Semester for Impact

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

UNH students must meet the following requirements in order to participate in Semester for Impact: 

• Students may apply to participate in their sophomore, junior, or senior year, with a declared major* and 2.5 cumulative UNH GPA or higher**, with priority given to students with above 3.0.  
  • *Undeclared students are eligible to be considered by petition and must have at least 12 earned UNH credits at time of study away.
  • **Students with a GPA between 2.0-2.5 are eligible to be considered by petition. 

1. Please complete a UNH Study Away Student Eligibility Form, to confirm that you are in good academic, financial, and judicial standing, and that you will represent UNH in a positive light.  Fill out the top portion of the form and submit it to the Dean's Office for your College.  
2. International Students must get authorization from the Office of International Students & Scholars to participate in Semester for Impact.

Semester for Impact students will serve with leading social sector organizations (non-profits, mission-driven for profits, and government agencies) four days a week, for 15 weeks.  

Social Sector Placements in New Hampshire

Every placement will be a little different, but each student will have a dedicated mentor – a hand-selected high-performing, high-potential leader. Students will spend roughly 20 percent of their time shadowing senior leaders, 40 percent of their time doing front-line service for the organization, and 40 percent working on a special project. Semester for Impact students will gain 400+ hours of work-based learning, allowing students to learn more about themselves and their passions while also building their skills and their networks.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS:

3-day Launch Week Workshop

Students will attend a 3-day workshop in Boston at the beginning of the semester to begin building cohort identity, relationships, and start training as problem solvers. 

INCO 505I: 400-hour Social Change Internship

Students accepted to the program will be matched with an internship in a NH community (seacoast or Manchester-Nashua metropolitan area) that is focused on social change. All internships will be with a nonprofit, social mission business, or government agency. Internship sites will be developed and uniquely tailored to students' interests.

Students will work full time Monday through Thursday at their internship site doing meaningful work and being part of the team. During the course of the semester, students will receive direct, intentional mentorship from social change leaders and complete a scaffolded special project for their host organization. 

INCO 505A: Becoming a Problem Solver (Friday workshop)

On Fridays, interns will begin to develop their professional identity and understand how to navigate the workplace as they get a feel for their career path. Interns will interact with peers, identify and leverage their strengths and share their internship experiences. Through the “Becoming a Problem Solver” course, students will get experience solving problems within the workplace and within the nonprofit and social organization sector.

This course will be in a hybrid modality - with part of Friday online alongside students enrolled in Semester in the City in Boston and in Semester for Impact at other institutions, and the other part taking place on campus, in-person. 

INCO 505B: Social Innovator's Toolbox (optional Wednesday evening seminar)

This course will expose students to the concepts and practices associated with social innovation and social entrepreneurship – i.e., the development and growth of new, sustainable, and scalable approaches to the major social, economic, and environmental challenges facing society. Students will learn a variety of tools and methods used for the development, implementation, management, and assessment of social solutions that they will be able to use over the course of their careers. This course provides the theoretical foundation and academic counterpart to their Internship and to the Becoming a Problem Solver course. The course will emphasize the systemic, interdisciplinary, and often cross-sector nature of both the problems and their solutions.

*If a Semester for Impact student would like to take a different UNH course in place of Social Innovator's Toolbox (in order to fulfill a requirement), they may choose to do so. 

CREDIT INFORMATION

UNH students will earn 16 credits for this program: 

• 8 internship credits under INCO 505I for the 400-hour internship
• 4 academic credits under INCO 505A for the Becoming a Problem Solver course
• 4 academic credits under INCO 505B for the Social Innovator's Toolbox course (Discovery Attribute: Social Science)

If a student needs to take a regular UNH course to maintain a trajectory (i.e. SPAN 402 after taking SPAN 401) or to fulfill a requirement, they may do so instead of taking the Social Innovator's Toolbox course. However, the INCO 505I internship credit and the INCO 505A credit for Becoming a Problem Solver are both requirements of this program.

In some cases, all or some of the credits will also count toward academic major or minor requirements and/or core distribution requirements. View the list of pre-approved majors that accept Semester for Impact credits. Be sure to speak with your academic advisor or department chair, even if your department is not on this list.

Cost

This program costs the same as one semester at UNH! You continue paying your standard tuition and mandatory fees and there are NO special fees. Students maintain their existing arrangements (housing, food, personal expenses, etc).  Financial aid will continue to come from UNH. 

Financial Benefits & Perks

• $595.00 stipend to help defray costs during the semester
• Transportation and lodging during our Launch Week mini-conference
• Approximately $2000 post-service education award
• Access to AmeriCorps' network of Employers of National Service, who prioritize hiring AmeriCorps alumni
• Opportunities to connect with state and national leaders in civic service

When submitting your application by clicking the link below, you'll be brought to our non-profit affiliate's website, the College for Social Innovation, which facilitates the Semester for Impact program.

The application consists of several sections and most students complete it in less than 30 minutes.

You'll be asked to submit:

• a resume OR a LinkedIn profile
• 2 references (not recommendations)
• responses to short answer questions

​You must also complete the UNH Study Away Eligibility Form.

You'll also have an opportunity to indicate your placement preferences and tell us about the social issues that matter to you on your application and during the interview.

SUBMIT AN APPLICATION