TO: Warner Faculty; doctoral students
FROM: Raffaella Borasi, Dean
SUBJ: Pre-dissertation and Dissertation-year Fellowships
DATE: January 23, 2014
Starting in 2008, the Warner School has been offering two new competitive financial aid opportunities to Warner doctoral students preparing for an academic research career and reaching the end of their doctoral program. The goals of these fellowships is to “offer our doctoral students who are reaching the end of their program, and who have demonstrated the potential for and are committed to an academic career in a research university, a special graduate assistantship that will help them become more competitive for tenure-track positions in research universities by providing opportunities to: (a) enhance their publication record, (b) develop national visibility and networking, (c) gain teaching experience, and (d) gain research experience within an established research project.”
Please note that applying to these fellowships will not preclude you from being considered for a regular assistantship in case you are not selected as one of the awardees. On the contrary, a competitive application is likely to increase your chances of receiving some form of financial aid, and may also make you eligible for special opportunities to improve your preparation as a future research faculty.
Deadline for applications: Mid-February each year (Next deadline: Tuesday February 20, 2014) – please submit the completed application form plus all the requested documentation to the Dean’s Office in a binder by the deadline.
Workshop to support the preparation of an application package: In early February, interested students will be able to attend a workshop were faculty and past recipients will provide some guidance and advice about the application package – date and venue will be announced shortly.
Description of each fellowship:
Pre-dissertation Fellowship:
Eligibility:
· Full-time Ph.D. students who have passed their comprehensive exams (contingent awards could be made for student who are still working on their comps, but unless at least one the comps has been passed by the end of May of the year of application, and all the other comps are completed by August of the year of application, the award will be withdrawn).
· Explicitly stated and demonstrated commitment to pursuing an academic research career.
· Commitment to forego other employment opportunities for the following year (unless pre-approved in writing by the dean).
Responsibilities and expectations:
· Teach one course and play a supportive role in another (NOTE: one or both of these responsibilities could be in the summer preceding or following the academic year of the award, at the discretion of the Dean).
· 10-hour/week research assistantship in a project that has the potential and expectation to lead to co-authored publications.
· Will participate in a professional development series geared to preparing for an academic research career and/or take an additional course (tuition free) to develop skills that would help in an academic career (such as grant writing, writing for publications, teaching online, advanced program evaluation or other research methods, etc.).
· Will defend their dissertation proposal by the end of the Fall semester of the year of application.
· Will present at a professional conference.
· Will submit at least a publication by the end of the following Spring semester.
· Will submit a mid-year report in January and an end-of-the-year report no later than August.
Compensation:
· $13,000 for the year + tuition waiver for remaining credits (for a maximum of 12 for the academic year).
· Up to $750 refund of expenses to attend a conference where they present.
Dissertation-year Fellowship:
Eligibility:
· Full-time Ph.D. students who have defended their dissertation proposal (contingent awards could be made for student who are still working on their proposal, but if the dissertation proposal has not been scheduled by May of the year of application, and defended by June of the same year, only a pre-dissertation fellowship will be awarded).
· Explicitly stated and demonstrated commitment to pursuing an academic research career.
· Commitment to forego other employment opportunities for the next academic year (unless pre-approved in writing by the dean).
Responsibilities and expectations:
· Teach the equivalent of two courses (NOTE: one or both of these courses could be in the summer preceding or following the academic year of the award, at the discretion of the dean).
· Collaborate in a project other than the dissertation leading to publication.
· Will participate in a professional development series geared to preparing for an academic research career and/or take an additional course (tuition free) to develop skills that would help in an academic career (such as grant writing, writing for publications, teaching online, advanced program evaluation or other research methods, etc.).
· Will defend their dissertation no later than the following Spring semester.
· Will present at two professional conferences (as first author for at least one presentation).
· Will submit at least two publications by the end of the Spring semester (one on the dissertation as first author; the other on another project – which could be co-authored).
