Harper College

The LEAD Faculty Fellowship

Program Description

The Leveraging Equity in Academia through Diversity (LEAD) Faculty Fellowship supports faculty diversification efforts at Harper College and prepares fellows for a full-time teaching position. This fellowship is a co-sponsored program between the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office of the Provost. LEAD fellows are compensated and given a unique opportunity to gain valuable teaching experience in the community college setting. The LEAD Faculty Fellowship program is an essential part of Harper's strategic focus on faculty diversity with the goal of our faculty better reflecting the increasing diversity of our student body and surrounding communities. This competitive two-year paid fellowship begins each fall, with the second year applied towards tenure if fellows are hired as full-time faculty members. 

Click here to meet our current LEAD Faculty Fellows!

Goals of the LEAD Faculty Fellowship Program

  • Attract diverse new talent to Harper’s campus.
  • Increase faculty diversity.
  • Enhance the creativity and diversity of thought within departments.
  • Provide racially underrepresented students potential mentors that reflect their identities.
  • Support the increased success of all students, including those from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Benefits for LEAD Faculty Fellows

  • Introduces fellows to the possibility of community college as a viable career path to inform future career decisions.
  • Enhances knowledge, skills and abilities relative to teaching at a community college.
  • Prepares fellows to be competitive applicants in community college faculty search pools.
  • Engagement in structured professional development sessions and opportunities to meet Harper's senior-level leaders.
  • Professional mentors are assigned to support and guide fellows throughout the cohort experience.
  • Opportunities for fellows to observe colleagues teaching courses.

Consider this Opportunity if You:

  • Are interested in gaining full-time teaching experience at a community college.
  • Believe in the community college mission and want to help change lives.
  • Have minimal or no full-time teaching experience, but desire to educate others and help them achieve their goals.
  • Enjoy dialogue and want to share your perspectives with college students and other faculty members.  
  • Desire to celebrate the value of diversity in academia.
  • Seek mentorship from seasoned faculty members and a willingness to engage in a learning community.
  • Want to build your knowledge, skills and abilities as a professor of higher learning.

Qualifications

  • Master’s degree or equivalent work experience, with less than three years of full-time teaching experience as the instructor of record.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Teaching the designated number of credit hours each semester (a reduced load the first year and a full load the second year).
  • Maintain office hours.
  • Attend monthly professional development sessions.
  • A commitment to advance Harper College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals.

Compensation

  • Fellows are compensated at the full-time instructor level. For the 2023--2024 academic year, the salary is $56,164.
  • Professional development allocation.
  • Full benefits.

Applications

  • Applications for the 2024--2026 cohort will open in October 2023, and the priority deadline is Friday, January 5, 2024.
  • If you have additional questions, please contact Dr. Tamara A. Johnson at jt03888@harpercollege.edu.
Last Updated: 1/22/24