• Provide all information requested on the application web pages. Follow the instructions carefully.
• Prepare and upload essay documents.
  • Essays must be the applicant’s original work.
  • Get feedback from advisers, mentors, and colleagues.
  • Carefully proofread all documents.
  • Avoid technical jargon.
• Contact potential letter writers to submit letters of recommendation by the Supplementary Materials deadline.
• Confirm the minimum Supplementary Materials required for complete application submission.

Formatting Documents

• Save in .pdf file format prior to upload.
• Double-space using a standard 12-point font.
• Set margins at 1″ (top and bottom) and .5″ (left and right sides)
• Do not exceed the maximum page limits.
• Do not exceed the maximum file size limit (4MB).
• Do not include headers or footers.
• Write all materials in English.

Audience

Each application will be reviewed by two to five reviewers. Not all reviewers will have specific technical expertise; therefore, applications should be written to provide informative detail without jargon and highly technical content.

Application Components (items in bold are required)

1. Profile Information 

2. 2.  Application Materials (3 essay uploads)

Personal Statement (maximum two pages, 12-point font, double-spaced) describing the applicant’s background and experience and commitment to the goals of the Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs by addressing all of the following that apply:

2. • the applicant’s capacity to respond in pedagogically productive ways to the learning needs of students from diverse background
   • the applicant’s sustained personal engagement with communities that are underrepresented in the academy and ability to bring this asset to learning, teaching, and scholarship at the college or university level
   • the applicant’s likelihood of using the diversity of human experience as an educational resource in teaching and scholarship, and
   • the applicant’s membership in one or more of the following groups whose underrepresentation in the American professoriate has been severe and longstanding:
     • Alaska Natives (Aleut, Eskimo, or other Indigenous People of Alaska
     • Black/African Americans
     • Mexican Americans/Chicanas/Chicanos
     • Native American Indians
     • Native Pacific Islanders (Hawaiian/Polynesian/Micronesian)Puerto Ricans

• • Tutoring and mentoring students in challenging environments
  • Participation in housing or public service projects
  • Leadership and organizational skills that benefit a larger community
    • Campus-based student activities
    • Language teaching
    • Involvement in professional organizations that serve the community

• • Membership of a group designated by the Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs as currently underrepresented in the American professoriate
  • Membership of another underserved group
  • First person or generation in family to achieve college degree or seek advanced degree

• • Teaching methods and academic interests that are inclusive and sensitive to diversity
  • Any successes that can be attributed to using new techniques to create an inclusive and respectful teaching and learning environment
  • Personal goals, both long-standing and future-focused, that involve increasing understanding in the college or university setting and are in the broader context
  • Employment that demonstrates a long-standing commitment to diversity and depth of understanding of a multicultural society
  • Efforts to improve access and opportunity for all, particularly in one’s local community (neighborhood, place of worship, geographic region)

• • • Previous Research

• • • • Description of research as part of coursework or outside of class in an internship or summer research program
      • Explanation of methods used and expected results of current research
  • • Scholarly Productivity

• • • Publications in reverse chronological order
    • Presentations in reverse chronological order

Proposed Plan of Graduate Study and Research and the applicant’s long-range career goals (maximum two pages, 12-point font, double-spaced)

Applicants should prepare a document describing the proposed plan of graduate study. In general, the more academic experience the applicant has, the more sophisticated the proposal should be.

• • Description of the chosen area of study and the research issue of interest
  • Explanation of why the chosen institution is especially suited to the field of study and the type of study to be undertaken
  • Explanation of the relevancy of courses to be taken and how they relate to the proposed plan of study and research
  • Description of research methods and theoretical framework to be used
  • Explanation of how proposed research relates to a larger community and society as a whole and why study will be useful
  • Explanation of long-range career goals

Note: Citations, if used, will be included in the total page count. Applicants should use a standard bibliographic format appropriate to their field.

• Applicants may wish to ask their adviser or a professor in their discipline to review the proposed plan (especially for substance, clarity, and organization) prior to submission.

3.  Supplementary Materials

References: Names and contact information of a minimum of three professors who will upload a letter of recommendation on the applicant’s behalf (four letters are highly recommended).

•  Applications with fewer than three letters submitted by letter writers by January 9, 2018 will not be reviewed.

• • At least one letter writer should be a faculty member whom the applicant has worked with in their present (or most recent) department.
  • If the applicant has entered a new graduate program in fall 2017, at least one letter writer should be the applicant’s faculty adviser or other faculty member in the applicant’s current department.
  • If the applicant has attended more than one educational institution, one letter from each institution should be included.
  • Letters of recommendation from undergraduate or summer research programs can be particularly valuable.
  • The most useful letters of recommendation are from faculty members who know the applicant well.
  • Letters of recommendation from personal friends, clergy, medical doctors, and family members are not appropriate.
  • Applicants should provide each letter writer a copy of their essays and any other relevant information which will enable the writer to submit a strong letter on their behalf.

Transcripts and GPAs

• • • Baccalaureate degree transcript(s) showing all undergraduate coursework completed prior to fall 2017, grades, and baccalaureate degree award date as well as GPA. Baccalaureate degree award date is not required for those applicants who have not completed the baccalaureate degree at the time of fellowship application.
    • Graduate school transcript(s) showing completion of all graduate coursework completed prior to fall 2017 as well as GPA. Applicants who entered graduate school in fall 2017 should upload a graduate transcript that indicates grades received in fall 2017. If this is not possible, a letter from the graduate institution attesting to progress made should be uploaded by the fellowship applicant in its place.
    • Unofficial transcripts or grade reports are acceptable for the review; however, if offered an award, applicants will be required to submit official transcripts to verify the accuracy of the uploaded transcripts or grade reports.
    • It is the responsibility of the applicant to upload all transcripts and to ensure transcript legibility and degree attainment dates after each document has been uploaded. Transcripts sent via postal mail or e-mail will not be accepted. 

Verification of Doctoral Degree Status (VS) Form and One-page (maximum) Essay

• If the VS form is required of the applicant, the applicant’s adviser must sign the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s

Verification of Doctoral Degree Status Form

 confirming that the applicant requires a minimum of three years of full-time study to complete the Ph.D./Sc.D. degree as of the fall 2018 semester. In addition, applicants must verify with a one-page (maximum) statement that they still require a minimum of three years of full-time study to complete the Ph.D./Sc.D. as of the fall 2018 semester. The applicant must attach the one-page essay to the verification form and upload it to the fellowship application as a single .pdf document before the deadline of 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 9, 2018.