Welcome to the University of North Alabama's President's Diversity Faculty Fellowship Program website. This site provides the information you seek about the newly-established Diversity Faculty Fellowship program (DFFP) offered at the University of North Alabama. After reviewing the materials here, if you have questions about this program, please contact us at ddei@una.edu.

Program Overview

The University of North Alabama is accepting applications for its newly-established faculty diversity initiative, the President’s Diversity Faculty Fellowship Program (DFFP). Appointments will be made for the Fall 2021 semester.  The University’s goal is to create a diverse community in which our students become educated, active, informed, and productive citizens in the communities in which they live and serve – and faculty are vital to this endeavor.

The President’s Diversity Faculty Fellowship program (DFFP) was established to attract talented and outstanding underrepresented faculty to diversify faculty ranks.  The program offers a multi-year funding package, professional development, academic networking, and mentoring support to outstanding scholars.  Through this initiative, UNA hopes to support promising doctoral students, to introduce students to a more diverse faculty, and to enhance the diversity of their eventual tenure-track and tenured faculty by giving newer scholars a chance to know and interact with the UNA community.

DFFP places an emphasis on supporting faculty who can add diversity to our programs and the academy and will create full-time lecturer positions, one to two years in length, for ABD-level doctoral students or recent doctoral graduates.  These placements will be in difficult-to-fill disciplines at UNA such as accounting, nursing, engineering, social work, criminal justice, special education, and kinesiology.  Candidates may be from groups that are traditionally underrepresented on academic faculties such as women and racial and ethnic minorities.  Consideration of candidates may be based on the following: academic record, creativity, race and ethnicity, gender, educational and economic background, exceptional personal talents, unique work or service experience, and/or leadership potential. Applicants must add to the goal of increasing diversity in education at the University of North Alabama.

Fellowship Award Package & Appointment Guarantees

While the normal teaching load for UNA faculty is 4-4, DFFP fellows will teach a 3-3 load, be encouraged to complete their doctoral work, and be involved in a mentorship program for new faculty. During their time as UNA instructors, DFFP fellows will receive competitive salary and benefits while completing their dissertations and may seek tenure-track employment either at UNA or elsewhere, once the fellowship ends.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the President’s Diversity Faculty Fellowship Program, you must meet the following criteria:

• S. citizen or current status as a permanent resident.
• ABD-level or recent doctoral graduate.
• A complete application packet must include
  • A nomination from your current or previous doctoral institution
  • Cover letter
  • Current resume/CV
• Statement of Purpose
  • Unofficial transcripts for all institutions attended.  Official transcripts will be required for those selected but unofficial transcripts will be accepted for the application process.

Below are some important dates and deadlines to remember:

• Application deadline: April 1
• Possible on-campus interview: April-May
• Accept Offer/Position: June-July
• New Faculty Orientation: August

Diversity Faculty Fellows will be selected by June 1 with a targeted start date of August each academic year.