FAQ
What is OSSI?
OSSI stands for the One Stop Shopping Initiative. The initiative is an innovative, mission-enabling, NASA-wide approach to communicating and providing students at all Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) access to a portfolio of internship, fellowship, and scholarship opportunities offered by NASA Mission Directorates and Centers. While many NASA student opportunities are in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, OSSI also has non-STEM opportunities (i.e. Business, etc.). OSSI enables eligible students to access student opportunities through a single portal (http://intern.nasa.gov) and single application (OSSI). OSSI also enables NASA to continually reengage students throughout their academic careers.
What is a Mentor?
A mentor (i.e. scientist, engineer, administrator, etc.) is the person who is responsible for the student opportunity and provides oversight to interns and fellows.
Who are Broker-Facilitators?
Broker-Facilitators are career path liaisons who engage, inspire, and guide students toward career self-understanding; this includes helping students with their OSSI applications and providing information about NASA student opportunities, as needed. There are four groups of Broker-Facilitators, and each group represents one of the four types of institutions (Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI), Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), and Tribal Colleges & Universities (TCU)). To contact your Broker-Facilitator, click the "Need Help? Click here" link at the top of the Student pages (for registered students) in OSSI. Your inquiry will be automatically sent to the Broker-Facilitator associated with your type of school.
Do students need to be US Citizens in order to apply?
Yes - U.S. Citizen (either by birth or naturalization) is required in order to apply in OSSI to be a NASA intern or fellow. If selected, students will be asked to provide proof of citizenship before the internship or fellowship begins. If students have questions regarding their citizenship, please refer to the U.S. Department of State website. (http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_782.html) A Permanent Resident Alien (PRA) or Legal Resident is not considered a U.S. citizen and is not eligible for NASA student opportunities available through OSSI
What is the meaning of underrepresented?
Underrepresented: Refers to persons from racial and ethnic groups whose enrollment in STEM education or participation in STEM professions is much smaller than that group's representation in the general population. African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native Americans and Pacific Islanders currently fit this definition.
What browsers/platforms does OSSI support?
OSSI supports Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. OSSI supports browsers such as Internet Explorer 7.x, Firefox 3.x, and any other browser that is compatible with XHTML 1.0.
What is the difference between an "official" transcript and an "unofficial" transcript?
The Official transcript contains a stamp of the institution and may be sent directly from the college/university within a sealed envelope. The unofficial transcript does not usually contain the institutional stamp. In order to complete an application in OSSI, students will need to upload an unofficial copy of their transcript as an attachment to their application in the Educational History section.
For the 15 opportunities that students can submit their application to, can they be spread across multiple Centers?
Yes – they can be at multiple Centers or they can all be at one Center; there are no restrictions.
