Undergraduates and Volunteers
All new undergraduates and volunteers must attend an orientation at the beginning of the Fall or Spring semester. Students who start in the summer and continue should attend the fall orientation. Students will be notified of the schedule for this event.
It is crucial to the MVZ’s success that we keep good records on our undergrads and volunteers. Supervisors MUST report ALL undergraduates and volunteers to the Front Office each term (Fall, Spring, and Summer).
For more information, or to advertise a position, please contact Undergraduate & Volunteer Coordinator Carlie Magill (carliemagill[at]berkeley.edu).
Undergraduates
- Introduction to Opportunities
- Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP)
- Paid Student Positions & Work Study
- Research Credit
Limited paid positions to work in the collections are open to advanced UC Berkeley undergraduate students who have held previous URAP or other student positions in the MVZ. Requests for new student hires are processed using Smartsheet; supervisors must first be given access to the department’s Smartsheet before they can entire a request. Students cannot begin working until their hiring paperwork is processed and the student has completed the on-boarding requirement.
All paid students must report their hours biweekly in real time on CalTime. Hours should be entered promptly at the start and end of a work session so that they are reported accurately. Students who are working more than one position on campus will need to be set up with a “friendly code” so that they can report the MVZ hours separately from those in the other position. Any issues with CalTime should be reported immediately to the student’s supervisor.
Supervisors may advertise a position using the MVZ Undergrad and Volunteer email listserve, or students may contact someone directly if they are interested in particular research projects being conducted by MVZ faculty, staff, or graduate students.
Departmental Links:
Other Links
Volunteers
Both students and non-students may work as volunteers in the museum. Volunteer positions are advertised using the MVZ Undergraduate and Volunteer listserve. Complete the MVZ Undergraduate and Volunteer Application to be added to the e-mail list. To apply for a position, directly contact the MVZ faculty, research staff/manager, postdoc, and/or graduate student that you are interested in working with. Let them know that you have already completed the MVZ Student and Volunteer Application. Note that volunteers must be prepared to commit a minimum of 5-6 hours per week.
All volunteers need to complete official HR volunteer forms, which supervisors will submit using Docusign through the HR Service Hub for Affliates and Volunteers. Select the “Volunteer Docusign Powerform” link to get started (old MVZ Volunteer Registration Packet forms are no longer used). Once the form is completed and signed by all persons, the supervisor will need to download it and attach it to the HR ticket. New volunteers must do campus on-boarding before they can start working. Volunteer appointment extensions require submission of a new Docusign form.
Supervisors are strongly encouraged to post positions through URAP. Students will have the option to participate in URAP for 0 units (i.e., volunteer). Advertisements for non-URAP volunteers should be sent to Carlie Magill (carliemagill[at]berkeley.edu) for forwarding to the MVZ Undergraduate and Volunteer e-mail listserve. Interested applicants should be instructed to contact the advertiser directly. The advertisement should contain the following information:
- A brief description of the position
- An estimated number of the hours per week required
- The duration of the project/position
- Any other pertinent information about the position
- Advertiser’s contact informationS
Minors
The MVZ offers opportunities for minors to volunteer under supervision of a Faculty or Staff Curator. Minors between ages 14-18 can only work in labs (e.g., MVZ Evolutionary Genetics Lab, Prep Lab) if they are under the direct supervision of a qualified adult designated for this responsibility at all times. The process and paperwork for registering minors is the same as for other volunteers (see above) except select the “Minor Volunteer DocuSign Powerform” on the HR Hub for Affiliates and Volunteers. A parent or guardian must sign the Waiver of Liability form on Docusign.
The following links provide important information, policies, and practices for anyone planning to supervise a minor. Supervisors of minors are required to do “CANRA for Mandated Reporters” training through the UC Learning Center as well as a criminal background check. Background checks are initiated by Human Resources.