Program – Page 4 – Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Associate Director & Manager of Programs, October 2024

Greetings IRT Community!

Welcome to a new fall semester! I hope that the summer afforded you a balance of work and focus on your well-being.

I want to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt appreciation to all who planned and participated in our summer planning and programming. It takes a vibrant and dynamic community to plan programming that offers a sense of belonging, is committed to having young people see reflections of themselves and their lived experiences in and out the classroom, and understands the need for centering one’s own wellness practices.

University of Kentucky Joins the IRT Consortium

The IRT welcomes the University of Kentucky as it’s newest member to the IRT Consortium! The IRT Consortium consists of colleges and universities that support the goal to increase and diversify educators in K-12 and higher education in the U.S. By admitting and funding IRT students to their Master’s and Ph.D. programs in the humanities, social sciences, arts, education, computer science, and mathematics, our consortium are key collaborators in our program delivery.

Welcome IRT 2024 Scholars

Annual IRT Summer Workshop and Recruiters’ Weekend Kickoff

We are delighted to welcome the 2024 cohort into the IRT family! On June 3^rd, an impressive group of 130 scholars started their respective journeys to graduate school with IRT. This year we will support more than 100 scholars in their pursuit of a Doctorate and more than 20 scholars in their pursuit of a Master’s degree. Roughly one third of the cohort is seeking a graduate degree in an education field, while the remaining two-thirds are applying to humanities and social sciences fields.

Associate Director & Manager of Programs Update, March 2024

Dear IRT Community,

As we welcome the arrival of Spring, a time of renewal and reimagination, I would like to take this opportunity to share our most recent program updates.

ADVISING
Current IRT Scholars are hearing back from graduate programs about acceptances and funding packages. They are utilizing resources as well as engaging with their IRT Advisors and fellow cohort members through meetings, chats and cohort social hours. These differentiated tools of engagement allow our scholars to feel a sense of belonging and community as they embark on their decision making process. Our warmest CONGRATULATIONS to our scholars on their graduate school acceptances! Our young people across the education sector will greatly benefit from your knowledge, skills and talents. Also, we want to shout out APPRECIATIONS to our Statement of Purpose Advisors for working closely with our scholars on their applications. Scholars have remarked that their advisors not only offered constructive feedback on their drafts but also encouraged them to show their authentic selves. At a time when diversity is being dismissed this type of guidance is of even more importance.

IRT Hiring Advisors!

The time to hire Statement of Purpose Advisors (SOPAs) is upon us! The IRT seeks to hire 15-20 alumni or similarly qualified applicants to serve as SOPAs for the incoming 2024 cohort. A full description of the role, length of employment, compensation, and qualifications can be found in the job description here. The deadline to apply is March 17^th.

Anyone with questions about the role should reach out to Arts & Sciences Programs Specialist Brittany A. Zorn at bzorn@andover.edu. Previous SOPAs have said about the role:

“I applied to be an SOPA advisor because I would not be where I am today without IRT. The individualized attention I received through the program, the academic and emotional support, and the knowledge I gained was priceless. It is my greatest hope that I can give any student I work with the same feeling of confidence that no matter where I ended after the application deadline was over, I had done everything I could. Every individual in the IRT program belongs in academia, and I am incredibly proud to be a part of this program.”
Yasmin Mendoza, IRT ’21

“I’m really excited to return to the IRT community as a Statement of Purpose Advisor. With the support of Leslie and LaShawnda a few years ago, I found the process of writing a Statement of Purpose to be an important and rewarding intellectual journey that helped me refine my ideas, weave my lived experiences and interests into a narrative, and articulate my scholarship and its significance in different words. I look forward to becoming a thought partner to IRT scholars in their intellectual adventures!”
Woohee Kim, IRT ’19