The Fellowship was an amazing experience and gave me important insight into how an academic library functions, how to address the needs of both the institution and more importantly, the audience it serves. The support from other fellows and librarians was as valuable (or more!) than the teaching experience.
Teaching is such an important part of academic librarianship. It has been a required or preferred component of every job I applied for this year, and I think that being able to list my experience on my resume made me a more competitive applicant.
Knowing that I always had support was so valuable. Whether it was applying to a job, or improving an instruction session that didn’t go well, I could always email someone, come into the office and talk. That helped me to grow.
The Research and Teaching fellowship is the best preparation for applying to jobs that I could have asked for. It has made me competitive for library positions I wouldn't have been qualified for otherwise.
"I feel much more prepared for the instruction and research aspects of my faculty position because of the work I did in the Fellowship. I also feel much more keyed into the profession thanks to our discussions about conferences and ways to get involved in professional organizations, and that has also made me feel less like an impostor in my first real library job."
The Research and Teaching Fellowship is a three-semester teacher-training program. Each year, the application window opens in early November and closes in late November or early December. New Fellows begin their work in January of each year.
Please see our program curriculum for more information.
Questions about any of the above? See our FAQ's!
Semester 1:
Semesters 2 & 3:
These hours vary according to the time of the semester. During our busiest few weeks of instruction, you might log more than 10 hours per week, and near the end of the semester, you might only log 2-3.
iSchool Courses: The Fellowship will be designed to complement the skills and theories introduced to students within the iSchool curriculum. Fellows are encouraged to enroll in the following courses, as available: