Fontaine Society Resources and Opportunities

There are a number of ways to stay informed and engaged as part of the Fontaine community. 

Run for a leadership position - or just attend monthly meetings for community and conversation!

The Fontaine Coordinating Committee (FCC) serves as the student governing body for members of the Fontaine Society. Members serve on a voluntary basis to advocate on behalf of fellows and to organize and implement a wide range of events during the year, in partnership with the Office of the Vice Provost for Education departments and staff. The FCC holds regular social events for peer connection, they sponsor travel awards and organize conferences and workshops to support personal and professional development. The FCC also partners with other student groups throughout the year and many volunteer in service projects, such as the “Science Education Academy” for grade school students in West Philadelphia.

FCC monthly meetings are an opportunity to gather with other fellows for community and conversation, as well as to contribute to planning and feedback on new programs, initiatives, and goals of the FCC and broader Fontaine Society. 

See upcoming FCC meetings and RSVP on the Fontaine Society events calendar

A list of current and past FCC leadership can be found on our About the Fontaine Society page. To contact the Fontaine Coordinating Committee, e-mail fontainesociety@gmail.com. 

See events hosted by the Fontaine Society and Fontaine Coordinating Committee, as well as co-sponsored events and highlighted events on behalf of partners interested in connecting with Fontaine Fellows.

Fontaine Society events calendar

Fontaine Society Listserv
In addition to regular FCC events and meetings, centralized programming, resources, and advising for Fontaine Fellows is coordinated by the Graduate Student Center in collaboration with relevant student centers, faculty, and staff throughout the University. The annual Fontaine Dinner, for current and prospective Fontaine Fellows and “Celebration of Progress” are major highlights of the year.

Be sure to check your inbox for regular emails from the Grad Center Director and FCC co-presidents featuring upcoming programming, resources, and opportunities. 

Fontaine Fellows GroupMe
Connect with other fellows and stay plugged into the Fontaine student community by joining the Fontaine GroupMe, which is moderated by current FCC leadership. Fellows can share opportunities, updates, small (and big) wins, and more!

The GroupMe link is shared once per semester on the Fontaine Listserv. You can also contact FCC leadership or Fontaine Society administrative staff to obtain the link. To maintain privacy, we do not publish the GroupMe link on the web.

Fontaine Society on LinkedIn 
Connect with current fellows and Fontaine Society alumni via our LinkedIn group! 

Fontaine Society Facebook Group 
Connect with fellow Fontaines and hear about upcoming events and opportunities in our private Facebook group! 

The Fontaine Society and University of Pennsylvania offer a number of resources to help enhance and support academic, social, and community development during your graduate school experience.

The purpose of the Fontaine Travel and Research Grants are to assist Fontaine Fellows who are presenting and/or attending conferences in their fields of study and to support required research travel or other costs required to complete their dissertation research. In competitive circumstances, priority will be given to Fellows who will be presenting and who demonstrate the greatest need.

To be eligible, you must: 

• Be a Fontaine Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania
• Be enrolled full time in a PhD program or in the PhD portion of a dual degree program. 
• Have not already received a Fontaine travel/research grant this academic year 
• Present a summary or description of the related research at the next Fontaine Research Conference.

This grant can be used to help defray the costs associated with the following: 

• Conference travel: qualified travel expenses for Fontaine Fellows presenting at and/or attending academic conferences and meetings.
• Research travel: travel required to conduct research that is required for academic progress toward degree completion. For example, travel to archives, conducting fieldwork, etc. 
• Other Research Needs: expenses directly to academic research (statistics/software programming workshops, access to archives, transcription services, etc.)

This grant does not fund technology or other regular expenses related to the cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, housing, and educational supplies). 

Please keep the following additional requirements in mind:

• Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that your designated faculty remember submits the recommendation form on time.
• Fellows on dissertation status are eligible to apply.
• Applicants may receive only one grant per academic year.
• Conference travel:
  • Application must include the notification of acceptance to the conference if you are presenting.
  • Application must include an abstract of the paper or presentation.
  • Applicants presenting at a conference will receive highest priority for funding. Applications from students who plan to attend a conference (but who are not presenting there) will receive lesser priority.
• Generally, the maximum award is three hundred dollars ($300) for domestic travel and five hundred dollars ($500) for international travel, although more funding may be available depending on the number of applications.

Additional grant details and deadlines are distributed each term on the Fontaine listserv. Please be sure to check your email for announcements and details or contact the FCC co-presidents at fontaine-cc@pobox.upenn.edu. 

For additional sources of funding a grants, visit the Grad Center's Graduate Funding and Finances page

Videos
Hear from Fontaine Fellows in different disciplines about their research trajectories: gsc.upenn.edu/fontaine/videos

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity 
Penn is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), a nationally recognized, independent organization providing online career development and mentoring resources. The NCFDD provides members with access to tools to increase research and writing productivity and improve work-life balance.  

Activate your account by following these steps:

• Go to the NCFDD website
• Under “Select Your Institution,” choose “University of Pennsylvania”
• Select “Activate my Membership”
• Complete the registration form using your Penn email address
• Check your Penn email account to find a confirmation/welcome email. Click “Activate Account” in the email

Ivy Plus Scholars Network
The Fontaine Society is one of four programs at Penn that are members of the Ivy Plus Scholars Network (IPSN). As IPSN members, Fontaine Fellows are invited to participate in a range of academic, professional, and social opportunities with participants from member programs at peer Ivy Plus institutions. 

