Faculty Fellows Program

UCLA Department of Spanish & Portuguese 2025-2026 FACULTY FELLOWS PROGRAM

Application Deadline: Monday, February 24, 2025

The goals of the Faculty Fellows Program are:

    • to provide PhD graduates with appointments that offer mentored training and experience in teaching and research;
    • to provide high-quality undergraduate courses to help accommodate areas of high demand, and to expand and enhance our course offerings.

Faculty Fellows (official payroll title: Assistant Adjunct Professor) must be recent PhDs who demonstrate promise of excellence in both research and teaching, as well as a commitment to fostering diversity. Successful candidates must have satisfied one of the two options below:

      • Received their PhD between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 (the last day before the beginning date of the appointment)

OR

      • Advanced to candidacy, be in the final stages of writing their dissertations, and have plans to complete all requirements for the degree by the appointment date of July 1, 2025.

Fellows cannot be appointed and placed on payroll until the dissertation is filed and they have valid work authorization. A copy of the “Certificate of Completion” will be required before the appointment date of July 1, 2025.

The number of Assistant Adjunct Professors to be awarded each year in the Faculty Fellows Program will depend on available funding.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Candidates will primarily be selected for their promise as excellent teachers and scholars, and their commitment to fostering diversity. This program is intended to assist PhD graduates with the prospect of pursuing their academic and/or professional careers. Candidates must present evidence that they have been actively applying for employment. The advisor’s letter of recommendation should confirm that the candidate has been applying for jobs in the current academic year. Selection will also be based on the candidate’s ability to help meet critical departmental needs in undergraduate teaching and their proposal for an undergraduate course that is broadly conceived and calibrated for its intended audience.

Finally, selection will be based on the plan for mentoring the nominee. Faculty Fellows must have a faculty mentor for teaching activities and one for research activities; in some cases, the same faculty person might fill both mentoring functions. Candidates and their mentors should outline clear goals to be achieved during the year of the program. Examples include expanding the dissertation into a book; publishing portions of the dissertation, or other research materials, in refereed journals; creating a professional portfolio; and so forth. Individuals and mentors are also encouraged to explore innovative teaching assignments to enrich undergraduate education. Mentors should plan to work closely with the Faculty Fellow on developing appropriate course syllabi for undergraduate courses and with issues which may arise related to teaching.

 TERM OF APPOINTMENT

Appointments are effective for the academic year from July 1 to June 30 (start date is dependent on valid work authorization in addition to meeting the eligibility requirements). The service period for the appointment is from the beginning of the Fall Quarter to the end of the Spring Quarter. Initial appointment as a Faculty Fellow is for one year. Fellows may apply for one additional year, based on department needs, but preference will be given to students newly coming into the program. Consistent with other non-Senate appointments, appointments will be made on a year-to-year basis, subject to renewal within the established limitations of the program.

Most appointments will involve teaching 5 undergraduate courses. Both the percent time of appointment and the actual courses assigned will vary according to the needs of the department and available funding.

TITLE AND COMPENSATION

The appointment will have the official title of Assistant Adjunct Professor (Title Code 3278). See Table #1 for the salary range for this position. A reasonable estimate for this position is $78,200-$86,600. The salary is subject to range adjustments (when applicable), but appointees are not eligible for merit increases due to the length of the appointment.

The dissertation must be filed by June 13, 2025 and a copy of the “Certificate of Completion” must be submitted prior to the start of the appointment for the candidate to be hired officially.

Faculty Fellows will have access to research and/or teaching supplies up to $600 per year. Such funding cannot be used for equipment such as laptops, iPads, cameras, external drives, printers, etc. In addition, Faculty Fellows will receive support for airfare and lodging at the MLA Conference or another conference of their choice in a relevant field for up to $1,200. The serious pursuit of permanent employment should be considered one of the primary goals of the Faculty Fellows.

BENEFITS

Appointees at 100%, who have valid work authorization and are hired for the full 12 months, will be provided Health and Welfare benefits. This includes full medical insurance (dental and vision), basic life insurance, employer paid disability, and other benefits.

These titles do not accrue vacation or sick leave. Please refer to the Academic Personnel Manual for further information. The University provides administrative holidays as set forth annually in the University calendar. Appointees are also eligible for all University privileges, such as library access, parking permits, access to recreational sports facilities, and so forth. 

FACULTY FELLOWS APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications will only be accepted through the job posting on UCLA Academic Recruit (job#JPF09978). You will need to create an applicant profile and submit the following information in the areas provided in the system.

Materials to be submitted include

1. Cover letter from the candidate that provides:

    • A summary assessment of their qualifications and promise for excellence in research, teaching, and commitment to fostering diversity; proposed teaching and research; and mentoring plan;
    • A statement of expected completion date of the PhD and total time since advancement to candidacy.

2.  Letter(s) of Reference from proposed teaching and research mentor(s) that:

    • Evaluates the candidate’s teaching and research qualifications, commitment to fostering diversity, proposed teaching, research proposal, and promise for the future;
    • Describes detailed plans for mentoring the candidate during the year of the program;
    • Certifies the expected completion date;
    • Certifies that the candidate has actively applied for employment.

3. Candidate’s proposed syllabus for an undergraduate upper-division course, together with a statement of other courses the candidate is prepared to teach.

4. Candidate’s proposed research plan during the fellow’s program year (one page)

5. Candidate’s curriculum vitae, including actual or projected PhD completion date and publications.

6. Candidate’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) statement (one page):  A statement that describes your past, present, and planned contributions to equity, diversity and inclusion in teaching, research, professional activities, and/or university and public service

7. Candidate’s writing sample (up to 25 pages, published or unpublished).

8. Candidate’s teaching evaluations from the last three courses taught.

 

Application submission deadline through UCLA Academic Recruit is
11:59pm on Monday, February 24, 2025.

For questions regarding the program, please contact Spanish & Portuguese
Graduate Advisor Gloria Tovar at gtovar@humnet.ucla.edu.

For questions regarding the application, UC Recruit, and benefits, please contact
Spanish & Portuguese Academic Personnel Officer Claudia Huey at
chuey@humnet.ucla.edu.