[Nfbv-announce] FW: NASA Spring and Summer 2014 Recruitment Letter for Student Interns with Disabilities and Frequently Asked Questions: Please Distribute Far and Wide!

[Fredric Schroeder]

-----Original Message-----
From: Silberman, Kenneth A. (GSFC-1600)
[mailto:kenneth.a.silberman at nasa.gov] 
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 2:10 PM
To: Silberman, Kenneth A. (GSFC-1600)
Subject: NASA Spring and Summer 2014 Recruitment Letter for Student Interns
with Disabilities and Frequently Asked Questions: Please Distribute Far and
Wide!

To Prospective NASA Student Interns with Disabilities,

NASA is looking to increase the number of students with disabilities
pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers through
our internship programs. NASA has a two-percent hiring goal for employment
of people with disabilities and internships are a good way to get
experience. Students can apply for summer 2014 internships, starting on
Friday, November 1, 2013. The deadline for submitting applications is
Friday, March 14, 2014, and we will begin extending offers to students as
early as Monday, February 3, 2014. We encourage you to apply early because
the best opportunities are likely to be filled early. Plus, your likelihood
of being selected decreases the longer you wait. You can register for an
account and look for internships anytime at the One Stop Shopping Initiative
(OSSI): NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships (NIFS) at
http://intern.nasa.gov/. Summer 2014 internships run from early June until
early August for college students and from late June until early August for
high school students. All student interns get paid. For example, last
Summer, at Goddard college students received a stipend of $6000 and high
school students $1800. As an intern, you are responsible for your own
housing.

NASA internships for college and high school students are also offered
during Spring, Fall and Year Long Sessions. Students can apply for Spring
2014 internship opportunities now! The website and the application process
are the same for all NASA internships, regardless of the time of year. The
deadline for submitting applications is Friday, October 11, 2013, and we
will begin extending offers to students as early as Wednesday, September 11,
2013.  Students who are selected for spring internships will receive an
offer letter by E-mail sometime after October 11, 2013. Students will not be
able to see Summer 2014 opportunities until November 1.

NASA has internships for high school students and for rising freshmen
through doctoral students in STEM fields. A rising freshman is a high school
student who has been accepted to an accredited institution of higher
learning, i.e., a college or university, at the time of the internship.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, with a minimum GPA of 2.8 for college and
3.0 for high school; however, applicants must understand that the
competition for internships is keen. High school students must be at least
sixteen years old at the time the internship begins. 

Internships are available at all NASA centers nationwide. Students can
submit a completed application whether they apply to an opportunity or not.
However, applying to opportunities has the advantage of allowing applicants
to be considered by mentors who work in disciplines of interest and at a
particular center. Applicants may apply to as many as fifteen opportunities.
For example, an opportunity having to do with the Solar Dynamics Observatory
(SDO) will be at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland because SDO is
located there. Not applying to an opportunity means that prospective interns
will be hoping that a mentor happens to read their applications rather than
directing their applications to mentors in fields and at centers of
interest. 

Students who are selected for summer internships will receive an offer
letter by E-mail sometime after February 3, 2014. They will then have five
days to either accept or reject the offer through their OSSI: NIFS account.
The offer will automatically expire after five days if no action is taken. 

Below is a list of frequently asked questions about applying for NASA
internships:

Frequently Asked Questions About OSSI:NIFS for Student Applicants

*	What does NASA do?  In aeronautics, NASA enables a safer, more
secure, efficient, and environmentally friendly air transportation system.
In human exploration, NASA operates the International Space Station (ISS)
and prepares for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.  In science, NASA
explores the Earth-Sun system, our own solar system, and the universe
beyond.  In engineering, NASA designs the aircraft, spacecraft, and
scientific instruments that make all of this possible.

*	In what fields are NASA's internship opportunities?  NASA has
internships in aerospace, chemical, environmental, materials, mechanical,
civil, electrical, thermal, systems, optical, robotic and computer hardware
and software engineering.  Engineers also work in the fields of composites,
cryogenics, microelectronics, signal processing, high performance computing
, and nanotechnology .  Our computer engineers develop artificial
intelligence systems, and conduct research into data information and
visualization systems technology .  NASA computer scientists develop models
that help us learn about gravitational astrophysics, study the Earth's
oceans, study the Earth's atmosphere, and study the biospheres of other
planets.  Earth and planetary scientists study the physics and chemistry of
the Earth's oceans, the Earth's atmosphere, and the biospheres of other
planets and exoplanets, using these models.  Astrophysicists use satellites,
aircraft, balloons and sounding rockets to conduct research into high energy
astrophysics, astroparticle physics, stellar physics, heliophysics, and
cosmology.  Some of the other areas of study at NASA are radiation, space
weather, geodynamics, planetary magnetospheres, geospace physics, and
climatology.  Remote sensing is crucial to all of this research.  Our
engineers and scientists work with radio, thermal, infrared, optical,
ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma ray, laser, particle, acoustic and many other
types of sensors and detectors.

*	Where are NASA internship opportunities located?  Internship
opportunities are located at NASA centers and field installations all over
the country:  Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View,
California; Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Los
Angeles County, California; Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Goddard
Institute for Space Studies, New York City, New York; Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Maryland; Independent Verification and Validation
Facility, Fairmont, West Virginia; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
California; Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas; Kennedy Space Center,
Merritt Island, Florida; Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia;
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama; Michoud Assembly
Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana; NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC; NASA
Shared Services Center at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Stennis Space
Center, near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops
Island, Virginia; White Sands Complex, Las Cruces, New Mexico; and White
Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

*	The OSSI Frequently Asked Questions link is
https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/faq/index.cfm?subAction=VIEW

*	What does OSSI:NIFS stand for?  OSSI:NIFS is the One Stop Shopping
Initiative for NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships.

*	Is there an OSSI:NIFS help desk?  The help desk E-mail is
<MSFC-DL-HelpdeskMSFC at mail.nasa.gov>.  The help desk phone is
1-866-419-6297.  The help desk hours of operation are 24/7.

*	How do I apply?  Here is how to apply.  The application is online.
You need to go to <http://intern.nasa.gov>.  Then click on internships.
Next click on the register-as-a-student Button.  You then need to continue
by registering, completing your interest profile, and application.  Then,
you must search for specific internship opportunities at specific NASA
centers and field installations and apply for them.  Letters of
recommendation are uploaded by the recommender.  Your application will not
be completed until at least one letter of recommendation is uploaded.  This
means that you will not be able to apply to, although you will be able to
view, specific opportunities until you have at least one letter of
recommendation uploaded to the OSSI:NIFS system.  The "getting Started"
link, visible after you login, should help you as you go through the
aforementioned process.  Nothing is accepted by snail mail.

*	Are NASA internships for college and high school students also
offered during Spring, Fall and Year Long Sessions?  Yes

*	Are the website and the application process the same for all NASA
internships, regardless of the time of year?  Yes

*	I am not currently a student because I either graduated or am taking
some time out from school; am I eligible to apply?  You must be accepted to
an accredited institution of higher learning, i.e., a college or university,
at the time of the internship.  So, if you don't plan to continue with your
formal education next Summer or Fall, I'm sorry to tell you that you would
not be eligible to apply for a NASA internship.
 
*	Can good letters of recommendation really help me land a NASA
internship?  You will have a better chance of being selected for an
internship if you have your recommenders tailor their letters for the
specific opportunities that you will be applying to.  This is because your
recommenders will be explaining to the mentors why your skills will be a
good match.

