CAPS Fellows Program Application

Institute for Leadership and Service › CAPS Fellows Program ›

Deadlines and Timeline for 2024 CAPS Fellowship Application

Who can Apply

Current Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors
Open to ALL majors
GPA at or above 3.0

Application Components

Online application form
Personal statement in PDF format uploaded through the online application
Resume in PDF format uploaded through the online application
Reference form submitted by a Valparaiso University faculty or staff member
Official transcript sent to lead.serve@valpo.edu

Deadline

Application s for the 2024 CAPS Fellows Program will open from November 13th, 2023 and will close on January 16th, 2024.

Timeline

Semifinalist interviews with the Advisory Committee will take place on February 10th, 2024 and those who move forward will become CAPS Fellows. The Fellows will interview with different placement sites in late March. The Fellows’ placements will be confirmed by April 10th.

Applicants who have a conflict and will be unable to come for the Interview Day must contact the Institute for Leadership and Service as soon as possible at lead.serve@valpo.edu to provide their availability for the Mon-Wed following Interview Day in the event they are selected as a Semifinalist.

Resume and Personal Statement Guidelines

The following documents will be uploaded as PDFs to the online application as prompted. Be sure to include your name on all documents. Carefully review your statement before submitting to prevent typos and other errors.

Resume of no more than 2 pages. We strongly encourage you to meet with a Valpo Career Center staff for drop-in resume advising or attend one of their Resume Writing Sessions before submitting it for your application. You can learn more about this important campus resource on their website.
Personal statement of no more than 1,000 words total, addressing the following topics:

Your personal and/or professional goals at this time.
The key questions you’re asking about your future.
What you hope to learn from your participation in the CAPS Fellows program, as a program that emphasizes reflection and is different from a standard pre-professional internship.
Reflection on your coursework and co-curricular experiences and how they have contributed to or challenged your ideas about leadership, service and purposeful work.

Reference Form Guidelines

Applications require one reference form from a Valpo faculty or staff member, to be received by the application deadline. You are also welcome to secure an additional reference from another Valpo faculty or staff member who can speak to your leadership and service experience and/or add other important information about your candidacy. Send your referencer(s) this link to fill out the reference form.

The reference is an important component of your application, so be thoughtful in identifying a faculty or staff member who can answer the questions knowledgeably and can attest to your character, skills, and capacity for leadership and service. Be sure to contact your reference(s) as soon as possible to give them plenty of time to fill out the reference form. Please do not have more than 2 faculty/staff submit references on your behalf. References must use the required form and will not be accepted in a different format.

Official Transcripts

Please order an official transcript through DataVU and Credentials Solutions and have it sent directly to lead.serve@valpo.edu, the Institute for Leadership and Service email address. Submit your order in advance of the deadline so that the transcript is received by the application deadline.

For more instructions on how to order an official transcript, see the Office of the Registrar’s Transcript Ordering Guide. The University’s knowledge base also gives answers to various questions about official transcripts. For specific questions or troubleshooting regarding official transcripts, please contact the Office of the Registrar directly.

Check for any student account holds that may prevent you from ordering an official transcript before going through with the order. Certain student account “holds” will prevent you from submitting an official transcript. If this is the case, you may print an unofficial transcript from DataVU, have it signed by your academic advisor, and submit it in a PDF format to lead.serve@valpo.edu.