Faculty Externships
The STEM Faculty Externship Program is a competitive 4 to 8 week immersive summer experience for WMU faculty to directly interact and work with external partners in southwest Michigan. We seek to connect individual faculty with STEM expertise and companies or entities conducting similar work. Externs are encouraged to conduct work in-person but hybrid forms of collaboration may also be acceptable in certain circumstances.
Program Goals
We aim to provide opportunities for WMU faculty to gain real-world experience so that they can better incorporate industry needs into current and future curricula. Specifically, we aim to
- Enable faculty to learn directly from industry partners about the work that they do, and to incorporate knowledge gained into curricula and student experiences
- Provide faculty content experience to external partners in support of ongoing or new collaborative work
- Build connections between WMU and external partners to establish ongoing collaborative relationships to support future student internships, research projects, expand opportunities for research funding, etc.
All WMU STEM faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences or College of Engineering and Applied Sciences are eligible to apply for the faculty externship program. Interested faculty members should initiate collaborations with an external partner prior to applying. If faculty require assistance from the STEM-WC, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Timeline
January 2024
Call for proposals open
February-March 2024
Establish connections with potential external partners
March 2024
March 14: Virtual Informational meeting
March 22: Applications due
March 22-29: Discussions/interviews between applicants and STEM-WC Directors (if necessary)
April 2024
April 1: Selections made and faculty informed of decision
April 2-15: A Faculty Externship Program 2024 Cohort Meeting will be held (cohort introductions)
April 15: Statement of work submission
May – August 2024
Externships commenced and completed
September 2024
Faculty Externship Program 2024 Cohort Meeting (Wrap-Up) with Extern Presentations