As a graduate student representative in the Working Group for Graduate Issues in the English Department, Lindsay Griffiths recognized that COVID provided an opportunity to improve the links between faculty, department administrators, and graduate alumni in a range of careers. The English department concurred, and Prof. Meredith Martin—along with GradFUTURES’s James M. Van Wyck—crafted a University Administrative Fellowship to accomplish these goals.

Since taking on this UAF, Lindsay’s contributions have led to real benefits for her fellow graduate students: she has drafted campaigns to collect alumni career interviews; convened a committee to initiate Ph.D. program reforms; and spearheaded a new Orientation Seminar to familiarize students with the program and the available resources.

Griffiths was recently joined by a second UAF, Andrew Finn, the current Graduate Student Government President. Together they are focused on revising the Graduate Student Handbook, and on working to streamline communications between the department and graduate students.

"The UAF helped me to peek 'behind the veil,' so to speak, and observe the systems, hierarchies, processes, and procedures of department and university-level administration. It also taught me about myself. Between my academic research and my fellowship projects, I realized that what I love in both areas is problem solving.” 

—Lindsay Griffiths, GS, English

Read more about Lindsay’s experience in our Fellowship Spotlight Series.

Our Fellowship Partner

"A Ph.D. in the humanities no longer means an academic tenure track job, indeed, it hasn't for a very long time. As the Director for the Center for Digital Humanities and in my role as a graduate advisor for the English department, I want graduate students to see themselves as ambassadors for humanistic thinking and approaches, especially if they are hoping to work in industries that have anything to do with technology. If we're going to change hidden systems of bias in our society, we need to be close readers, skilled interpreters, and concise writers. We also need to know how to scope a project, manage teams, adjust for disruption, and become agile and flexible collaborative thinkers."

—Meredith Martin, Faculty Director, Center for Digital Humanities

Learn More About GradFUTURES University Administrative Fellowships

GradFUTURES University Administrative Fellowships help you prepare for the tenure-track job market or a career in academic administration. They are also valuable if you are looking for an experience that will position you for careers beyond the academy. Work on a project under the direction of the host department, attend meetings, and learn the ins and outs of your host’s position—including specific responsibilities, organizational dynamics, external networks, and more. The Fellowship is broken into two components: Mentoring and shadowing, roughly 2 hours per week for the length of a semester; and a project component, roughly 4 hours per week for the length of a semester.