Graduate School

The Provost's Office provides funding for the Faculty Diversity Initiatives (FDI) Program to increase the culture of racial and ethnic diversity at OSU and to promote positive changes to the academic climate at OSU. A component of these initiatives is designed to advance inclusiveness in graduate education, to enrich the academic environment by embracing a broad range of perspectives, and to prepare students with career objectives in university teaching and research for their future roles in diverse university settings. The Graduate School is pleased to invite nominations for the 2018-19 Diversity Advancement Pipeline Fellowship program. Departments and programs may submit only one nomination for this award.

Objective

Graduate students are the pipeline to the future professoriate. This program is intended to create support opportunities which enhance campus efforts to recruit and retain meritorious domestic graduate students from divergent and/or nontraditional backgrounds who have an expressed interest in a career in university teaching and/or research. The fellowship, in combination with its matching component, is designed to provide a financial foundation sufficient to support academic success and degree completion.

Eligibility/Evaluation Criteria

Eligibility will be established in two parts:

Part A

Nominees must meet all of the following criteria:

• U.S. citizen or permanent resident;
• meritorious academic achievement and leadership potential as reflected in grade point average, GRE or other test scores, publications, presentations, awards/honors, and/or other professional activity; and
• expressed interest in a career in university teaching and/or research.

Part B

In addition to Part A, nominees must meet at least two of the following diversity enhancement-based criteria:

• previously participated in a TRIO Program (Educational Opportunity Center, Talent Search, Student Support Services, Upward Bound, McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program);
• previously participated in a College Assistance Migrant Program ( CAMP);
• previously attended a minority-serving institution
• primary language is other than English;
• documented financial need (based upon FAFSA application process) with consideration of low income status;
• first generation to attend a university;
• previously participated in a summer research opportunity program for underserved undergraduates;
• demonstrated engagement with communities that are underrepresented in higher education and an ability to bring this experience to the learning environment;
• interest in using the diversity of human experience as an educational resource in teaching and research

Fellowship Details

Fellowships will provide a twelve-month stipend of $30,000, a $1,600 fee relief subsidy payment and an accompanying tuition scholarship. 

Matching Requirements

When used for recruiting purposes, academic programs presenting nominations must agree to provide a 0.49 FTE graduate assistantship (stipend, tuition remission, and subsidized health insurance) for at least two years after the Diversity Advancement Pipeline Fellowship is awarded. Fellowships awarded for the purpose of retaining graduate students will require the nominating program to show evidence of at least two prior years of equivalent support (stipend, tuition remission, and standardized health insurance coverage), or a combination of one prior and one subsequent year of support.

Nomination Deadline

Nominations must be received in the Graduate School by 5pm on February 9, 2018. Recipients will be announced by March 12, 2018.

Application Requirements

To complete this form, nominators should expect to include:

1. A nominating letter from the department chair or head, graduate program director, or dean of the program in which the student is enrolled, articulating: specific details of matching support for the nominee as outlined in the “Matching Requirements” section of this announcement; basis for which the Diversity Advancement Graduate Pipeline Fellowship is being sought (i.e., relevant criteria in Part B above); and how the award will contribute toward an inclusive graduate community within the department/program.
2. Two additional letters of recommendation. (Letters submitted for admission purposes may be utilized.)
3. Statement of the student's academic goals which articulates his/her interest in collegiate level teaching and/or research
4. Résumé or Curriculum Vitae
5. Transcripts of all post-high school academic work, including current OSU graduate transcript if applicable. (Transcripts must be provided by the nominating department or graduate program.)

Please submit the materials on the form below as one PDF document using the following file name convention: PIPELINE_NomineeLastName_Dept.pdf.

You can only submit the PDF once the form is open.

Departments and programs may submit only one nomination and must provide complete nomination packets containing all materials listed above (including transcripts). Incomplete nominations will not be reviewed. Nominations of former FDI fellowship recipients will be given lowest priority.