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APPLICATION FOR RETURNING HOST ORGANIZATIONS
Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows Program 2017-2018
Administered by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
The Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows program provides recent PhDs in the humanities and humanistic social sciences with the opportunity to embark on careers outside of academia.[1] The two-year professional fellowships place fellows in non-profit and government agencies where they participate full time in the substantive work of the organization. The fellowship provides an annual stipend of $67,500 and contributes up to $7,000 each year toward the host institution’s costs of providing health insurance for the Public Fellow. Fellows selected during the 2017-18 competition will join host organizations August 1 or September 4, 2018. NB: An organization may apply to host a subsequent fellow only after the previous fellow has completed his/her term.
If you wish to be considered as a returning host organization for a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow, please complete the following application. The purpose of the questionnaire is to reacquaint ACLS with your organization, to ask you to reflect and build upon your prior experience with the program, and to provide you with up-to-date, detailed information on the responsibilities of hosting a Public Fellow.
I. Background Information
Name of Organization:
Location (please provide the primary location and any subsidiary locations):
Contact Person:
Name:
Title:
Email:
Telephone:
This organization is a ☐ government agency ☐ non-profit organization (check one)
Please provide us with background information on your organization by answering the following questions (1 page maximum).
a) What is the organization’s mission and primary focus?
b) When was the organization founded?
c) How is the organization funded? Please attach your most recent IRS Form 990.
d) How is the organization structured? Please attach an organizational chart if available.
e) How large is the staff overall (full-time employees) and at the site where the fellowship will take place?
f) How many staff members have advanced degrees (MA, PhD, JD, etc.)?
g) In no more than 150 words, please describe the work/office culture of your organization.
II. Fellowship Stipend and Benefits
1. While fellows work full-time alongside professional staff and are expected to assume professional-level responsibilities, they are participants in a fellowship program and are not permanent employees of the host organization. As such, they are not necessarily eligible for the same benefits as permanent regular employees. Please answer the following questions:
a) ACLS provides two annual payments to the host organizations from which the organization pays the fellow’s stipend through its payroll, withholding all regular federal, state, and local taxes.
Is your organization able to remit the fellow’s stipend through its payroll department and withhold applicable taxes? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If no, explain why.
b) The stipend for fellows is set by ACLS at $67,500/year.
Is the stipend commensurable to the pay of employees on a similar level of responsibility? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If no, please provide us with information on pay structure.
c) As health insurance plans and costs vary widely among host institutions, ACLS will contribute up to $7,000 per year to defray the cost that the institution incurs by providing health care to the fellow. Although host organizations are encouraged to offer health benefits to the spouses and dependents of fellows, the fellowship does not require that such additional benefits be offered. It also does not require other fringe benefits such as disability, long-term care, retirement contributions, etc. Health coverage must commence no later than the first of the month following fellow’s start date.
a. Is this arrangement acceptable to your organization? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
b. If you have answered “yes” to the above, will your organization separate out individual health insurance as the only benefit available to the fellow? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
c. Does your organization plan to offer the fellow additional fringe benefits beyond health insurance for the fellow? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If yes, please list those benefits:
d) Prior to joining your organization, will the fellow require security clearance or undergo a background check? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If yes, please explain the procedure and timeline.
2. While ACLS provides significant financial support for Public Fellows, please be aware that participation in the program as a host organization is not without cost. Host organization contributions include:
· A one-time, $11,000 placement fee payable within two weeks of the fellow’s start date.
· Payroll taxes (including employer FICA contribution), annual health insurance premium costs in excess of ACLS’s $7,000 contribution, and any additional costs incurred by providing optional fringe benefits to the fellow.
· Staff time and expertise, including significant supervisory and mentoring responsibilities.
· Resources associated with hosting a fellow on-site, including requisite office space (Public Fellows may not work remotely), office equipment, travel funds (if travel is required), etc.
· Access to vacation and sick leave commensurate with employees at the fellow’s relative professional rank (NB ACLS does not require that such leave is provided as a benefit that accrues from year to year or that can be redeemed at the end of the fellowship.).
a) Have you verified with your human resources or finance office that your organization is capable of covering the costs listed above? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
b) Please list the name and contact information of the colleague with the relevant contracting authority:
Name:
Title:
Email:
Telephone:
III. Professional Development Opportunities
1. The Public Fellows program is a career-building opportunity for recent PhDs in the humanities who have elected to pursue careers in the non-profit sector or government. While ACLS provides the placement and financial support, it is the responsibility of the host organization to provide the assignments, challenges, and opportunities that will ensure that fellows grow, mature, and succeed in their positions, and are able to embark on careers in their chosen fields after the completion of the fellowship.
a) The following is a list of skills. Please check the skill/skills the fellow will gain over the course of the fellowship at your organization. (You are welcome to include a narrative explanation as well.)
