2025 Call for Nominations

2025 Call for Nominations

The University of New Mexico’s Inclusive Excellence Postdoctoral and Visiting Scholars Program (IEPVSP) is available to support up to three postdoctoral fellow, research associate, or visiting scholar positions that would enhance diversity and equal opportunity on the Albuquerque central campus. Candidates must be nominated by UNM main campus tenure-granting academic units that wish to hire them for 12-month appointments. Candidates may not apply directly.

The original DEI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was established in the 1990s to encourage outstanding minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of New Mexico. The current program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars in all fields who are potential candidates for central campus tenure-track faculty appointments that would contribute to diversity and strategic hiring goals.

Departments are expected to mentor and support high-potential candidates to prepare them for tenure track assistant professor appointments at UNM. In addition, departments on main campus will be encouraged to apply for DEI bridge funding for hiring tenure-system faculty whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at UNM after candidates’ successful completion of the Inclusive Excellence Postdoc & Visiting Scholars Program.

Stipend

• The stipend for the 2025-26 Academic Year is $50,000 (for a 12-month appointment). Academic units will cover fringe benefits and supplemental funds for salary.
• An additional $2,000 is provided for research, travel, and related expenses, and academic units can provide additional funds. Moving funds are not provided.
• If needed, funding for legal assistance associated with immigration is the responsibility of the academic unit. DEI will not be responsible for immigration paperwork.

Evaluation of Nominations

Evaluation of nominees will be based on academic accomplishments, evidence of nominee’s demonstrated and sustained commitment to diversity and inclusion, a department’s record of championing the scholarship and promoting the careers of underrepresented minorities and women faculty, nominee’s promise for a tenure track appointment at UNM, the letter of support from the dean of the college associated with the nominating department, and the department’s mentoring plan. If the nominee was initially identified in a national faculty search, and if main campus unit(s) choose(s) to hire the successful nominee as a tenure-track faculty member, the position may be eligible for DEI bridge funding designated for increasing proportions of faculty whose experiences, research, and teaching prepare them to contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of New Mexico.

Submission Instructions

Please see IEPVSP check list for details.

Submissions must include the following:

Department/college materials

• The academic department’s mentoring plan.
• A mentoring statement outlining a mentoring plan for the postdoc to include support for scholarly activities during the appointment period.
• Letter of support from department chair detailing the faculty support for the The letter of support may address the faculty members’ support for the nominee to assume a tenure-track position.
• Letter of support from the school/college dean indicating that if the nominee, after successful completion of the postdoc, is considered competitive for a position as assistant professor by the department, she/he will support the department in pursuing hiring the postdoc for such a position.
• Department’s statement delineating their past, current and expected future contributions to justice, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (JEADI) through supporting research, teaching, and/or service (1 page is typical, 2-page max). See JEADI statement guidelines on DEI’s website.
• Current departmental promotion/tenure guidelines and ways in which planned activities during postdoc will put candidate on the trajectory for achieving tenure at UNM.
• Academic department’s record of leadership in mentoring and advocating for minoritized and women junior faculty.

Nominee’s materials

• Current curriculum vitae (CV).
• Planned scholarly activities during the IE postdoc/visiting scholar appointment.
• The nominee’s letter of interest addressed to the department chair. The letter of application to a recent faculty search may be submitted in lieu of a letter of interest.
• Candidate’s statement delineating their past, current and potential contributions to justice, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (JEADI) through research, teaching, and/or service (1 page is typical, 2-page max). See JEADI statement guidelines on DEI’s website.
• Three letters of reference.

Submit nominations through InfoReady. Incomplete submissions or materials received past the established deadlines will not be considered.

Nominations must be received by 12:00 noon.

Round 1 - January 23, 2025

Round 2 - April 10, 2025

Guidelines/Eligibility

• Must be nominated by a tenure-granting UNM main campus academic unit.
• Nominee must have obtained Ph.D. or terminal degree from an accredited institution prior to July 1, 2025.
• Nominee must demonstrate promise for a tenure-track appointment at UNM.
• Postdocs or Scholars are normally appointed for one year, and can be reappointed for a second year.
• Recipients must be in residence full-time for the duration of the award period.
• Postdoctoral Fellows and Visiting Scholars are recommended to teach a maximum of one course annually, at the discretion of the department.
• Postdocs and Scholars are appointed for one year with possibility for a second year. In the final year of postdoctoral fellowship/visiting scholars’ program, the unit (or units) will undertake a rigorous review of the candidate’s qualifications for a tenure-track position.
• IE Postdocs/Scholars, identified through a national search and subsequently recommended by the department for a tenure-track faculty position, may be eligible for bridge funding.
• Due to limited funding, individuals who have received DEI support as postdocs or graduate fellows in the past do not qualify.

FAQs

How will/should candidates be prioritized?

The most important criterion will be the unit’s willingness and demonstrated effectiveness to mentor, advocate for, and sponsor the candidate, not only to become an assistant professor but to put them on the trajectory to achieve tenure, promotion, and beyond, as demonstrated by custom-tailored plans for the nominee.

Can a single department (or school) submit more than one candidate?

Yes. Must be main campus departments.

How does the IE postdoc/scholars program address concerns about search committees potentially segregating applicants (e.g., by race and gender) in national searches?

If a candidate competing for a national search is nominated, nominating department must outline their hiring criteria and criteria ultimately for tenure & promotion and provide evidence to show why one candidate was selected for the faculty position and why the prospective postdoc was not.

Is it possible to do this in multiple phases, so that units can get some assurance before asking their candidate(s) to prepare application materials (letter of interest, etc.)?

No. If the prospective postdoc/scholar already submitted materials for a faculty search, that letter of interest would suffice. It is common to invite scholars to apply for postdoc positions before an institution knows they will be selected. And in fact, the prospective postdoc cannot apply directly for this program. It is the department’s responsibility to nominate the prospective postdoc and submit all materials on their behalf. Of course materials will be prepared with the prospective postdoc’s/scholar’s input. The nomination process is as much about how prepared the unit is to invest in that emerging scholar as it is about the postdoc’s/scholar’s potential.