· Will apply for faculty positions in research universities during the award year.
· Will submit a mid-year report in January and an end-of-the-year report no later than August.
Compensation:
· $15,000 for the year + tuition waiver only for continuation of enrolment or up to 6 dissertation credits for the academic year.
· Up to $1500 refund of expenses to attend two conferences where presenting.
Common Application Package:
· Cover letter (stating career goals, describing plans for the year covered by the award and overall making a case for one’s application – you should think about this cover letter as one you would submit with a job application) – make sure you clearly indicate what level of Fellowship you are applying for.
· Completed Application Form.
· Curriculum Vitae.
· Copy of updated official Program of Study, highlighting what is yet to be completed.
· Brief description of proposed dissertation study (no more than 2 pages).
· Writing Sample (a scholarly paper no more than 30 pages long, or a publication of any length – needs to be single-authored; papers reporting on a research study are strongly recommended as they will make the application more competitive).
· Letter by dissertation sponsor stating expected date of completion for all remaining program milestones, and including any other information the sponsor thinks appropriate.
· Letter of commitment by at least one faculty member stating willingness to work with the candidate on co-authoring a paper during the year of the fellowship, and providing any additional relevant information to this regard.
Criteria used to award these fellowships:
· Meeting all eligibility criteria.
· Likelihood to fulfill expectations for the pre-dissertation/dissertation year.
· Potential for a successful academic research career, as suggested by:
· Past record of involvement in scholarly and other academic activities.
· Existing publication and presentation record.
· Quality of writing sample.
· Past academic record.
· Disssertation sponsor and other faculty’s letters.
· Qualifications for teaching needed courses at Warner the next year.
· Potential to contribute to the research project to which the fellow will be assigned.
APPLICATION FORM:
Name:
Applying for: __ Pre-dissertation Fellowship __ Dissertation-year Fellowship
Previous recipient of pre-dissertation fellowship: __ YES __ NO
Degree Program:
Date of Matriculation:
(Expected) Date of Completion of Comprehensive Exams:
(Expected) Date of Proposal Defense:
Dissertation sponsor:
Number of credits needed to complete the program (after current Spring semester) and number of credits for which a tuition waiver is requested for 2014-15 (if different from the previous number):
Evidence of commitment to and potential for an academic research career:
· Participation in research projects (for each project, please provide the title, brief description, name of Principal Investigator, how long you worked on it, and the specific roles you played):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Past presentations and publications (if co-authored, list all authors in the order they appear in the publication/presentation):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Presentations and publications planned or in progress (whenever possible, specify targeted conference or publication outlet; if co-authored, list all authors in the order they appear in the publication/presentation):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Applications made for grants, awards and fellowship (w/ status for each):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Teaching experience in higher education:
ADD NARRATIVE
· Other relevant experiences and accomplishments:
ADD NARRATIVE
Plans for the fellowship year:
· Dissertation status and expected timeline towards completion:
ADD NARRATIVE
· (For dissertation-year applicants only) Publication(s) from your dissertation that could be accomplished in the coming year:
ADD NARRATIVE
· Research project(s) you would like to participate in, role you could play in it and publication opportunities offered (NOTE: you will need to discuss in advance your potential participation in the project(s) you identify with the project PI, so they can write you a letter of support):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Ideas for conference presentations that you are going to propose for the coming year (NOTE: For each, articulate both the topic of the presentation and possible conference outlets):
ADD NARRATIVE
· Courses are interested in and feel competent teaching or assisting in (and why):
ADD NARRATIVE
Commitment statement:
By submitting this application I state my intent to pursue an academic research career (and apply to faculty positions in research institutions if awarded a Dissertation-year Fellowship), my willingness to participate in the professional development series organized for fellowship recipients, and my commitment to forego other employment opportunities during the fellowship year (unless pre-approved in writing by the dean):
(applicant’s signature)
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