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Since 1992, under the direction of funding
director Dr. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor
of Child Development & Education, each year the Center has offered training
opportunities in policy and research to about 35 graduate students,
4 to 6 post-doctoral fellows, and 8 young scholar affiliates.
Summer
Fellowship Program in Child & Family Policy: Putting Children First
The primary goal of the program is to provide an opportunity
for advanced graduate students in the applied sciences to link their
academic learning with their interests in child and family policy; and
experience first hand the reality of the policy formation and the implementation
process. Students are placed in a city, state, or non?profit agency
for eight weeks, where they work on a policy?relevant project. Students
also attend weekly seminars with leading policy scientists and practitioners
at the Center. Over 100 graduate students from across the country and
from a variety of disciplines have participated in the last eight years.
Small
Grants Program
The Center for Children and Families sponsors a small
grants program to fund student research that is relevant to the goals
and policy research interests of the Center. All Teachers College students
(M.A., Ed.M., or Doctoral) may apply for a Small Grant to conduct some
aspect of a research project, which addresses at least one of the four
themes of the Center. Up to $750 for a one-year period is awarded.
Center
Graduate Fellowships
Teachers College doctoral students with policy research interests in
children and families are eligible for Center Fellowships. Fellows learn
about the nexus of policy, practice and research by working on specific
Center projects related to children and families. Fellows are appointed
for at least one year although our desire is to form a long?term mentoring
relationship with each fellow. All Fellows to date have been appointed
for two years. The Center has 6?10 Fellows each year.
Senior
Fellows
Post-doctoral fellows are an integral part of the Center.
As Senior Fellows, they participate in the life of the Center in every
capacity, including managing specific projects, training master's and
doctoral level students, writing policy reports, and attending policy
conferences. The Center has about 4 Senior Fellows each year.
Young
Scholars
Along with and including the Senior Center Fellows
are Center affiliated Young Scholars. The training of young scholars
is particularly important in the area of child and family policy research
as training within a single field does not adequately prepare individuals
for this work. Affiliated Young Scholars are those individuals who have
recently completed doctoral training and are junior faculty at research
universities throughout the country. Young Scholars come from psychology,
economics, sociology, social work, and early childhood education. About
8 Young Scholars are affiliated with the Center each year.
Research
Practice
The Center has developed an integrated series of different
research experiences for masters students at Columbia University. The
research experience is available each spring semester. The Center offers
different research and policy experiences in exchange for course credits.
The requirements include readings, attendance at seminars and 9 hours
of research work at the Center per week (an equivalent of 3 credits).
The 9 hours will be devoted to training, organization and data collection,
and providing students with active research involvement on an on?going
project. In addition, students who are chosen as research assistants
from this practice are given priority for Thesis supervision at the
Center. Center Graduate Fellows, in collaboration with the Senior Fellows,
develop these research experiences.
Center
Teaching Fellowships
Teachers College doctoral students who have demonstrated
exceptional performance in one of the courses routinely taught by Dr.
Brooks?Gunn have been employed as policy teaching fellows for the course
in subsequent semesters. Duties include leading discussion groups, meeting
with students, and assisting in grading papers.
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