Dear Colleagues,
As a component of our ongoing efforts to enhance the diversity, equity, and inclusion of our campus, Colgate joined the Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD), which was founded as an association of liberal arts colleges “committed to strengthening the ethnic diversity of students and faculty members at liberal arts colleges.” This year, we will once again participate in the consortium’s Postdoctoral Fellow program by offering two-year postdoctoral positions. We will also continue our participation in the consortium’s Dissertation Fellowship program. Both programs seek to place applicants who will “contribute to increasing the diversity of member colleges by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximizing the educational benefits of diversity, and/or increasing the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of students.”
More information about the consortium
Colgate anticipates being able to offer a limited number of CFD postdoc positions for the upcoming 2024–26 academic years. CFD postdocs will teach three courses each year during their two-year appointment for ⅗ salary of first-year faculty. The appointment will be funded via the CFD program during the first year and by Colgate-sponsored funding during the second year. Colgate will also consider CFD Dissertation fellowships that will provide funding to teach one course for ⅕ salary of first-year faculty to a PhD student in the final stages of dissertation completion. Over the long term, we anticipate that CFD postdocs and dissertation fellows will be hosted in departments and programs across the University on a year-to-year basis. As always, all departments and programs are welcome to apply. This year, we especially encourage applications from departments and programs that anticipate requesting a tenure-stream position within the next three years.
The allocation of these positions will be based on a number of factors, including curricular need or opportunity for curricular innovation; questions of underutilization in a field or an academic unit; the strength of the match between the academic interests of a department/program and the pool of available CFD candidates; and the anticipated, long-term staffing needs of the departments/programs that apply for these positions. As a member of the CFD, Colgate is committed to mentoring CFD fellows to enhance their teaching and research abilities and to encourage them to consider a career in a liberal arts college setting. The ideal match would bring together an innovative scholar with a supportive department poised to provide strong mentorship and guidance to the CFD fellow. A CFD fellowship awarded to a department or program will not be “counted against” that department or program’s other applications for tenure-stream or terminal faculty line; nor does the awarding of a CFD fellowship indicate any commitment to the creation of a tenure-stream position for them at Colgate.
Overview of the Process
If your department/program is interested in hosting a CFD postdoctoral or dissertation fellow in the 2024–25 academic year, the key steps in the process are as follows:
1. All departments and programs are invited to review as soon as possible the CFD database for candidates in your field and for fields of research that are of interest. Please discuss the list within your department or program to assess areas of special interest and possibilities for mentoring these candidates.
To review the CFD applicant database
- Make sure that you are logged out of your Colgate Interfolio account
- Go to Interfolio
- Use this Colgate email address: pdof@colgate.edu
- Use this password: interfolio123
- You should see two links: one for Dissertation Fellowship candidates, and one for the Postdoctoral Fellowship candidate. Click on the link for the candidate pool you would like to view. Results may be filtered by academic area under “Tags.” You may identify up to five candidates for your application.
2. By Oct. 20, interested chairs and program directors should contact their division director to discuss their intent to apply for a CFD fellowship. Please provide the names of single or multiple candidates, or entire subfields of candidates from which your department would be interested in hosting a fellow. If the names of specific candidates are brought forth, the division director will contact these individuals to make sure they are still available.
3. Submit a brief application (no more than 2–3 pages) to your division director by Oct. 27. This timely deadline will allow Colgate to engage the pool while many applicants are still available. Decisions on positions will be communicated from the DAC by Nov. 8.
The application should address the following questions:
- Describe what the candidate(s) you have identified would bring to your department or program. What courses might they teach and how would this expand your curriculum in new ways or strengthen existing parts of your curriculum? How might this candidate/position diversify your curriculum and department?
- If you are recommending specific people for consideration, please comment on the quality of the candidate(s) with regard to their potential for high-quality teaching and research. If you are arguing for exploring a new subfield or area of study through CFD, please describe how it will contribute to your curriculum or academic program.
- As a CFD member, Colgate is committed to providing a supportive mentoring environment for all of the CFD fellows that we host. Please describe your plan for mentorship of this fellow. This should include multiple approaches and cover aspects related to excelling and balancing teaching, research, and service commitments in a liberal arts context.
- [Optional] If your department/program anticipates applying for a tenure-stream line within the next three years, please describe how hosting a CFD fellow in 2024–25 fits into your long-term staffing plans.
If you have any questions about the program or the process for applying, please feel free to reach out to any one of us in the PDoF office.
Sincerely,
Lesleigh Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion