University of Michigan
Population Fellows Program (POPF)
Started in 1984
Program objectives:
- to provide technical assistance to USAID and developing country organizations who work in the area of family planning, reproductive health, and related areas; and
- to provide early to mid-career professional fellows with operational experience to round out their training and reinforce their commitment to an international career in the field of international family planning and reproductive health and related areas.
Program Description:
Nationwide recruitment seeks candidates generally with less then five years' professional experience -- both from graduate schools and through regular advertising in leading population and health journals. A Program Advisory Board, drawn from eight leading universities and NGOs, selects candidates based on academic excellence, technical skills, and past experience. Foreign language capability is sometimes needed. Fellows are employees of the University of Michigan. Placement within USAID is made by consensus decisions of an inter-bureau personnel committee made up of representatives of G/PHN and all regional bureaus. Program orientation takes place at the University of Michigan and USAID/Washington.
This is the only USAID fellowship program placing its fellows outside of USAID, in international organizations. USAID program managers believe that having an American Population fellow in an international organization can have a dramatic effect, and that, in the right place, a single professional can influence that organization's policy and programming.
In recent years, the program has expanded to include several new initiatives: the Population-Environment Fellows Program (furthering the development of linked approaches to population, health, and environmental concerns); the Minority Serving Institutions Initiative (preparing graduate students and undergraduate students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities to apply for Population or Population-Environment Fellowships); and the Environmental Change and Security Project (which supports policy dialogue on the nexus between population growth, environmental degradation, and international security issues).
Selection Procedure:
Interested parties are requested to submit an application that is reviewed by the Advisory Board, which is composed of faculty from eight universities. Once accepted, Fellows are placed into a "pool". From the pool they are selected for positions by host organizations which are looking for a Fellow(s). Acceptance into the program does not guarantee placement, although the vast majority of those in the pool are eventually placed - usually within six to nine months.
Length of Fellowship:
Population Fellowships are two years in duration, and can be renewed for an additional year. In rare cases, fellowships can be extended for a fourth year.
University of Michigan Population Fellows Program (POPF) (1984)
Address:
1214 South University, 2nd Floor
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-2548
Telephone: (734) 763-9456
Fax: (734) 647-0643
Email: pop.fellows@umich.edu
Web site: http://www.sph.umich.edu/pfps/
Contact Person(s): Dr. Frank Zinn, Project Director
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