​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Phoenix Office of Arts and C​​ulture​​

Essential Details

• Position Details: Students work 400 hours from August 1 - December 30, 2022 at $16/hr (around 20 hrs/wk).
  
• Host Eligibility: Organizations must have received a Nonprofit Arts and Culture Stablization Grant from POAC in 2021, be based in the city of Phoenix, and be able to provide equipment and physical workspace in the city.
  
• There are no requirements for supervisors.
  
• Supervisor Commitment: Supervisors spend 5 hrs/week managing their student workers and attend occasional orientations and trainings.
  
• Award Amounts: Organizations receive an all-inclusive grant amount of $8,000 to pay the student worker's salary, taxes, and fees, with any remaining funds to be used for administration.
  
• Student workers will receive a $500 professional development stipend at the end of their employment to further their professional education in the field.
  
• Application Materials: Applications consist of a few organizational questions, a job description, and a letter of acknowledgment from the organization's leadership committing to the program (acknowledgment letter email template here​).
  
• ​Multiple applications are welcome.
  
• Deadline: The deadline for organizations is March 20, 2022.
  
• More Info: ​Register for info sessions on March 3, 10, and 17, 2022 or contact Community Engagement and Programs Manager Jake Friedman at 602.534.7230 or jake.friedman@phoenix.gov​.
  
• Apply: ​This application will not be submitted through MARGO. Please submit your application through Survey Monkey. Please note: the application must be completed in one session. You cannot save work in the portal.
• Find the application at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PhxArtCorpsOrg​ or preview the application here​.
  

Timeline and Process​

Hours, Pay, and Commitments

Each student worker will work 400 hours over the Fall semester (from August 1 to December 30, 2022) in in-person, remote, or hybrid settings. Schedules are expected to accommodate​​ the student’s academic and personal responsibilities such as school or other part time employment. This averages to around 20 to 25 hours a week. 

For their work, each student worker will receive a wage of $16 an hour (before taxes) for a total amount of $6,400, which will be administered by the host organization through their existing payroll systems. To this end, POAC will disburse a lump sum of $8,000 to host organizations at the start of the employment period. Student workers should not receive healthcare, retirement, or other employment benefits from the host organization. Any additional hours or payments are at the discretion of the host organization.

The rest of the grant award can be used for payroll taxes, equipment purchases, offset expenses, or other costs of hosting a student worker. No separate application is necessary. All organizations will receive an administrative stipend.

Focus and Impact

Through a combination of independent research, hands-on tasks, guided trainings, and collaborative work, students should be provided with a comprehensive introduction to arts and culture administration while focusing on a particular department or skillset. To maximize the student worker’s learning and make the most of their time for your organization, we recommend designing the position around a specific project, initiative, or program cycle that can be completed or administered from start to finish within the course of the employment period. We would also encourage you to think about how the position can be used to engage the public, impact the community, or directly benefit residents in the City of Phoenix. 

Supervisor Commitments

As a supervisor, your primary role is to ensure the educational quality of the employment experience, serve as a professional mentor for the student, and take care of your student worker as a human being. In this vein, you can expect to spend around five hours each week actively managing your student worker by responding to emails, reviewing materials, having conversations, and holding meetings. 

Additionally, supervisors will be required to fulfill professional and mentorship commitments, including:

• Orientation July 18: A three hour supervisor orientation and training on Monday morning, July 18, 2022.
  
• Welcome Aug 5: A three hour welcome and general orientation on Friday morning, August 5, 2022.
  
• Check-In Oct 7: A one to two hour informal check in and gathering on Friday afternoon, October 7, 2022.
  
• Celebration Dec 16: A two hour informal celebration on Friday afternoon, December 16, 2022.
  

Beyond gatherings, supervisors are also expected to complete entrance and exit surveys for the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, conduct formal performance reviews for the student at the middle and end of the semester, and furnish a letter of reference. POAC will provide active guidance, trainings, and other support throughout the process. A small team of professional mentors will also be working in parallel with supervisors to support students through monthly check-ins and conversation. Students will also be required to attend professional development workshops and check-ins every 2nd and 4th Friday. More details about trainings, orientations, and other processes will be provided at the appropriate time.

Additional Stipends and Professional Development

To enrich and enhance the employment experience, POAC will provide $500 professional development stipends for each student worker, which can be used to register for conferences, attend trainings, or other professional development opportunities at the supervisor’s discretion.

Supervisors and host organizations will also have the opportunity to organize professional development workshops for student workers such as site visits, presentations, or workshops. Budgets are available to support each professional development opportunity. More information will be provided at the appropriate time.

Organizational Eligibility

ArtCorps is open to Phoenix-based organizations that received a Nonprofit Arts and Culture Stabilization Grant (funded by the American Rescue Plan Act) from the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture in 2021. If you are unsure whether your organization received a Nonprofit Arts and Culture Stablization Grant, you can review the list of eligible organizations​.

​Additionally, organizations must be able to provide the student with a physical space to work in Phoenix, a computer, and all other materials necessary for work. If the organization does not have a brick-and-mortar office or is working remotely, other options include a home office, a co-working space, or even the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. Please send us an email to explore options further.