*	How long does a recommender have to submit her/his letter of
recommendation?  Recommenders receive an E-mail from the OSSI:NIFS system
after an applicant enters a recommenders name and other information.  This
E-mail gives instructions and a link for uploading the letter to an
applicant's account.  The link is specific with a user name and password.
Warning!  The link is disabled 20 calendar days after it is sent to the
recommender.  The applicant must enter the recommender's information again
after the 20 calendar days has expired.

*	How do I upload a transcript?  What if I want to update the
transcript?  After logging into your account, click on "My Applications."
Then, click on "Education."  Go to your college, and click on the "Upload"
button, and upload  a transcript.  Then, save the record.  If you want to
update the transcript, repeat the aforementioned process, and the old
transcript will be overwritten by the new transcript.  This change will
affect all of the internship opportunities that you applied or will apply
to.

*	How do I disclose my disability status if I am a student with a
disability?  There is a place in the online application process to
voluntarily disclose disability status.  It is located under "My
Applications."  Then, click on "General Information."  This information is
used in order to determine the degree to which members of each disability,
ethnic, and racial group are reached by this internship/fellowship program.
Additionally, NASA uses information about disability status to provide
reasonable accommodation if requested.  NASA requests that the student
select the appropriate responses. While providing this information is
optional, you must select decline to answer if you do not want to provide
it. Mentors will not be able to view this information when considering
students for opportunities.  For more information, please visit the
following website:

http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html

*	Why can't I find any internship opportunities specifically for
students with disabilities?  There are no NASA internships specifically for
students with disabilities.  Students with disabilities compete with other
students for our internships.  We are making a concerted effort to recruit
students with disabilities into our mainstream internship programs.

*	Why do I see so few internship opportunities when I search for them?
The OSSI:NIFS system only displays internship opportunities that request
students at the grade level that you entered, i.e. the grade level that you
will be at the time the internship begins.  The way to work around this is
to search for opportunities before you log in at
<https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/guest/searchOpps/>.  A pre-login
search will eliminate the grade-level limitation on your search.  When you
find an opportunity that you wish to apply to, open it and apply.  You will
be prompted to log in at this point.  Do so, and you will be able to apply
or add it to your saved opportunities of interest.

*	What is the deadline for applying?  The deadline for submitting
applications is Friday, March 15, 2013, and we will begin extending offers
to students as early as February 2, 2013.

*	What is the minimum GPA in order to qualify for a NASA internship?
A minimum GPA of 2.8 is required for college students and 3.0 for high
school students.  However, applicants must understand that the competition
for internships is keen.

*	What is the minimum age for an intern?  High school students must be
at least sixteen years old at the time the internship begins.  There is no
upper age limit for college students.

*	When and for how long do Summer 2013 internships run?  Summer 2013
internships run from June 3 until August 9 for college students and from
June 24 until August 2 for high school students.

*	Do I get paid?  Yes, all student interns get paid.  For example, at
Goddard college students receive a stipend of $6000 and high school students
$1800.

*	What do I do for housing?  You will not be assigned housing.  You
must find it on your own.  We do have lists of places that other students
have stayed.  However, we do not recommend specific housing.  You will be
expected to find  and pay for your own housing out of your stipend.

*	Do I need to be a United States citizen to apply? Yes.  Having a
green card does not qualify someone as a U.S. citizen for purposes of this
program.  Please go to the following link to learn about internship
opportunities for foreign citizens:

https://intern.nasa.gov/content/internship-information/one-stop-shopping-ini
tiative-ossi-student-online-a/non-us-opportunities/index.html

*	I'm having browser problems; what should I do?  We can offer some
suggestions on what to do without knowing what browser of OS the student is
using.  First, if they are using IE 9, please click on the Compatibility
View, located on the Address bar.  If they are using IE 8, please click on
the Compatibility View, located under tools on the menu bar.  This should
correct the display.  If they are using Firefox 5, try typing in the entire
institution name and  then tab down to get the address to fill completely.
If neither of these work, please use the OSSI Information Center (OIC) to
submit the technical inquiry at the following link:

https://intern.nasa.gov/content/help/ossi-information-center-oic/index.html

*	I'm having trouble selecting a college; what should I do?  When
selecting a college, don't put anything in the edit field for the school,
and just click search.  You will then see a section at the bottom of the
page that allows you to select a school, city, and state.  Put in the city
and state.  Again, leave the school field blank.  The website will give you
a list of schools in that city and state as links.  Just click on the school
that you want, and it should be entered as your school in the original edit
field.

