Unlocking Fellowships: Pathways to Graduate Student Funding

The workshop, hosted by the Fox Graduate School and various units throughout the University, is an opportunity for graduate students to gain insight into how to find external funding for research and scholarship and for undergraduate students to learn about funding opportunities should they attend graduate school. The event will include:

• Information sessions about funding opportunities
• A student fellowship panel with current students who have received fellowships
• A networking session
• Breakout sessions led by different University resource and support offices
• Free lunch!

Registration is now open!

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is intended for any graduate student seeking fellowships or undergraduate students considering graduate school.

Agenda

View the agenda for the event below.

• 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.- Lunch and discussion about non-fellowship funding opportunities
• 1-1:45 p.m.- Information sessions, session 1
  • Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring Office Presentation
  • Exploring Fellowship Opportunities for International Students
• 2-2:45 p.m.- Information sessions , session 2
  • Demystifying the Fellowship Application
  • Veterans & Grad School Fellowships: Using Language, Experiences, & Resources for Success
• 3-3:30 p.m.- Networking session 
• 3:30-4:30 p.m.- Student Fellowship Panel discussions

Information Sessions

Lunch Session on Non-Fellowship Funding Opportunities

Learn about non-fellowship funding opportunities while you enjoy your lunch with Jamie Kosh, campus and professional school liaison, Penn State Office of Student Aid.

Presenter

Jamie Kosh is the Campus and Professional School Liaison at Penn State University at the University Park campus in the Office of Student Aid. He is responsible for supporting 21 campus locations and graduate/professional schools in the Penn State University system with financial aid support services.

Before working at the Penn State's University Park campus, Jamie worked at Penn State Altoona, in the Office of Student Aid, and Saint Francis University, in the Financial Aid office. Jamie received his Master's degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Saint Francis University. He has over 25 years of professional experience in student aid and higher education.

Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring Office Presentation

The Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring Office will be presenting on the resources and support their office can provide to graduate students.

Presenter

Tineka Lebrun, Director, Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring

Lebrun has dedicated the majority of her two-decade career in higher education to mentoring students and helping them reach their academic and personal goals. She started her career in higher education at Franklin and Marshall College coordinating extracurricular programs in the arts and has worked in Georgetown University’s Office in International Programs, at the Institute of International Education with the Boren Awards and for AMIDEAST a non-profit that focuses on exchange with the Arab world. She joined Penn State in 2017 where she was serving as the Assistant Director for Advising in Education Abroad until she joined the URFM team in April 2023. She holds a bachelor's from New York University and a master’s from Queen Mary College, University of London.

Exploring Fellowship Opportunities for International Students

Join Rebecca Zoshak, lead instructional designer and language specialist with the English for Professional Purposes Intercultural Center (EPPIC) to discuss the topic of fellowships for international students.

Presenter

Rebecca Zoshak, lead instructional designer and language specialist, EPPIC

Rebecca Zoshak is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and at the English for Professional Purposes Intercultural Center. Rebecca has taught ESL composition, pronunciation and conversation classes at Penn State and has worked as a Language Specialist at Penn State Law. In her current role as Lead Instructional Designer at EPPIC, she develops and implements workshops, speaking group sessions, and individual meeting strategies that provide language support to international students and scholars.

Demystifying the Fellowship Application

When it comes to fellowships applications, many question where to begin and what work is entailed to make an application shine and leave a mark with the selection committee. This presentation aims to help students develop a proper writing process for tackling prospective fellowship applications, find resources for funding opportunities, and help students flesh out their personal narratives as scholars. If you want to learn how to get from the brainstorming stage of your personal statements and prospectuses to the final drafts, this presentation is for you!

Presenter

Pheolyn Allen, Co-Coordinator of the Penn State Graduate Writing Center and dual-titled Ph.D. candidate in English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Pheolyn Allen is a dual-titled Ph.D. candidate in English and African American and Diaspora Studies at Penn State. From 2021-2024 they served as a research fellow with Penn State's Center for Black Digital Research, working on archiving nineteenth century Black organizing efforts in the United States. In the summer of 2023, Allen served as a Junior Fellow with the Library of Congress and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. During their tenure, they curated the public facing, digital exhibition: The Odyssey of Black Studies in Public Broadcasting. In their workshop "Demystifying the Fellowship Application," Allen aims to help students shine as scholars in the application pool and move from prospective hopefuls to awarded fellows!

Veterans & Grad School Fellowships: Using Language, Experiences, & Resources for Success

This session serves to address multiple issues facing veterans as they complete graduate school fellowship applications. Just as veterans must approach resumes and cover letters from a perspective of “civilianizing” their verbiage, they must use this same approach with applications, personal statements and statements of purpose. We will review several examples and work through them together and in small groups. Resources will be explored to assist with translating military jargon into civilian terms (we will review some common translations) and organizations that provide services to support and assist veterans with application materials. We will discuss a few prestigious fellowships, key points to remember when translating experiences, where to include various experiences, important considerations, and what experiences to consider for inclusion or exclusion. Finally, we’ll go over a few misconceptions regarding veterans’ fellowship applications to graduate schools.

Presenter

Mary Fisk, Student Veteran Career Counselor, Veterans Affairs and Services

First Sergeant Fisk retired from the United Sates Marine Corps on March 1, 2006, and assumed her current role at the Pennsylvania State University as the Student Veteran Career Counselor in the Veterans Affairs and Services office on February 3, 2025. Prior to this role, she worked in several supervisory and management roles, including serving as Penn State’s Coordinator of Veterans Outreach and at Cornell University as the Student Veteran Program Director. In her current capacity she is responsible for the development, planning, execution, and coordination of all student veteran career-related services and programs across all Penn State campuses to optimize and meet the needs of Penn State’s community of over 4,500 military-connected students.

Before retiring from the Marine Corps, she was a field radio operator, systems chief, and communications chief in various ground, air, and logistic commands, such as 7th Communication Battalion on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan; 8th Communication Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC; Marine Wing Communications Squadron-38 at El Toro, CA; 2nd Division Communications Company, Camp Lejeune; and 10th Marine Artillery Regiment, Camp Lejeune. She served as a cryptological instructor at Field Skills Training Company, Camp Pendleton, CA; as a Drill Instructor, 4th Battalion Drill Master, Drill Instructor School Drill Instructor, and Company O First Sergeant over three separate tours of duty at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina; and as company First Sergeant for Headquarters Company, Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, where she also served as the acting Sergeant Major in 2004. Mary testified before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Gender Integrated Training and Related Issues in 1997 and served as a voting member on the 2002 Sergeant to Staff Sergeant Selection Board.

First Sergeant Fisk graduated from Penn State University with high distinction with two bachelor’s degrees in French and Francophone Studies and German Studies in 2015. She then graduated from Penn State with a master’s degree in Counselor Education with an emphasis in Career Counseling in 2021 and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership at Colorado State University.

First Sergeant Fisk’s military awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, and Humanitarian Service Medal. She is a rifle expert (10th award) and pistol expert (11th award).

Her military education includes the Field Radio Operator Course, Non-Commissioned Officer’s School (distinguished graduate), Drill Instructor School (honor graduate), Primary Marksmanship Instructor, Staff Sergeant’s Course (honor graduate), Systems Chief Course (honor graduate), Gunnery Sergeant’s Course (distinguished graduate), and Communication Chief Course (distinguished graduate).