While there are no requirements for individual supervisors, we recommend that applicants have been in their position for at least one year.

Student Eligibility​

To apply for a position, students must fulfill a combination of residency and enrollment requirements:

• Currently enrolled or recently graduated: Students must be currently enrolled in a degree program at an institution of higher education OR have graduated within the last 9 months.
  
• Degree programs may be in-person or online. There is no age requirement, nor is there any minimum number of classes or other enrollment status students need to take or meet.
  
• Institutional or individual residency: Students must be attending an institution of higher education with a physical location in Phoenix OR the student must live and reside in Phoenix. 
  

Graduate students are ineligible to apply. More information about student eligibility will be communicated to host organizations once positions have been approved.

Statements of Interest, Job Descriptions, and Supporting Materials

To host a student worker, all you'll need to do is submit a job description and supporting materials through our application form, which is divided into four parts: 

• ​Organizational profile: Basic contact information, a mission statement or description, and the size of your organization (your annual budget)​.
• Supervisor profile: Your contact information, a professional biography, an informal cover letter or statement of interest (250 words max), and an optional resume / CV.
• Job description: A general summary or overview of the student worker position, a list of specific responsibilities, and any desired qualifications (200 words max each).
• Demographic questionnaire: An optional set of demographic questions to help us ensure our programs are representative of the larger community.
  

Additionally, you'll also need a letter of acknowledgment from your authorizing official--an executive director, CEO, board chair, artistic director, etc--confirming their support for your application. The letter of acknowledgment is not formal, and can be a simple screenshot or pdf of an email. Feel free to use our letter of acknowledgment email template for this purpose.  

While the application is relatively short compared to other grants or programs, producing a thoughtful job description can still take some time, and the application is expected to take around 1 to 3 hours to complete. 

The deadline for applications is March 20, 2022.

Timelines and Processes

Once the application period closes, you'll receive an email fromPOAC confirming your submission. Then, after a brief review for fit and eligibility, student worker positions will be approved by April 10, 2022. 

Once the student worker positions are approved, host organizations will post the position on their website and begin recruiting. POAC will also post a centralized list on its own website to help promote the positions. 

Rather than applying through a centralized form administered POAC, students will apply directly to individual positions through each organization's respective website, email, or other process. Organizations will then be free to interview candidates in April and May at their discretion. 

Once the organization is ready to make an offer to a student, they should email their top choices to POAC to check in and confirm. Once POAC confirms, organizations will extend offers directly to students and notify other applicants respectively. Positions must be filled by June 15, 2022. 

Once positions have been filled, hiring and onboarding will take place over July. Orientations and trainings will begin in early August. Students can begin working as early as August 1. Students must begin their positions no later than September 1, 2022.

Selection Criteria

Submitting an application does not guarantee a student worker. While our goal is to host as many positions as possible, this is a competitive process, our resources are limited, andwe are only able to award up to 20 positions each semester. In the event that the program receives more applications than our capacity, positions will be awarded based on the following criteria: 

• Representation and Diversity: ​Diversity and representation in regard to the larger arts and culture community, including but not limited to art form or discipline, professional department or focus, organizational budget and size, city council district, and demographics of supervisors.
  
• Organizational Value: The use of the student worker position to open capacity or advance a specific project or initiative within the organization.
  
• Public Impact: The measure of community engagement and public impact of any projects or initiatives advanced through the position.
  
• Professional Value: The personal motivation and professional impact of hosting a student worker upon the supervisor.
  

Previous supervisory experience is not a criterion, nor are previous student worker or internship programs within the organization. All criteria will be evaluated through the statement of interest, the job description, and other application materials. If all criteria are met or equal, applications may be entered into a process of randomized selection.

Multiple Applications

While organizations are welcome and encouraged to submit and host multiple student worker positions, multiple positions will only be awarded if all applying organizations are awarded at least one position. For example: if 17 organizations applied, we would be able to award multiple positions. However, if 25 organizations applied, we probably wouldn't. This being said: as applications will be selected primarily on the basis of representation and diversity, submitting multiple applications for different professional depart​ments may increase the likelihood that your organization receives a student worker. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us to discuss further.

Info Sessions and Workshops

​To help individuals and organizations learn more about the program and prepare their applications, POAC will be offering virtual info sessions and workshops on Thursdays, March 3, 10, and 17, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Phoenix MST. 

Each info session will feature a brief presentation of the program, ample time for Q&A, and an optional workshop for individuals to receive feedback on their job descriptions. To attend the info sessions, you can register for the info sessions through Eventbrite or view the presentation​. Recordings of the presentation will be available after the info session upon request.

Consultations and Feedback

If you can't make the info sessions, POAC staff also happy to provide individualized feedback on job descriptions through emails or one-on-one meetings. If you are requesting feedback, please allow at least one week for review. No feedback will be provided after March 10. 

Questions?

If you'd like to request feedback, schedule a meeting, or there's anything you'd like to discuss about the program before applying, reach out to Community Engagement and Programs Manager Jake Friedman at 602.534.7230​ or jake.friedman@phoenix.gov.