Student Staff

Job Opportunities for Students Staff Development Fund Proposal Form(Printable Document

The Staff Development Fund (SDF) was initiated in 2001 for the purposes of supporting our student staff in gaining more experience in the field (particularly technical skills) and providing opportunities for field scouting of local and regional areas that the program might choose to use in the future. With this in mind, the SDF usually supports the following activities:

Staff skill trips

Usually involving 3 or more staff, these trips might include climbing, boating, or hiking experiences. These trips may have little to no instruction but are rather opportunities for staff to gain more experience on their own. Support comes in the form of free gear rental, transportation costs, and food allowances.

Scout trips

These trips are done for the expressed purpose to find out more about a particular area and whether or not it would make a feasible instructional site for the Wilderness Program. While activity and skill practice are to be expected, paramount to a scout trip is that good program information is gathered about the site. Because of this, scout trips must complete a Trip Logistics Form at the completion of trip and submit it to the Wilderness Office. Funding comes in the form of gear rental, transportation costs, and food allowances.

Instructional opportunities

Occasionally, the SDF will support a staff member acquiring additional training or attending a skill development course. These may include additional kayak training, rock climbing classes, guided trips, conference attendance, and other workshops or activities relevant to outdoor education. The SDF cannot be used to support Earlham-sponsored courses (WFR, WFA, WIC, etc.). Funding comes in the form of partial/full tuition or course fee reimbursement.

Funding

The amount of financial support depends on a number of factors including the quality of the proposal, the individual (or groups) past, present, and future investment in the Wilderness Program, and the amount of money currently in the fund (we have approx. $1,000 allotted per year). Some proposals may get fully funded, some partially, and some not at all. The Wilderness faculty will meet and decide on proposals once per semester (SDF deadlines will be announced in staff meetings).

Contact Us:

Wilderness Programs
801 National Road West, Drawer 87
Richmond, IN 47374
phone:(765) 983-1327; fax: (765) 983-1207
Wilderness@earlham.edu