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Resources 
Penn offers a number of programs and resources to foster inclusion, equity, and intellectual growth for graduate students. Learn more.

Advising & Mentoring PhD Students
The AMP'd guide is intended to provide graduate students, faculty, and graduate groups with guidelines that promote good mentoring relationships between faculty advisors and graduate students. And by clarifying expectations and responsibilities, we hope to reduce frustration and conflicts, which should foster more productive research experiences for our doctoral students.

Graduate Center Resources
The Grad Center provides a comprehensive guide to available resources to help you thrive in graduate school, including academic, wellness, engagement, and financial resources. 

Additional resources related to research and writing and academic and professional development can be found on in the Academic and Intellectual programs section of our website. 

Take Your Professor/Mentor to Lunch
Penn students can invite current or past professors, teaching assistants, advisors, as well as staff members who serve as mentors or advisors, to a free lunch at the University Club during the academic year. Learn more.

LinkedIn Learning 
LinkedIn Learning provides access to an online library of high-quality training videos featuring the latest software, creative, and business skills. Access over 11,000 online courses designed for all experience levels. Watch entire courses or individual video tutorials as you need them and bookmark videos you’d like to watch later. To activate your account, go to linkedinlearning.upenn.edu and log in with your PennKey and password. Instructions for mobile access can be found here. 

Restorative Practices at Penn (RP@Penn) 
RP@Penn promotes restorative practices on Penn’s campus to build strong communities and address interpersonal and group conflict. Restorative practices offer the Penn community a proactive approach to building community and preparing members for managing inevitable conflict in healthy, productive ways. Through RP@Penn, restorative practices provide safe, confidential opportunities for members of the Penn community to discuss strategies for resolving conflict on their own and/or working with a neutral facilitator to resolve conflict among participants. 

Graduate Group Review Student Feedback  
The Graduate Group Review Student Feedback form responses are viewed by the Deputy Provost, and by the Graduate Group Review Liaison if the Graduate Group is being reviewed at that time. You are not required to provide your name or contact information. This feedback form is intended to solicit general information and impressions about your experiences in your PhD Graduate Group. If you wish to report a violation of University policy or compliance issue, please follow the reporting guidelines here. If you have experienced or witnessed a specific  incidence of bias, please use the University’s Bias Incident Reporting Form. 

General Information
For general questions about the Fontaine Society or your fellowship terms, contact:

Anita Mastroieni, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education,
Office of the Provost, 120 College Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Phone: 215-898-1842 or email mastroie@upenn.edu.

Programming, Resources, and Advising 
Centralized programming, resources, and advising for Fontaine Fellows is coordinated by the Graduate Student Center in collaboration with relevant student centers, faculty, and staff throughout the University.

Current Fellows can request an individual appointment with Dr. Meredith Wooten here. 

For more information or to suggest future programs, contact: 

Meredith Wooten, PhD, Director, Graduate Student Center 
3615 Locust Walk, University of Pennsylvania 
email: mwooten@upenn.edu 

Student Leadership and Engagement
The Fontaine Coordinating Committee (FCC) serves as the student governing body for members of the Fontaine Society.  Members serve on a voluntary basis to organize and implement a wide range of events during the year, in partnership with the Office of the Vice Provost for Education departments and staff. The FCC also administers the Fontaine Travel Fellowship competition, which helps support student travel to present research at conferences in their fields of study.

To contact the Fontaine Coordinating Committee, e-mail fontaine-cc@pobox.upenn.edu

Penn Resources and Programs  

• Center for Teaching and Learning: Inclusive Teaching
• Graduate Catalog: Advising and Mentoring PhD Students (AMP'd)
• Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs: Training & Workshops
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): ICARE training 
• NSO-AI: Take Your Professor/Mentor & Host Your Class Programs

Additional Resources 

• Whitaker, M. How to Be a Trauma-Informed Department Chair Amid Covid-19. Chronicle of Higher Education. July 27, 2020. 
   
• Domingues, E., Dukes, A., & Ivy, A. June 2020, Being Anti-Racist: Being a Better Advisor, Lab Mate, and Friend to Black Colleagues. Google Presentation.
   
• Sathy, V., Hogan, K., & Sims, C. “A List of Practical Ways Non-Black Faculty Members Can Help Dismantle Educational Inequities”, Inside Higher Ed, July 1, 2020.
   
• Subbaraman, Nidhi. “How #BlackInTheIvory put a spotlight on racism in academia”, Nature. June 11, 2020.
   
• Brunsma, D. L., Embrick, D. & Shin, J. H. (2017). Graduate students of color: Race, racism, and mentoring in the white waters of academia. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 3(1), 1-13. 
   
• McGlynn, T. How the Opaque Way We Hire Postdocs Contributes to Science’s Diversity Problem. Chronicle of Higher Education. June 17, 2019
  Scientists often rely on informal networking to admit doctoral students and hire postdocs. But those methods help keep women and people of color out of the pipeline.
   
• Stephens, S. (2000) Handbook for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Knowledge Network
   
• DePass, A.L., and D.E. Chubin, eds. (2015) Understanding Interventions that Broaden Participation in Research Careers, vol. VI: Translating Research, Impacting Practice. Summary of a conference, San Diego, CA, May 15–17, 2015, 127 pp.