The Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), a unit in the UW-Madison International Division, anticipates multiple openings for graduate student project assistants for the duration of the 2018-19 academic year.
Project Assistants will be based in IRIS but some may be assigned, for one semester or two, to one of the regional centers that make up IRIS (for a list, see iris.wisc.edu). All appointments will be at 50 percent and require 20 hours of work per week, with compensation at the standard 50 percent PA level and full tuition remission and other assistantship benefits.
The purpose of the PAships is twofold: (1) to help IRIS and its constituent centers accomplish necessary work and (2) to help prepare selected students for jobs after graduation that may entail or include administration.
Thus, we are especially interested in applications from students whose academic work focuses on some aspect of regional and international studies, who anticipate careers that might involve administrative elements, and who would appreciate receiving training and mentoring in international studies administration.
Duties
PAs will work under the general supervision of the IRIS executive director but will be assigned specific roles and supervisors within IRIS and/or its constituent centers, some appointments shifting between the fall and spring semesters, depending on needs and PA skills. Among the duties that some or all PAs will be assigned are:
– Assistance in grant applications, grant compliance, and grant reporting, including careful compilation of data for entry into on-line reporting systems.
– Event planning, including content planning and logistics such as venue selection and reservations, program design, air ticketing, hotel booking, publicity, and communication with participants and campus financial specialists to ensure proper documentation and timely payment of honoraria or reimbursements.
– Regional and international studies communication, including crafting compelling content on multiple platforms to inform campus and off-campus constituencies of activities, opportunities, and events in regional and international studies.
– Working with our business/operations office, requiring familiarity with databases & spreadsheets, ability to adapt to new systems quickly, highly attentive to detail while processing data & forms rapidly, and an ability to manage sometimes-confidential information.
– Layout, editing, author/editor communications, marketing, and other work associated with journals and publications based in IRIS centers.
– Assist IRIS centers with website maintenance and updating content. A working knowledge of html/css, proficiency in customizing WordPress templates, and experience with both website design and maintenance would be useful.
– Other administrative work as assigned.
Eligibility
Applicants must be UW-Madison graduate students in good standing, making normal progress toward a graduate degree. Applicants must have experience outside the United States and currently working on a degree that has an international research dimension, ideally including sustained research abroad.
Applicants should apply for general consideration. We will make assignments based on needs and candidate abilities, meaning that applicants should not apply for specific duties or work in specific centers. However, application letters should clearly outline the range of the applicant’s interests and experiences that might bear on selection and assignment.
To Apply
Submit an approximately two-page letter of application, a current CV, and, on a separate sheet, the names and contact information of two persons, ideally including the applicant’s academic advisor, whom we might contact for references if the applicant becomes a finalist. The application letter should be addressed to:
PA Selection Committee
Institute for Regional and International Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
No mailing address is needed as it will be handled digitally.
Please assemble these three documents in a single pdf, with your full name as the file name, and attach the pdf to an email message to awards@iris.wisc.edu. The subject of the email message should be “2018-19 PA Application.”
For full consideration, please apply before 4pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Questions about the assistantships may also be addressed to the email address above.