CDIP Application Process and Components

Application Process

Each year CDIP selects a new cohort of Fellows from campus nominees. When applicants apply, they are applying for University nomination. Please note that nomination is not guaranteed.

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 dedline. To request an appointment with Dr. Viveros, please email her at fellows1@sfsu.edu. 

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, enumerating academic and professional accomplishments, including scholarly conference presentations and publications.

Qualifications and Motivation Statement

Up to three pages, addressing the applicant’s:

• commitment to becoming a CSU faculty member;
• academic preparation (academic achievements, awards, honors, fellowships);
• professional experiences in teaching and research;
• motivation and interest in becoming a university professor (as a teacher and a scholar);
• connection to the CSU and knowledge of the CSU mission and role in preparing California’s workforce;
• dedication and ability to educate a diverse student body.

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.

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 the 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.

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.