Uncovering the Hidden Treasures: Grants Opportunities for Adjunct Faculty
by Jo Gibson
Adjunct faculty are nothing if not pro-active about creating job- and career-enhancing opportunities for themselves. They have to be. As they build their teaching practice, they reach out to many colleges, community colleges, and educational institutions in their area, and stay in touch with the hiring administrators at each location. In addition, they strive to be effective in the classroom: knowledgeable, energetic, and passionate. It’s a tall order.
One often-overlooked way to increase mastery of your subject area and thereby enhance your employability quotient is to obtain a fellowship or grant for a scholarly pursuit. It’s not as hard as it may sound. The best first thing to do is to look at professional organizations in your field of interest. Here are two who did just that, with good results:
Aaron Alcorn was an adjunct faculty member and teaching assistant in the Department of History at Case Western Reserve University in 2004 and a member of the Society for History of Technology. The Society sent him information about the Lemelson Center Fellows Program. A faculty member, aware of Alcorn’s dissertation topic (a fascinating exploration of the connections between model airplanes, boyhood experiences, and aeronautical engineering), encouraged him to apply. By the following summer, he was a Lemelson Fellow, enjoying valuable access to the Archives Center and Smithsonian Institution Libraries and making significant progress on his research agenda.
Angelique Skoulas, a dentist in clinical practice and a part-time faculty member at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in 1998, had a strong interest in policy and politics. She went on the lookout for fellowships through her professional organization, the American Dental Association. Awarded a one-year Congressional Fellowship by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Skoulas was then hired as a full-time Congressional Aide for U.S. Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Today, she is a consultant to private, non-profit, and governmental organizations and an adjunct faculty member at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Reflecting on her experience, Skoulas’s insight may resonate with contingent faculty: “The underlying motivation that keeps me teaching part-time is the same one that led me to apply for a fellowship—I have a desire to positively impact the lives of others.”
The following descriptive listing of lesser-known fellowships and grants may pique your curiosity, demonstrating how much is available, once you start thinking beyond the major Rockefeller, MacArthur, and Yaddo Fellowship awards. The address for each organization’s home page on the Web is shown; once you scope out the mission of each organization, it’s easy to navigate the site and find specific information about grants, fellowships, programs, FAQs, and application information. After you’ve examined these, let your own interests further refine your search.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) looks for diversity in its candidates for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships, seeking scientists and engineers with doctoral-level degrees who serve in industry and in the non-profit sector, as well as those in academia. Serving for one year in Washington, D.C., Fellows receive a $64,000 stipend and may be placed in Congress or a federal agency (National Science Foundation, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Agriculture). Application deadline December 20.
For college or university students in their senior year, graduate, or post-graduate level, studying science or technology, the AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellows Program is an opportunity to hone one’s skills as a “science reporter.” There is a weekly $450 stipend for a ten-week summer residency as a reporter/researcher with a mass media organization in one of the AAAS host sites across the United States. Application deadline January 15. http://www.aaas.org
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) awards one postdoctoral Fellowship in Aerospace History each year, a $20,000 stipend for a six- to twelve-month residency at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters or a NASA Center. A doctorate in history or related field, or enrollment in a doctoral program, is required. Proposals (due March 1) focus on diverse aspects of aerospace history, such as cultural and intellectual history, law and public policy.
In a joint sponsorship with the Library of Congress, AHA also offers the J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History, a two- to three-month residency with a $5,000 stipend, open to those scholars wishing to use the collections of the Library of Congress. Recent Ph.D. scholars who have not yet published are invited to apply. Deadline March 15. http://www.historians.org
Center for Hellenic Studies
The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS), a Harvard-affiliated research institute located in Washington, D.C., grants eleven CHS Junior Fellowships each academic year to support scholars whose work investigates ancient Greek civilization (primary fields: philology, history, philosophy, archeology). International and U.S. scholars who have completed the Ph.D. but are not yet tenured are invited to apply; independent scholars may also apply. Stipend varies (maximum $26,000), based on individual circumstances. Deadline October 15. http://chs.harvard.edu/
Council of International Exchange of Scholars
Under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, the Council of International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) administers the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program, an innovative program instituted in 2000 to go beyond the traditional Fulbright focus on research and lecturing in non-U.S. academic institutions. CIES accepts rolling applications throughout the year, building a roster of specialists in 20 disciplines (from Agriculture and American Studies through Education to Sociology and Urban Planning). Those with five years post-doctoral teaching or other professional experience in their discipline (academics with a Ph.D. as well as experts outside of academia) may apply.
