fellowships. A decision to open the community partner fellowship for continuing PhD students will be made later in the Spring Quarter. 

To apply for an incoming Community Partner Fellows position, please submit the following by Wednesday, March 10 2025 though the consolidated funding application .

For incoming PhD students:

  • A cover letter indicating previous experience and interest in working with community-based organizations on equity-focused research and evaluation projects. The letter should also state the applicant’s desire to continue to build methodological experiences through coursework to be later used while in the community-based organization.

  • Student’s curriculum vitae (CV) or resumé.

  • A letter of support from their faculty advisor that describes how the student shows promise and specific interest in working with community partners. This may include reference to previous work and academic experience in community settings. Our collective goal is to award a four-year funding package to attract and support the most competitive incoming PhD students. If faculty can provide a commitment to any Research or Teaching Assistantship positions, please include this information but note that this is not required.

Key Dates in the Winter 2025 Application Process

For incoming PhD students:

  • February 3rd- Community Partner Fellows application opens for incoming students with announcement posted to COE Faculty & Student listservs, social media communications, and to the website: /admissions/community-partner-fellows-program 

  • March 10th – Application deadline for incoming PhD students to apply.

  • March 17th: COE staff notifies incoming students and their advisors of the award offer. The deadline to accept the Community Partner Fellows award is April 15, which is consistent with the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ & the Council of Graduate Schools’ national resolution. Incoming students will receive their partner organization sites closer to the start of their internship in September 2027.

For Continuing PhD students (if fellowships sites are available):

  • March 31st- Community Partner Fellows application opens for continuing students with announcement posted to COE Faculty & Student listservs, social media communications, and to the website: /admissions/community-partner-fellows-program 

  • April 18th – Application deadline for continuing PhD students to apply.

  • April 28th-May 3rd: COE staff notifies incoming students and their advisors of the award offer. 

If you have questions about the application process or the Community Partner Fellows program, please contact Dr. Alvin Logan, Director of Unite:Ed; alogan8@uw.edu