WHAT IS A FELLOWSHIP?

A Fellowship is an add-on experience to a standard GLA travel program or travel internship, consisting of pre-program reading/viewing assignments, limited on-program engagement, and a post-program final project.

The post-program final project is the primary focus of the Fellowship, and consists of an essay for Honors Fellows or a creative project for Arts & Letters Fellows.

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HOW MUCH DOES THE FELLOWSHIP COST?

The Fellowship Fee is $500 and it covers the expense of the custom curriculum in your area of concentration, any awards earned upon completion of your Fellowship, as well as a detailed final project review by the Fellowship Committee.

Consider it just like paying a class fee or lab fee or paying for a textbook to complete an academic course in school. We have built a quality curriculum for our Fellowships and the cost reflects that quality and time investment of specialists.

As a reminder, applying for a Fellowship is free of charge.

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IS THE FELLOWSHIP FEE REFUNDABLE?

No. The Fellowship Fee is non-refundable once paid.

Please note that if you are accepted into the Fellowship and pay the fee, and later decide to drop out of the Fellowship or not participate, you will not receive a refund.

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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO EARN THE FELLOWSHIP AWARDS?

To earn the Fellowship awards, a Fellow must submit a satisfactory final project as outlined in their curriculum packet by the deadline date listed.

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WHY IS IT CALLED A “FELLOWSHIP”?

“Fellowship” is a term used by many universities and academic or creative institutions that offer more intensive curriculum and project-based initiatives for high-achieving students, so we felt the term best illustrated what this offering entails.

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DOES THE FELLOWSHIP COME WITH ANY FINANCIAL AID AWARD OR GRANT?

No, there is no funding associated with the Fellowship. You are still welcome to apply for financial aid toward your GLA program, however.

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WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON’T WANT TO BE A FELLOW, AND JUST WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE REGULAR GLA PROGRAM EXPERIENCE?

That’s wonderful!

While we feel there is real, substantial value in the Fellowship curriculum we’ve developed and encourage any GLA student to apply to be a Fellow, this is a 100% optional add-on experience.

Any student who doesn’t want to participate or pay the Fellowship Fee will not lose out on any part of their regular GLA program experience by not joining as a Fellow.

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WHAT HAPPENS ONCE A STUDENT IS ACCEPTED AS AN ARTS & LETTERS OR HONORS FELLOW?

The newly accepted Fellow will receive a communication by email from the Fellowship Committee welcoming them to the cohort.

The student will need to pay the $500 Fellowship Fee in-full at this time, in addition to their standard program tuition, to participate.

Accepted Fellows will be sent their specific Fellowship’s curriculum packet so they can start working on their optional pre-departure assignments.

Accepted Fellows must complete their payment no later than one week before the start of their GLA travel program this summer. Fellows who do not complete their payment by this time will not be able to participate in any further Fellowship activities.

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DO I HAVE TO BE ENROLLED IN A GLA PROGRAM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FELLOWSHIP?

Yes. A student must be enrolled on a GLA travel program this summer to become a Fellow.

If a prospective student would like to apply for a Fellowship before enrolling in a GLA program, to see if they would be accepted into the Fellowship first, that is totally fine! But they will not be able to participate as a Fellow until they enroll in a regular program.

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WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT TO GET OUT OF THE FELLOWSHIP EXPERIENCE?

From a learning standpoint​, you will get out of it what you put in. If you truly push yourself to learn as much as possible and complete a thoughtful final project, you can get an immense reward from the experience.

In addition to the awards that you will receive upon satisfactory completion of your final Fellowship project, you will also have a polished final project (essay, short film, etc.) that you can then use for college applications or as future resume builders.​

From a tangible standpoint​, each GLA Fellow will receive a Certificate of Achievement, a Custom Metal Pin, a Recommendation Letter from our Executive Director (available upon request), and the title of Arts & Letters Fellow or Honors Fellow.

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DO I NEED TO COMPLETE ALL THE ASSIGNED PRE-PROGRAM MATERIAL?

No. All pre-program assignments are for context-building and learning more about your subject matter. Pre-program work is 100% optional.

However, we highly encourage you to complete the pre-program assignments, as this coursework really rounds out the Fellowship experience in a meaningful way. Take a few hours to read/view the material critically as it can really give you a boost during your final project or essay.

Don’t worry! No part of your pre-program assignments will be viewed or graded. This is a leadership add-on experience. Those who complete it will be glad they did, but you’re not going to fail for not completing it.

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DO I NEED TO PURCHASE ANY OUTSIDE COURSE MATERIALS?

