National Park Service Mellon Humanities Fellowship National Coordinator

Title: National Park Service Mellon Humanities Fellowship National Coordinator

Start Date: June 2023

Employer: American Conservation Experience (ACE)

Department: EPIC Program, National Park Service (NPS) Division

Reports To: Formally reporting to ACE EPIC Associate Director of Signature Programs, NPS Division. Assigned to National Park Service Project Director as project lead; with additional mentorship and administrative support through ACE

Location: Eligible for remote/telework flexibility. Eastern Time zone preferred.

Status: Regular Full-time, Exempt

Term: Position is fully funded through May 30, 2027

Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours/weeks with additional hours as needed. Flexible work schedule (Monday - Friday) with some adjustment expected to accommodate specific projects and program needs. Some evening and weekend hours may be occasionally required.

Position Summary:

American Conservation Experience (ACE), a non-profit Conservation Corps, is seeking a National Coordinator to provide direct assistance to National Park Service (NPS) agency staff involved in the Mellon Humanities Fellow Program and help support the Mellon Humanities Fellows themselves. Specifically, the ACE Mellon Humanities Fellowship National Program Coordinator will support the success of a cohort of approximately 16 two-year post-doctoral Fellows.

This opportunity is intended for emerging conservation and preservation professionals with a background in program management, communications, and partnerships with an interest in jointly advancing their career and the mission of NPS through purposeful hands-on experience with the NPS Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education (CROIE).

Program Background and Objectives:

ACE and NPS have a mutual interest to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.

The Mellon Humanities Fellowship Program seeks to establish and implement approximately thirty two-year postdoctoral fellowships in the Humanities. The projects will explore the whole country, including the territories, to reexamine dominant national narratives, explore our ongoing struggles to achieve America's founding promise, and to actively support diversity, equity, and inclusion in agency operations and organizational culture. The NPS Project Director is the Program Manager for the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

The National Coordinator plays a key role on the Mellon Humanities Fellowship project team, working with Hosts, Fellows, third-party consultants, and project advisors as well as other members of the project team from NPS, NPF, and ACE to support the success of a cohort of approximately 16 two-year post-doctoral Fellows. The National Coordinator is responsible for service-wide planning, marketing, and communication; organizing professional development; compiling and reporting information; and collaborating with team members to ensure the success of the program.

The National Coordinator plays a major role in recruitment and onboarding of both Hosts and Fellows, convening the orientation and the full-team meeting, and troubleshooting processes. The National Coordinator is an employee of ACE, supervised by the Associate Director for EPIC NPS Division, and reports to the NPS Project Director.

Cohort #2 is scheduled from September 2024 through August 2026. The National Coordinator is budgeted for approximately four years, remaining after the Cohort ends to ensure finalizing and curation of products and report on accomplishments.

[Notes for clarification: NPF will issue RFP for Hosts and paneling selection will be facilitated by National Coordinator with Project Director support. The project partners (including the National Coordinator) will collaborate on a diversity recruitment plan. NPF will post advertisements for Fellowships; ACE will accept applications. The National Coordinator will organize panels with support of ACE, NPF and NPS.

NPF will be hiring an IT specialist for each cohort; this person will be available to assist the National Coordinator on a variety of tasks.

Mellon is taking an interest in being involved with media and possibly with orientation and/or other professional development.

The project team includes individuals from ACE, NPS, NPF. The intention is to create an internal NPS advisory group (probably also panel members for Hosts) that will include the NPS Senior Advisor for Commemorations as well as key representatives from parks and programs.]

Service-wide Planning, Marketing, and Communication

This category includes informing the Service and eligible partners such as National Heritage Areas to recruit prospective Hosts, working with prospective and selected Hosts, and providing ongoing information about the program and its results Service-wide and to the project partners.

