Determined. Resilient. Empowered. Ambitious. Motivated.

Program Description

The DREAM Fellowship for Professional Empowerment creates professional development opportunities for Marquette University students who lack work authorization – a crucial need in our post–DACA world. It brings host sites and Fellows together for collaboration on mutually beneficial career and leadership development. Experienced professionals mentor selected Fellows as they engage in meaningful activities that build their skills, knowledge, and leadership acumen. Program facilitators will work with selected candidates to identify and place Fellows in host sites on or off campus that would provide meaningful, career-specific experiential learning opportunities.  

Purpose

This program aims to create opportunities for Marquette students to engage in experiential learning and professional development that is otherwise unavailable due to a lack of work authorization. For many students, immigration status creates barriers when searching for professional experiences. Paid internships may not be available to them, and undocumented students often do not find themselves in an economic position to accept unpaid internships. These issues lead to an unfair disadvantage where crucial experience is omitted from these students' education, and vital networking resources are missed out on. The purpose of this program is to aid Marquette's undocumented students in gaining practical experience that allows them to focus on their education instead of logistical or economic woes.

Eligibility Criteria

• Students who do not have access to work authorization.
• Currently enrolled Marquette students who are in good academic standing.

Benefits

• A stipend commensurate with the length and depth of the fellowship experience.
• Extensive mentorship and professional development experiences through a host site (a local company or community organization). The host site and Fellow will mutually agree upon fellowship activities and mentoring schedule.
• A team dedicated to helping students find fellowships in their field of choice. We will contact our partnered organizations or branch out to help find a host site that best fills the needs of the students we support.

Application Process and Program Timeline

• January 31: Application materials due, which include the following:

1. 1. Application Form 
   2. Instructor/Personnel Endorsement Form. The instructor/ personnel should be able to speak to the applicant's capabilities in their area of study and career path.

• February: Finalist(s) will be notified and invited to interview
• March: Award recipient(s) will be notified
• April: Fellowship placements will be made
• May: Program Orientation
• June – August: Fellowship Experience
• Late August: Celebration and Program Debrief

Additional Partnership

In addition to the fellowships currently available through other funds, one fellowship per year will also be financed by the Todd A. Hernández Endowed Excellence Fund. These funds are intended for Spanish-speaking students and/or students majoring or minoring in Spanish who plan to develop their Spanish language and cultural competency skills during their fellowship experience. To be able to receive these funds, students must:

1. 1. demonstrate a sustained commitment to the study of Spanish language, literature, and cultures, or to learning about Spanish-speaking communities
   2. have already taken SPAN 3001, 2005, or 3005; or take one of these courses the following fall or spring semester. Students who are not Spanish majors or minors must take the Spanish language placement test and place into SPAN 2005, SPAN 3001 or Span 3005,  or higher.

For questions, email: dreamfellowship@marquette.edu.