Some of the Fellowship concentration may include outside materials, such as a book or streaming service, in order to complete all of the pre-program curriculum, but each Fellowship has at least one option that does not require any outside purchasing of materials.

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WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

You can always email fellowships@experiencegla.com with any questions you might have about your Fellowship.

However, please note that as this is a leadership experience, there will be no hand-holding throughout the process or reminder of deadlines.

You will be expected to follow the curriculum packet, which has all the details and instructions you need, and be self-motivated to complete your work and submit your final project on-time without reminders.

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WHAT DOES THE ON-PROGRAM PORTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP LOOK LIKE?

The Fellowship experience was specially designed to be weighted heavily toward the post-program final project. The pre-program assignments are optional for this reason, and more importantly, the on-program portion of the Fellowship is very limited in scope.

If you are an Honors Fellow, your on-program portion will be centered more around fact-finding and critical thinking, for material that you can use toward your final essay after the program is over. We recommend you keep a journal throughout your experience and ask insightful questions of experts and locals.

If you are an Arts & Letters Fellow, you may want to collect video footage (Videography concentration), take photos (Photography concentration), draft artwork (Fine Arts concentration) or write down ideas (Creative Writing concentration) during your program.

However, you can always save this for after your return home! Your on-program portion is more to enhance your tool kit and any creative work completed on-program should not come at the expense of your regular program activities.

Please be aware that if you allow your Fellowship curriculum to interfere with your program experience or affect the standard program activities being run by staff and enjoyed by your peers, you may be asked to withhold from any further Fellowship work until you complete your program.

The best way to manage both simultaneously will be to communicate your needs to your program staff, and see when it is/isn’t appropriate for you to be journaling/filming/etc.

You must follow all staff instructions at all times.

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WHAT IF I NEED SUPPORT FROM STAFF DURING MY PROGRAM

Have a question for a local but have a language barrier? Looking to capture a specific image but you’re not sure when the schedule will allow? Just ask your program staff to see what might be possible!

While your Fellowships should not interfere with regular programming in any way, it is often possible to find a quiet moment to have a conversation or dedicate time to your art.

Questions for the Fellowship Committee should be saved until you return home.

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DO I NEED A CAMERA SEPARATE FROM MY SMARTPHONE FOR THE VIDEOGRAPHY OR PHOTOGRAPHY CONCENTRATIONS?

Yes, if you decide to take photos or film video during the course of your program. Smartphones are forbidden for use during certain program segments, so you may be very limited in what you can collect footage-wise if you only bring your phone for this purpose.

But don’t worry! There will likely be times when you’ll be allowed to use your phone for limited photo or video collection while on-program, but be sure to ask staff permission first before any photo or video collection, regardless of whether it’s with a smartphone or a separate camera.

Use good judgment, and remember, you can always take photos or film footage after you return home to use toward your final project if needed.

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HOW MUCH WORK SHOULD I BE EXPECTED TO PUT INTO MY FINAL PROJECT?

While each Fellowship has some variation, the final project is the most time intensive part of being a Global Leadership Adventures Fellow.

Whether the student is writing an essay about public health, a short story about their travel experience, or editing together a short film, the final project largely depends on the student’s creativity, level of critical thinking and how much time and effort they want to put into it.

We do have specific guidelines for each final project that can be found in your curriculum packet. But just remember – quality counts more than quantity!

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WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS A DEADLINE?

Each student is responsible for their own work, final project and meeting all deadlines.

If a student needs an extension for a project we ​may not​ be able to accommodate it, but we’ll consider your request if it comes in ahead of time and not at the last minute (for extenuating circumstances only).

We won’t hold hands and check up on students who haven’t turned in a project. Only students who complete a satisfactory final project by the submission deadline, as determined by the Fellowship Committee, will receive the certificate of achievement, metal pin, recommendation letter, etc.

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WHAT HAPPENS IF A FELLOW HAS PAID THEIR FELLOWSHIP FEE, BUT DOESN’T TURN IN A FINAL PROJECT OR MEET THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR SATISFACTORY COMPLETION OF THE FINAL PROJECT?

The Fellowship is student-driven experience and a leadership learning program add-on. It is up to the student to live up to deadlines and the work required.

If a student makes a good faith effort to complete the final project by the deadline and submit quality work, they will receive all of their promised Fellowship Awards.

If the students miss deadlines or does not complete their project up to a satisfactory standards (ex. it is clear they didn’t try), they will be ineligible to receive said awards, as determined solely by the Fellowship Committee.