• Organize Service-wide information sessions as needed to raise awareness and interest in participation in the program by prospective Hosts. Organize requests for proposals for Hosts in collaboration with the project team. Answer questions related to the recruitment call from NPS units. Coordinate review panel and the review and selection of host sites with the project team.
• As needed, work with the host applicants to finalize proposals for recruitment of Fellows, including assisting Hosts with their plans, which will include a: (1) first-year project connected to the goals of the NPS America at 250 Framework and informed by tribal consultation and other subject matter experts as needed; (2) potential interpretive products; (3) mentoring plan including the identification of NPS mentors and an external partner mentor, and a plan for how they will support Fellows with diverse identities; (4) logistical details; and (5) a commitment to work with the Fellow team to propose and carry out ongoing projects with interpretive products to engage audiences onsite, across the country, and around the world.
• In consultation with the project team and other appropriate advisors, the National Coordinator assists Hosts with identifying external expert mentors and with establishing panels to review Fellowship applications.
• Maintain communication with host sites regarding the program. Serve as the primary point of contact for prospective and selected Hosts with any questions throughout the program.
• As the program progresses, organize Service-wide information sessions to share and celebrate accomplishments and information about the ongoing program.
• Ensure full 508-compliant accessibility for all communication.

Recruitment and Onboarding

This category includes recruitment of the Fellows, paneling and selecting applicants, and orienting the cohort of new Fellows.

• In coordination with Hosts and project team, organize advertisements for each Fellowship and facilitate review panels to ensure timely review and selection. These selection panels will consist of at least four to five individuals including the host's Fellow support team (Interpretation or Education expert, Cultural Resources expert, and external partner mentor); the National Coordinator, NPS or NPF project manager; and an additional subject matter expert drawn from either NPS staff where available or from universities or external partner organizations.
• Assist as needed with onboarding Fellows with ACE. Assist and advise as needed to Hosts for onboarding Fellows.
• Develop and deliver, in collaboration with the project team, cohort-wide orientation to NPS and the opportunities and expectations of the Fellowship.

Organize Professional Development

This category includes organizing and delivering learning and development for the Fellows, their Hosts, and the wider NPS and partner community.

• Organize and manage a community of practice for the Fellows including regular opportunities for professional development such as learning the basics of historic preservation and landscape preservation, including environmental justice; interpretive tools such as audience-centered interpretation, dialogue techniques, and conflict de-escalation; partnership and collaborative tools; ArcGIS StoryMaps, and the NPS.gov content management system.
• Training will include such skills as Audience-Centered Interpretation; International Coalition of Sites of Conscience Dialogic Techniques; Confronting Trauma as Researchers, Interpreters, and Visitors; Safety, Self-Awareness, Self-Care; and the Healing Power of the Arts. Both Fellows and staff will have the opportunity to dive deeply into issues of inclusion, equity, diversity, belonging, and mattering in their work and workspaces. These opportunities will occur at orientation, throughout the fellowship, and at the full team conference during year three.
• Organize professional development to assist Fellows in their commitment to (1) perform project-based research; (2) share research results; (3) produce and substantially contribute to interpretive and educational products; and (4) perform career-focused work.
• Coordinate training and assistance (in collaboration with IT Specialist) to Fellows, mentorship teams and others as needed to plan and develop content for NPS.gov.
• In consultation with Fellows and other appropriate members of the project team, coordinate subject matter experts, speakers, and other consultants: contact, schedule, advertise, track to ensure proper invoicing to NPF and follow through as needed.
• Collaborate with Digital Humanities and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility consultants to plan learning opportunities for Fellows and Hosts.
• Manage events, including professional development speakers, discussions, webinars (via Teams, Zoom, or other appropriate platform) and in collaboration with the IT specialist, ensure accessibility and proper recording and archiving of digital events for ongoing availability and accessibility.
• Ensure that Fellows have access to career guidance, instructions, and other assistance available through, for example, the NPS Common Learning Portal and update material as needed.
• As needed, work with Fellows to design their second-year project, which may be a continuation of the first year or be quite different.

Convening

This category includes convening meetings of Fellows. Note that NPF will organize and facilitate formal (in-person, hybrid or virtual) orientations for each cohort and the full-team conference that will take place in the year when the cohorts overlap.

• Organize and facilitate regular meetings with each cohort of Fellows and with Fellows mentors and others as appropriate, adjusting as needed as the project progresses. Meetings are for purposes of creating a sense of team belonging, mutual support, and accountability. Record and archive minutes and action plans.
• Approximately every six months, organize a cohort-wide convening of Fellows to share their work with each other and for the benefit of the staff of NPS, NPF, ACE and, potentially, Mellon. These may be combined with other convenings as feasible.

