Fellowship Application Process

The PLEDGE Fellowship application launched on January 20, 2022. All required documents must be submitted by March 27, 2022. The aim of the selection process will be to identify fellowship teams with demonstrated commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion who propose Capstone projects that can be completed in roughly 15 months.

Fellowship cohorts will be comprised of up to three teams of 2 fellows each, made up of experienced law school administrators, faculty members, or other similarly situated and experienced professionals.

PLEDGE Eligibility

Feasibility of the proposed Capstone project is an important selection criterion. As such, the ideal Capstone project will be tightly-focused, centering on a single programmatic intervention that is already being undertaken by members of the Fellowship team. For instance, a team of admission and academic support professionals may want to study the effects of their law school prep program on student grades. A team of academic and bar success faculty may want to study the effects of a bar prep intervention on graduate bar exam performance. Proposals based on new projects will be considered and may be selected, if their feasibility is clear.

Application components:

I. Application form

II. Statement of Interest and Contributions to Diversity – to be submitted via email as a PDF The strongest statements will be no more than five pages long and will provide details pertaining to the following areas:

  • Explanation of team interest in fellowship, qualifications, and extent to which the team collectively and individually meets fellowship eligibility criteria.
  • A track record of engagement and activity by team members related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Specific details about these activities should be provided.

III. Capstone proposal to be submitted via email as a PDF. The proposal should include the following components:

  • Description of the problems or issues that the intervention you will be evaluating is seeking (or will seek) to address.
  • Description of intervention, including its components, duration, and targets. Please also indicate if the intervention is preexisting or would be applied for the first time as part of the Capstone.
  • Description of tangible intervention goals (e.g., desired results or outcomes)
  • Description of data sources that would be used to carry out the Capstone. Describe the degree of availability and access that the fellowship team has to each data source.
  • Description of any past or ongoing efforts to evaluate the intervention of focus

IV. Letter of recommendation and support for each team member from a Dean or other relevant administrator – to be submitted via email as a PDF. Each letter should communicate approval of team members’ participation in the PLEDGE Fellowship. Team members who report to a common administrator may submit a joint letter.

V. Team member CVs/resumes highlighting relevant experiences and qualifications (no more than 3 pages each) – to be submitted via email as a PDF.

The application form must be submitted using the link below. Application components II-V must be submitted as PDFs to PLEDGE@southerneducation.org. All materials must be submitted by March 27, 2022.

 

Please feel free to send questions about the fellowship to PLEDGE@southerneducation.org