Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship

As of 2023, to be eligible candidates must:

• have graduated with their PhD within the 12 months immediately preceding the start date of the Teaching Fellowship (for an August start date, this includes commencements the previous year in August or December and the same year in May or August.)  
• completed their PhD program within a time span of 5 active years.
• qualify to be hired based on fit with Baylor’s faith-based mission. 

The process for nomination and selection is as follows:

• In line with Baylor’s mission to foster equity and inclusion within a Christian environment, we welcome applicants representing racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic diversity.  
• GPDs in collaboration with their department Chairs will submit a one-page letter of recommendation for eligible students within their department. In addition to outlining why the department supports the selection of the student, the letter should also outline the classes to be taught during the one-year fellowship (4-4 load). The student's CV should also be submitted.
• In October, the Graduate School will put out a call for nominations for the next academic year.  Nominations should include a recommendation letter and CV, submitted to the professional development office in the Graduate School (by email to Laura Sepanski) . The nominations must come from the GPDs with the support of department chairs.
• The Graduate School will provide review of the nominations and submit candidates to the Deans of the A&S and Honors Colleges. The candidates will be selected based on the strength of their applications as well as the teaching needs of the university. 
• Candidates for the English postdoctoral fellowships will be decided within the English department.
• Candidates for Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowships will be notified in late Fall or early Spring  whether they have been chosen to move forward in the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow interview process.   Nominees who are not selected initially may be held as alternates.  
• The remainder of the hiring process will be conducted by HR and the Office of the Provost.  Hiring is not official until all university processes are completed.
• Nominations for 2025-2026 should be submitted by December 2, 2024.

We encourage departments to continue giving first priority of all PTL hires to recent PhD graduates. While these students may not be recipients of the competitive Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship program, they can still benefit from a year of teaching full loads within the department as they prepare for the job market. We encourage departments to consider hiring PhD students to teach full loads (or close to full loads) as PTL hires.

The Baylor Graduate School is committed to expanding this program for as many PhD students as possible. It is our goal to make postdoctoral fellowships for Baylor PhD students a regular part of our academic landscape.  We are so thankful for the support of the Provost Office in helping us create these postdoctoral positions.