*	I'm a high school student, and I don't have a college to enter yet:
what should I do?  Just write in a college that you think that you would
like to attend.  You will be asked for your high school later on in the
application process.

*	Should I apply to all opportunities which look interesting to me at
the same time, or sequentially by my priority interest?  The choice is
yours.  You can apply to a maximum of 15.

*	If I apply to multiple internship opportunities at the same time,
would I only receive an offer from one?  You may get an offer from more than
one opportunity.  However, once you accept an offer.  You cannot accept
anymore offers.  You are committed.

*	Do all internship opportunities reply at the same time if I apply
for them concurrently?  No.

*	Does NASA only have Summer internships?  NASA internships for
college students are also offered during Spring, Fall, and Year-Long
Sessions.  the OSSI system <http://intern.nasa.gov> is the site to look for
and apply to all NASA internships.  The process is the same for all our
internships.

*	Are NASA internships only for students with disabilities?  No.
Students with disabilities compete with other students for internships.
Disclosure of one's disability, during the application process, is only seen
by the Office of Education.  The mentors, who select their students, do not
have access to this information.  We use information about a student's
disability to provide reasonable accommodation in a timely manner if
reasonable accommodation is requested.

*	For whom does NASA have internships?  NASA has internships for high
school students and for rising freshmen through doctoral students in STEM
fields. A rising freshman is a high school student who has been accepted to
an accredited institution of higher learning, i.e., a college or university,
at the time of the internship.

*	Where are NASA internships located?  Internships are available at
all NASA centers and field installations nationwide. Students can submit a
completed application whether they apply to an opportunity or not. However,
applying to opportunities has the advantage of allowing applicants to be
considered by mentors who work in disciplines of interest and at a
particular center. Applicants may apply to as many as fifteen posted
opportunities.  For example, an opportunity having to do with the Solar
Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will be at the Goddard Space Flight Center in
Maryland because SDO is located there. Not applying to an opportunity means
that prospective interns will be hoping that a mentor happens to read their
applications rather than directing their applications to mentors in fields
and at centers of interest.

*	I applied to various opportunities.  Will there be an interview
before an offer is made?  No.  There will not be an interview before an
offer is made.  However, a mentor may contact you if she or he wishes for
more information or to discuss your application.

*	What happens if I am selected for an internship?  Students who are
selected for summer internships will receive an offer letter by E-mail
sometime after February 1, 2013. They will then have five days to either
accept or reject the offer through their OSSI: NIFS account. The offer will
automatically expire after five days if no action is taken.  Offers will be
made from February 2, 2013, until all internship positions will have been
filled.  This continuous process may take until early May.  So, you may
receive an offer at any time during this period.

*	What happens if I am not selected for an internship?  You will
receive an E-mail after all interns are selected for the session to which
you applied, i.e., Summer, Fall, Spring, year long.  This E-mail will notify
you that you were not selected.

Please feel free to contact me for more information or help with applying.

Kenneth A. Silberman, Esq.
U.S. Supreme Court, Maryland, & Patent Bars B.A., M.Eng., J.D.
NASA Engineer & Registered Patent Attorney Office of Education, Code 160
NASA/GSFC Mailstop 160, Bldg. 28, Rm. N165, Greenbelt, MD  20771, USA
Voice:  (301) 286-9281
Fax:  (301) 286-1655
E-mail:  kenneth.a.silberman at nasa.gov

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