Help Students Help Nonprofits

Want to help students help nonprofits? The CONNECT program is a flexible, PAID fellowship for graduate students at UTD. The program matches the capacities of students with the needs of community organizations, particularly nonprofits. CONNECT@UTD gives students real-life experience while boosting the capacity of community organizations, since many small organizations face staffing challenges and lack the in-house expertise for more advanced analytics and research. The CONNECT@UTD program is therefore a win-win for students and community organizations alike. 

The cost of a single fellowship is $1500, which allows a student to dedicate time to a nonprofit without giving up necessary income for the semester. This program has built great synergy between the UTD and local community over the past two years. This amount will fund a full student fellowship, and 100% of the ImpactUTD money is dedicated to the fellowship cost. 

More about CONNECT @ UTD

CONNECT @ UTD is led by Dr. Elizabeth Searing and Dr. Eugenia Gorina. Dr. Searing is an Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her primary research focus is the financial management of nonprofit and social enterprise organizations. She also conducts work on comparative social economy, the role of social and psychological factors in economic development and policy effectiveness, and applied ethics for the social sciences. Dr. Gorina is an Associate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management program at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research includes work on government finance and migration, specifically how state and local governments manage fiscal risk and navigate organizational, economic and political environments to achieve longer-term fiscal health while maintaining service-level solvency.

Participant Feedback

"Being in a position where I could contribute to a workplace outside academia was refreshing. I enjoyed learning that my knowledge was applicable in a different industry." - Luis Magallanes, Fall 2021 Fellow

"Our Fellow was wonderful to work with; responsive and went out of her way to learn more about PTSD and trauma healing for women." - Sana Syed, Founder & CEO, Kimiya International

The School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS) at UT Dallas is a national leader in research addressing critical social, political and economic issues. Its graduates work in government, nonprofits and the private sector, with many pursuing advanced degrees that prepare them for leadership roles in advancing positive change on the local, national and global level.

You can learn more about CONNECT @ UTD at https://epps.utdallas.edu/connect/