Collecting and Reporting Information

This category includes preparation for reporting and reporting.

• Gather and organize news about project activities for purposes of communication and for reporting in annual interim reports due to the Mellon Foundation.
• Ensure accountability of Hosts and Fellows through regular communication and collection of accomplishments for reporting.
• Each Fellow will be responsible for tracking and reporting accomplishments and for supplying copies of products to their host and to the National Coordinator. The National Coordinator organizes activity logs for the purpose of recording the cohort's activities and accomplishments, collects products, and archives materials for access by the full project team.
• Regularly disseminate news about project activities through such outlets as regional newsletters, insideNPS, CLP posts, dedicated newsletter, email, social media and other means to NPS, NPF, ACE, and partners as appropriate.
• Provide information to project partners' social media managers, ACE and the NPS Office of Communications.
• Compile and share report(s) of Fellowship program activities as needed by project partners.

Collaborating to ensure success of the program

This category includes contributions to the successful process and intellectual impact of the program for both public-facing interpretation and internal NPS culture.

• Organize regular and as-needed meetings of the project team, coordinate and maintain notes and decision items for access by the team.
• Collaborate to identify compelling story threads of the NPS America at 250 framework and to develop and amplify those stories.
• Collaborate on design, structure, and content of the digital archive of the Fellowship program results.
• Collaborate to improve NPS internal processes for inviting and incorporating new scholarship into public-facing interpretation.

Required Experience and Qualifications:

• Applicants should have at least a graduate degree in humanities or a related field. In lieu of a degree, applicants must demonstrate relevant project management skills from prior work environments. The applicant must document these work experiences in their application.
• Strong time management skills; ability and desire to perform multiple concurrent and variable tasks
• Strong organizational skills to keep track of workload, tasks, and interactions
• Comfortable communicating directly with federal agency staff, resource professionals, and partners/stakeholders of varied backgrounds.
• Proven ability to work independently and be a positive, contributing member of a group
• Strong computer management skills including experience with content management systems (CMS).
• Demonstrate sensitivity, understanding and an ability to effectively interact with individuals (internal and external) from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, ability and ethnic backgrounds.

Other Requirements:

• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.
• Valid driver's license and an insurable driving record; comfortable driving ACE lease/owned and/or government vehicles as needed.
• Proficient in English
• Ability to pass a federal criminal background check
• Willing to abide by ACE Policy and Federal Drug Free workplace policies and laws. ACE reserves the right to drug test at any time

Physical Demands, Work Environment and Working Conditions

• Physical Demands: Requires ability to work with standard office environment
• Vision Requirements: Requires close, distance, peripheral and depth perception vision as well as the ability to focus
• Noise Environment: Moderate noise such as in a business office with equipment and light traffic.
• Travel: This position requires domestic travel as needed for program duties.

Benefits

Compensation: Starting annualized salary $93,600 with annualized 4% increases. (40 hours/week for 52-weeks). Paid bi-weekly, a two-week pay period.

Medical/Health Benefits: ACE offers competitive medical and ancillary plans (health, mental health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, and other supplemental benefits). ACE Staff members are also eligible to participate in ACE's 403b retirement plan, which includes a 1% employer contribution for participating, contributing staff.

Holidays, Vacation, and Sick Time: As an ACE staff member, you will be eligible to accrue up to 80 hours of paid vacation time annually during your first two years of continuous employment, then it increases to 120 hours annually. Additionally, ACE observes 11 paid annual holidays and provides 10 days (or 80 hours) of paid sick time annually.

Additional Benefits:

Outdoor Perks: As an ACE staff member, you will be eligible to receive pro deals which include deep discounts on outdoor gear providing 30 - 50% off retail prices on hundreds of established outdoor gear brands.

Professional Development/Training: Additionally, this position offers opportunities to gain experience within ACE the NPS, attend training, and be mentored by both NPS, NPF, and ACE staff.

To Apply: Please submit a resume and cover letter describing how/why you are a good fit for this position, as well as contact information for three professional or academic references. Qualified applicants will be contacted to arrange an interview.

American Conservation Experience provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, American Conservation Experience complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

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