IPAC Fellow Guidelines

Guidelines for the IPAC Fellows Program 

Adopted November, 2012

Rationale for the IPAC Fellows Program

Interdisciplinarity at SUNY Oswego will be enhanced by introducing new scholars into our interdisciplinary community and by providing campus scholars with added incentive to pursue interdisciplinary interests in research and teaching.

Types of IPAC Fellow

There are two types of IPAC Fellow. The Visiting IPAC Fellow designation is reserved for visiting scholars that are hosted by some department or program on campus. The Internal IPAC Fellow designation is reserved for individuals who are on the faculty of SUNY Oswego.

The duration of an IPAC Fellow appointment will generally be for one semester, Oswego time. For the most part, we will fill just one or two IPAC Fellow positions each semester, depending upon the nature of applicant pools, the particulars of programs and activities that are being supported by the Center during a given semester, and other factors. Occasionally, an individual may be granted an IPAC Fellow position who needs no accommodation of space but is clearly poised to enhance some aspect of interdisciplinarity on campus. In a situation like this more than two IPAC Fellows could potentially be associated with the Center at a particular point in time.

By intent, no goal has been established with respect to balancing the number of appointments over time with respect to type of IPAC Fellow.

Privileges of IPAC Fellows

The title IPAC Fellow carries with it the following privileges:

• IPAC Fellows will not be provided with an office of their own. However, IPAC Fellows will generally be afforded limited, regularly scheduled time of up to 15 hours per week in a shared office.

• IPAC Fellows will be provided with limited secretarial assistance, if needed.

• IPAC Fellows will be invited to attend various informal activities that are hosted by the center.

• Perhaps the most significant perk, IPAC Fellows may legitimately lay claim to being affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Programs and Activities Center at SUNY Oswego - and the accompanying title of IPAC Fellow.

No other tangible privileges (e.g., course release time for Internal IPAC Fellows) are associated with the position.

Responsibilities of IPAC Fellows

In return for the privileges, an IPAC Fellow is expected to (1) give one interdisciplinary talk in the IPAC Speaker Series, - and (2) donate a corresponding set of "slides" for the public IPAC Speaker Series Archive. The talk is intended to present aspects of the work engaged in by the visitor during their time at the Center.

Applying for an IPAC Fellow Position

Those interested in being considered for an IPAC Fellow position should write to the Director of IPAC at ipac.director@oswego.edu with an expression of interest for a particular period of time, and attach the following in PDF format:

• A curriculum vitae.

• A description of the scholarly work that the applicant expects to engage in while affiliated with the Center.  It is important that this work be compellingly articulated from a decidedly interdisciplinary point of view - IPAC is, after all, the Interdisciplinary Programs and Activities Center at Oswego. If the work will involve collaboration with others at Oswego, this should be noted. If the work will impact other interdisciplinary programs or activities on campus, this, too, should be noted. To maximize the likelihood of being selected as an IPAC Fellow, the candidate should strive to articulate just how their affiliation with the Center will enhance interdisciplinarity at SUNY Oswego.

• One letter of reference (signed, scanned, and converted to the pdf format), penned by either a faculty member of the hosting department or program (Visiting Fellow) or the home department (Internal Fellow) that explicitly speaks to appropriateness of fit between the applicant and IPAC, as well as the applicant's scholarly persona. The recommender should interpret "appropriateness of fit" as a call to articulate something of the interdisciplinary nature of the work the applicant plans to engage in while at the Center.In the case of visiting scholars, an appropriate faculty member in the hosting department may act on behalf of the scholar with respect to formulating and submitting the application.

At the Director's discretion, a decision to make an appointment may be taken any time within 12 months of the date of the appointment. Consequently, individuals are encouraged, although not required, to submit their applications at least one year prior to the time that they are interested in visiting the Center.

Selection of IPAC Fellows

The Director of IPAC, in consultation with the IPAC Advisory Board, will make final decisions regarding who will be offered available IPAC Fellow positions. Selections will be based on what the Director believes is in the best interest of IPAC and the promotion of interdisciplinarity at Oswego. Applicants will be notified of any decision taken regarding their application in a timely fashion - where "timely" should be taken to have a situation-dependent, director-dependent meaning.