☐ Advocacy ☐ Assessment ☐ Budgeting
☐ Communications ☐ Development/fund-raising ☐ Digital innovation
☐ Digital publishing ☐ Employee supervision ☐ International affairs
☐ Legislative ☐ Liaison ☐ Lobbying
☐ Negotiation ☐ Planning ☐ Policy analysis
☐ Project development ☐ Project management ☐ Research
☐ Strategic analysis ☐Writing ☐Other:
b) To be selected as a Public Fellows host organization, the organization must demonstrate that they are willing and able to provide opportunities for the fellow to develop the skills necessary for success in the position and to develop the networks needed for building a career. Please check what opportunities would be available and provide at least one example of each.
☐ In-house training and orientation:
______
______
☐ External advancement opportunities (e.g. conferences, classes, meetings, travel):
______
______
2. ACLS requires that each fellow be assigned a professional mentor. The mentor can be either an employee at your organization or work outside your organization. If the mentor is an employee, s/he should be outside the formal reporting chain of the fellow.
Understanding that who is selected as a mentor will depend upon the position and the fellow, please identify two potential mentors and explain their roles within or relationship to your organization:
1. ______
2. ______
3. The following questions ask you to reflect on your experience hosting a Public Fellow and to think about how you would build on that experience if you were selected to host another fellow.
a) Now that you have seen which elements of your first fellow’s portfolio were successful and which were not, how do you plan to reconceive another Public Fellows position at your organization?
b) What resources and networking opportunities did you offer your Public Fellow for professional development? What resources would you offer a future fellow?
c) What career options are open to fellows who spend two years working with your organization? Please be as specific as possible.
d) What personal qualities are essential to a fellow’s success at your organization?
IV. Reporting Requirements
As the fellowship provider, ACLS requires regular updates and performance reviews from the fellow’s supervisor. This includes
a) a professional development plan developed jointly by the supervisor and fellow, submitted within 90 days after the fellowship begins;
b) a 90-day performance review; and
c) two annual performance reviews.
Is your organization willing to adhere to the fellowship’s reporting requirements? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
V. Position Proposal
As part of your application, you must submit a proposed position description for the fellow. While only one position description is required, you may submit up to two distinct position descriptions from which ACLS will select the one that would be the best fit in the 2018 roster. The position should be at the appropriate level for a recent doctoral degree recipient. Positions that require a PhD in a specific discipline are not appropriate for the Public Fellows program. You can find examples of previous position descriptions on the ACLS website (www.acls.org/programs/publicfellows/).
Each description should not exceed two pages in length and must include the following information:
· Position title
· Department/Office
· Location
· Supervisor’s name and title
· Host office mission and overview
· Position description and primary responsibilities
· Required and preferred qualifications
And each position description must answer the following questions:
· For what career fields and/or kinds of positions would this position prepare the fellow?
· How does this position fit into your organization’s current work and organizational chart? Is this a new role or has this position been occupied in the past?
VI. Endorsement Letter
Please include a signed endorsement letter from the chief executive officer of your organization. The endorsement letter should refer to the proposed position(s) for a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow and should affirm your organization’s commitment to administering the fellowship funds as outlined in the application form. It should also attest to your organization’s willingness and readiness to provide the resources and support necessary for the fellow’s success, including supervision, mentorship, and professional development. If this application is being submitted by the organization’s chief executive, please include an endorsement letter from another senior leader at the organization or board member to demonstrate that an incoming Public Fellow would have a broad base of support within your organization.
If you have questions, please contact John Paul Christy, Director of Public Programs, at .
Final decisions on the list of host institutions for the 2017-18 competition will be communicated to all institutional applicants no later than December 2017. Thank you for your interest in the Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows program.
The Public Fellows program is sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies with generous funding by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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[1] Fellows’ PhD fields may include the following: American studies; anthropology; archaeology; art history, architectural history; classics; film; geography; history; languages and literatures; linguistics; musicology; philosophy; political science; religious studies; rhetoric, communication, and media studies; sociology; and theater, dance, and performance studies. Partner organizations may not limit themselves to considering PhDs in any subset of these fields.