Employment
At the Center for Social Solutions (CSS), you'll find a small but growing team with ample opportunity for those who are interested in promoting long-term solutions for tough problems. Our staff specialize in translating ideas into action plans and jumping in to do whatever is required to implement the Center's vision. If you are passionate about the Center's mission and thrive when participating in new projects both independently and collaboratively, you'll find a welcoming work environment here.
We are not actively hiring at the moment, but we invite anyone with an interest in employment to submit their resume and a general description of their interest in the center to socialsolutions@umich.edu. Student temporary appointments are regularly posted on the Student Employment Office job board as needed. Make sure to check there frequently!
For Faculty & Researchers
Fellowship Appointments
Fellowship appointments in the Center for Social Solutions (CSS) are intended to establish mutually beneficial relationships between CSS and prominent scholars, thinkers, leaders, and teachers appointed for no longer than two years. Fellows are involved in collaborative research projects or initiatives that may include co-sponsorships and/or co-principal investigations with the CSS Director or Associate Director.
Types of Fellows:
1. Postdocs
2. Fellows of the Practice
3. Entrepreneur-in-Residence
4. UM Faculty-in-Residence (sabbatical or other leaves)
Conditions of a Fellowship Appointment in CSS:
1. The appointment may not always carry a budgetary commitment on the part of CSS.
2. The appointment ends when the research project or initiative has been completed (data collection and analysis and/or project implementation) or after two years of residency.
3. This appointment may be renewed, at the discretion of the faculty member and the Director of CSS, if the timeline for the research or initiative is extended.
4. The appointment includes individual or shared office space in CSS.
Request for a Fellowship Appointment:
To be considered for a faculty fellowship appointment in CSS, a UM faculty member must:
1. Have a tenured or tenure track appointment in another UM department, school or college.
2. Submit a current curriculum vitae and brief letter requesting such an appointment to the CSS Director (the letter shall elucidate the project or initiative that the candidate seeks to pursue in CSS).
If the recipient of an internal, portable postdoc funding a candidate must:
1. Submit a letter requesting such an appointment to the CSS Director.
2. The letter should elucidate the project or initiative that the candidate will pursue at CSS. Alternatively, the letter may indicate the candidate’s acceptance of an invitation to serve a standing CSS initiative or project.
If external to Michigan, to be considered for other fellowship appointments in CSS the candidate must:
1. Submit a letter requesting such an appointment to the CSS Director. The letter should elucidate the project or initiative that the candidate will pursue at CSS. Alternatively, the letter may indicate the candidate’s acceptance of an invitation to serve a standing CSS initiative or project.
2. Or the candidate must have been selected from a pool generated by an external funder (e.g., ACLS) or through a process initiated by the Director or Associate Director of CSS.
Procedure:
1. CSS Director will conduct a review with the assistance of the CSS Associate Director and decide on whether to grant a fellowship appointment.
Privileges of a Fellowship Appointment in CSS:
1. The faculty member may use the title “Fellow of CSS”
2. Office space during period of residency
3. Access to resources available in and through CSS
4. Participation in a community of scholars, including roundtables, seminars, and colloquia
Expectations of for Fellow Appointments:
Faculty Fellows may be approached periodically to participate in CSS activities. They may do so in many ways, including:
- Attendance at and participation in staff and research team meetings
- Invited to give a talk, brown bag or presentation about their work to CSS
- Note residency in all publications while serving as a fellow
Affiliate Appointments
Affiliate appointments in CSS are intended to establish mutually beneficial relationships between CSS and prominent scholars and teachers from other units of the University who have partnered with CSS in substantive research endeavors that are associated with the mission of CSS and have been funded through or in association with CSS. Appointments as affiliates will last for three years and are renewable upon review.
Conditions of an Affiliate Appointment in CSS:
1. The appointment carries no budgetary commitment on the part of CSS aside from funds associated with grant-supported research.
2. The appointment does not a priori include office space in CSS.
Request for an Affiliate Appointment:
1. A tenured or tenure track faculty member with an appointment in another UM department, school or college should submit a current curriculum vitae and brief letter requesting such an appointment to the CSS Director.
Procedure:
1. CSS Director will conduct a review with the assistance of the CSS Associate Director and decide on whether to grant an affiliate appointment.
Privileges of an Affiliate Appointment in CSS:
1. The faculty member may use the title “Affiliate of CSS”
2. Office space during period of affiliation, contingent on availability
3. Access to resources available in and through CSS
4. Participation in a community of scholars, including roundtables, seminars, and colloquia
Expectations of Faculty with Affiliate Appointments:
Faculty Affiliates may be approached periodically to participate in CSS activities. They may do so in many ways, including:
1. Attendance at and participation in staff and research team meetings
2. Invited to give a talk, brown bag or presentation about their work to CSS
3. Involvement in grant development and proposal writing
4. Showcase, advertise, promote work of affiliates
5. Other as deemed mutually beneficial
For Community Members
The Center for Social Solutions, as part of its mission, seeks collaborative partners from a variety of backgrounds that share an interest in coming together to identify root causes and make substantive change in the issues identified in the Center's initiatives. We invite both organizations and individuals with experience in pondering the value of diversity, the impact and continuation of slavery, the uneven distribution and threatened access to water, and the impacts of technology on the workforce across industries to reach out and signal their interest in working with us.
For those who would like to solicit our involvement in an existing project that is hosted outside of the center, please keep in mind that any efforts that we agree to partner with must align with our mission and one or more of our initiatives. We are best able to assist with creating the vision for collaborative endeavors to ensure that these social issues are approached through a holistic, knowledge-centered framework.