This program has unique features: a shorter grant length (two to six weeks) and an emphasis on non-research-oriented collaborative activities. U.S. citizenship is required. Grant benefits include international economy fare travel and approved related expense plus a $200/day honorarium. Host institutions cover in-country per diem costs for lodging, meals, and transportation. http://www.cies.org/specialists
International Research and Exchange Board
Scholars, professionals, and students—those interested in advancing their education and expertise in specific aspects of United States foreign policy will want to investigate the International Research & Exchange Board (IREX) grants. IREX offers grants to masters and predoctoral students, postdoctoral scholars and professionals. Fellows conduct self-directed overseas research in Eurasia on contemporary political, economic, historical, or cultural developments relevant to United States foreign policy. Fellowships may be for as short a period as two weeks and as long as nine months. Grants cover travel expenses and a monthly housing and living allowance. Applicants must be United States citizens or have permanent resident status for three years. Visit http://www.irex.org
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution supports the Lemelson Center Fellows Program for scholars interested in the history of invention in American society. Fellows reside in Washington, D.C. for up to ten weeks, consulting with Smithsonian experts and using the collections. There is a prorated stipend, determined by academic level and length of stay. Deadline January 15.
The Lemelson Center also sponsors a Travel to Collections Award Program, an opportunity for scholars, graduate students, and independent researchers to spend from five to twenty-one days using the invention-related archival materials at the museum’s Archives Center. Applications for the Travel to Collections Award are accepted at any time and announced within two weeks; the award covers transportation costs and provides a $75/day stipend. http://www.invention.smithsonian.org
Library Company of Philadephia
The Library Company of Philadelphia, with its world-class collection of early American documents that chronicle the history of American culture, offers the Program in Early American Economy and Society Fellowships to scholars whose area of interest is relevant to the Library Company’s collections and those of the surrounding region. One postdoctoral fellowship for nine months of residency (stipend $40,000) or for four and a half months (stipend $20,000) is available; application due November 1. Also available are one dissertation-level fellowship for a nine-month period (stipend $18,000), or for four and a half month period (stipend $9,000), and four one-month fellowships (stipend $1,800 each) for scholars at all levels; application due March 1. http://www.librarycompany.org/Economics
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which is committed to the betterment of our nation’s civic and intellectual life, is well known for its support of major projects including scholarly research, documentary films, preservation of historically important documents, and for its support of colleges and universities. The NEH Summer Stipend program is a $5,000 grant that is of interest to faculty and independent scholars. The Summer Stipend supports two months of sustained full-time work on a scholarly project in any of the disciplines of the humanities. Full-time college and university faculty who wish to apply must be nominated by their institutions; adjunct faculty and independent scholars apply directly, without nomination. Applicants are not required to have advanced degrees, but must have completed their formal education by the application deadline, as the stipend does not support dissertation and thesis research. Applications are accepted online from August 1 through October 2. http://www.neh.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) invites master’s- and doctoral-level students at fully accredited U.S. colleges or universities who wish to obtain an advanced degree in an environmental field to apply for Science to Achieve Results (STAR) and Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Fellowships. Over 100 fellowships are awarded, allowing $37,000/year for up to three years (doctoral students) or two years (master’s students). GRO fellowship applicants are drawn from smaller U.S. colleges and universities (those receiving less than $35 million in federal funds), while STAR Fellows are drawn from larger institutions of higher education. Application period from July to October. http://www.epa.gov/ncer
