The Social Equity Engagement geo-Data Scholars (SEEDS) Program is open to any students who participated in the Spring 2021 Big Data courses that focused on projects using the LA GeoHUB and working with local non-profit organizations. The intention of the SEEDS Program is to provide paid summer internships for Cal State LA students to work with non-profits and leverage their knowledge of the City of Los Angeles’ open-data portal. By the end of the program, we expect SEEDS to be well informed about the importance of big data and the challenges facing non-profit organizations and local citizens in big data literacy. We hope that this internship helps students promote civic engagement by gaining a strong sense of responsibility for democratizing big data and ensuring that data is shared, collaborative, and open to the broader community.
2021 Summer SEED Scholar Requirements/Contract
In order to become a SEED Scholar, you must agree to the following terms of agreement.
Summer Requirements
All SEED Scholars will check in weekly during the internship to report hours and discuss progress with the grant manager, Dr. Dawn A. Dennis ([email protected]).
Payment for this internship is $3000 (maximum) for a total of 240 hours of work scheduled between you and the non-profit between May 15 and August 14, 2021 (average $12.5 per hour). Payments will be distributed in two roughly equal installments. All reports and program requirements must be submitted before each payment. If student work less hours, the payment will be based on total hours worked during this time period. However, student may continue to work with the non-profit organization during academic year if it is agreed by the non-profit and approved by Dr. Dawn A. Dennis and Preston Mills until your reach 240 hours of work.
Complete a weekly journal of your experiences and work activities at the non-profit. Fill out a final assessment survey of your experience as a SEED Scholar. Turn in journal and assessment to Dr. Dawn A. Dennis ([email protected]).
Academic Year Requirements
Other program requirements for which you will earn an additional $400 during the 2021-2022 academic school year.
- Give a presentation to students enrolled in NSS 1001 (Introduction to Higher Education), Fall 2021 about your learning experience using big data, the LA GeoHUB, and working with non-profits. Provide assistance to the Big Data Team with the Fall semester Town Hall event.
- Enroll and complete at least one course during the 2021-2022 school year that allows you to use GIS to augment community outreach projects and civic engagement. These courses are designed to enhance your big data skills and literacy and your ability to make scientific observations in the community. These may include quantitative courses, GIS related courses, and other data analysis and visualization courses
- Available to participate Big Data team events to present your final project to diverse audience, interviews for the publications, field trip to our partners including ESRI, etc., when called upon.
- Attend the 2021 Big Data Community Public Forum Day to receive the final award/certificate for completing the SEEDS Program.
**A faculty recommendation is required for this application. Please download the application (page 5) and forward to your respective faculty to recommend. Email the completed recommendation to Dr. Dawn Dennis at [email protected].
To apply for the program, fill out the form below. For inquiries, email the Big Data Project program manager, Dr. Dawn Dennis at [email protected]. Please note that the application is due on May 3, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.**