Special Projects Staff FAQ

Programs for Talented Youth (PTY) is a unit housed within Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.

Programs for Talented Youth hires over 150 seasonal staff members to work in various capacities including both residential and non-residential positions, K-12. In 2026, the Special Projects staff will include an academic team, operations team, activities team, and residential life team. In total, the Special Projects 2026 team will include around 23 team members. 

You do not need to be a Vanderbilt student to apply for PTY Special Projects positions.

Staff Training is paid and meals are provided during training sessions. The overall goal of staff training is that staff are able to build community and connection with each other while also learning essential information to successfully complete their role with confidence. Staff Training is generally about 5 days long. The training sessions cover a variety of topics to ensure that staff feel prepared and understand their role.

The following list of topics provides a sample of some of the trainings:

• Active Supervision
• Philosophy and mission of Vanderbilt’s Programs for Talented Youth
• Staff roles, expectations, and responsibilities
• A typical day at Senior Summit
• Health, safety security and confidentiality
• Responding to emergencies; Emergency call process
• Protection of Minors
• Supplies and resources
• Vanderbilt University policies and procedures
• Working with academically advanced students
• Role-specific training
• Team Building
• Professionalism with staff, students and parents
• The social-emotional needs of students
• Student activities
• Student supervision
• Community expectations and accountability procedures

PTY Special Projects team members can wear casual and comfortable clothes during both training and during the program. Staff should keep in mind that many roles include walking. Additionally, some staff, based on job responsibilities, many be involved in event set up and/or participation/supervision in recreational activities.

We ask staff to refrain from wearing clothing with logos that are offensive or advertise adult beverages or illegal drugs as positions work with minors and parents of minors. On specific days, staff will be asked to wear PTY provided shirts.

Meals are provided during staff training and during the program sessions. For residential staff, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided. For non-residential staff, one meal is typically provided per scheduled shift. A detailed meal schedule is provided to staff before the start of the summer.

PTY Special Projects works with Vanderbilt Dining to accommodate dietary restrictions for students and staff. 

Typical hours worked differ by position. If you are interested in learning more about typical hours for a certain position, please email vsa.pty@vanderbilt.edu.

Typical daily shifts are included in each role’s job description on the job description page.

Please note: Residential staff are required to stay on their residential hall from students’ lights out time until breakfast. During this time, residential staff are asked to answer their door in the rare event a Senior Summit student has an emergency and needs them. Senior Summit students are provided other information about reaching out to leadership in the event of an emergency to avoid residential staff on the hall being interrupted unless absolutely necessary. In the event a staff member is off the clock but is asked to support a student, the staff member will compensated for their additional time.

Staff who work are assigned a shift of over 6 hours receive a 30-minute, uninterrupted break.

Vanderbilt student workers are not able to have other hourly on-campus employment while working at PTY Special Projects. Vanderbilt student workers and VTS (non-Vanderbilt) employees are encouraged not to have employment outside of VU employment or take classes during the summer that could interfere with the flexible hours needed during program dates.

Yes. If you are interested in working at Vanderbilt Special Projects to fulfill an internship requirement, please inform Manager of Special Projects as soon as possible after you are hired.

Yes. We encourage all VU international students to contact Vanderbilt Student & Scholar Services (https://www.vanderbilt.edu/isss/) if they have questions about summer employment.

Yes! Due to the small and nimble staff structure at PTY Special Projects, each member of the PTY Special Projects team will have opportunities to connect with other members of the Special Projects team. Roles within the same team or work channel will inherently have greater overlap and therefore have greater opportunities for connection and collaboration. 

Visitors to residential staff members are not allowed in the residence hall or at any group social event unless approved in advance by the program director. All staff members must always honor the Protection of Minors policy. At no time should residential staff members host overnight visitors in their rooms, even when Pre-College students are not present.

Yes, staff receive will receive some SWAG items.

PTY Senior Summit staff will submit their hours through UKG (Kronos). More information can be found at https://hr.vanderbilt.edu/compensation/payroll/timesheet-faqs.php.