CDIP Application Process and Components

Application Process

Each year CDIP selects a new cohort of Fellows from campus nominees. 

Note: Applicants are encouraged to meet with the campus coordinator for any questions they may have, and to seek feedback on their materials at least three weeks in advance of the application deadline. To request an appointment with Dr. Viveros, please email her at fellows1@sfsu.edu.

Before applying, review the 2026 CDIP Application Guide.

Application Components

The CDIP application has two parts: one to be completed by the student applicant, and the other by the applicant in collaboration with the CSU Faculty Mentor. 

Application Materials include:

Resume or Curriculum Vitae

Up to four pages, highlighting your education, research, teaching, service, awards, and other experiences that demonstrate your preparation and dedication to a faculty career. Include the following, as applicable:

• Education: Degrees earned or in progress.
• Research: Presentations, publications, works in progress, or research assistant experience.
• Teaching: Teaching assistant or instructional experience, tutoring, or supplemental instruction.
• Service and Leadership: Student leadership, campus involvement, or community service activities.
• Awards and Honors: Scholarships, fellowships, or recognition related to your academic work.
• You may also include any employment or professional experience relevant to your scholarly or teaching development.

Three Essays 

300-600 words each

• Describe the field of study you would like to pursue for, or in which you are currently pursuing, a doctoral degree. What are the specific research questions or theoretical perspectives that interest you? What activities or achievements from past experiences have helped you develop important knowledge and skills related to these research interests? Be specific about your interests, but please use language that someone outside the discipline would understand.
• Describe your interest in a faculty career serving a diverse student body and your interest in a university system that centers inclusive excellence, student success, and social mobility. What experiences in your education draw you to this career? What specific research, mentoring, or teaching activities interest you? How are these activities based on your past experiences? How have these experiences developed your interpersonal skills related to working with people from different backgrounds? Be specific with concrete examples of leadership or group activities related to educational, research, work, and/or community service settings.
• Describe how the teaching, research, service activities outlined in your Collaborative Plan of Support (CPS) will support your career as a future faculty committed to helping students from diverse backgrounds achieve their aspirations. What specific mentoring activities (e.g. collaboration in teaching, research, and service) outlined in your CPS will prepare you for a role as a future faculty in the CSU? What past experiences support your CPS? How will the duration of the proposed CPS help you develop important teaching, research, and service skills that will prepare you for faculty position in the CSU? Be specific with concrete examples of collaborative mentorship activities.

Collaborative Plan of Support

• ​Applicants to the program must have a CSU Faculty Mentor who is a full-time, tenured or tenure-track CSU faculty member.
• Faculty Mentor and applicant jointly develop a high quality written plan of support describing how they intend to maintain communication and collaborate. This plan should describe clearly defined activities with a timeline designed to assist the applicant through doctoral studies.

The CPS should describe specific yearly activities and timelines focused on the three areas of faculty development:

• Teaching (e.g., co-developing syllabi, participating in teaching workshops, engaging in accessible and inclusive pedagogy)
• Research and Scholarly Activities (e.g., joint research, publications, conference presentations, grant development)
• Service and Leadership (e.g., mentoring students, participating in professional organizations, or community-engaged projects),
• Applicants and mentors are encouraged to align planned activities with CDIP opportunities such as the Doctoral Education Support Grant (DESG), Conference Travel Grant, Dissertation Year Award or Optional Loan. 

The plan should demonstrate:

• Clear communication and collaboration between the applicant and mentor
• Realistic milestones that align with the applicant’s progress through the doctoral program
• Familiarity with the CSU’s mission, governance, and expectations for tenure-track faculty

The CPS must also include a short statement from the faculty mentor attesting to the applicant’s potential as a future CSU faculty member (this statement may be included as part of the mentor’s letter of recommendation).

For more information on the Faculty Mentor’s role and eligibility, see the CDIP Mentorship page.

For samples of the Qualifications and Motivation Statement and Collaborative Plan of Support, see the CSU CDIP page (scroll down to "Sample Application Components").

Sample Qualification and Motivation Statement

Sample 1​, Sample 2​​

Collaborative Plan of Support 

Sample 1​, Sample 2​

Recommendation Letters

Two current professional letters of recommendation are required, one of which must be from the CSU Faculty Mentor. If the applicant is currently enrolled in a doctoral program, one of the letters must be from a faculty member at the doctoral institution. If the applicant is not yet enrolled in a doctoral program, then the second letter will be from faculty in the applicant's current institution.

The recommendations should address the applicant’s:

• proposed plan of study, including the quality of the institutions and departments where applicant intends to pursue, or is currently pursuing, a doctorate;
• if the program of study is not in a Ph.D. program, recommendations should address the applicant's doctoral program's mission to prepare future faculty, and success in placing their graduates in faculty positions;
• potential to succeed as a doctoral student and be hired as a CSU tenure-track instructional faculty;
• experience and motivation relevant to educating a diverse student body in the CSU.

The recommendation from the CSU Faculty Mentor should describe their approach to mentoring graduate students and any successes with guiding past students through their doctoral education and faculty job search.

The deadline for the letter of recommendation submission is typically two weeks after the application deadline.

CSU Faculty Position Announcement

To provide evidence that the CSU has recently sought to hire individuals in the field/specialization pursued by the applicant, the Faculty Mentor should provide the student applicant, for inclusion with the application, a copy of a recent tenure-track faculty position announcement in the student’s general field of study that has been posted at a CSU campus. For your general information, see the CSU Careers website for current CSU faculty position announcements.

Selection Criteria

Applicants are selected based on five major criteria: doctoral field of study interests and plans, doctoral field of study preparation experiences, faculty career interests and plans, faculty career preparation and plans, and commitment to collaboration and preparation with CSU faculty mentor.