American Council of Learned Societies
2015-16 Public Fellows Program
expanding the role of doctoral education in the humanities
QUICK FACTS
 In 2015-16, the program
will place up to 21 recent
humanities PhDs in two-year
staff positions at partnering
organizations in government
and the nonprofit sector.
 Deadline for applications to
host a fellow: October 27,
2015.
 The fellowship provides a
stipend of $65,000 per year
and individual health insurance.
 Host organizations incur a
modest placement fee, as well
as costs related to hosting a
fellow on-site.
 Fellows are fully integrated
into their host organizations,
taking up substantive
assignments in support of
the host organization’s core
mission.
 Over the first four cycles of
the program, ACLS has
partnered with dozens of
organizations, including
Human Rights Watch, the
Nature Conservancy, and the
Smithsonian Institution.
 The program is made
possible by a grant from The
Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation.
 For more information, visit
www.acls.org/programs/
publicfellowshosts/
ACLS invites applications from organizations wishing to host a 2016
ACLS Public Fellow. Fellows selected in the 2015-16 competition will
join host organizations in two-year staff positions in mid-summer or
early fall of 2016.
The ACLS Public Fellows program is an innovative, career-launching
initiative that allows talented humanities PhDs to gain valuable
experience in areas such as arts management, development,
communications, public administration, policy, and digital media.
ACLS partners with a diverse group of organizations each
competition year. Host organizations are selected based on their
capacity to offer rewarding, career-building work that will foster the
fellow’s professional development. Besides a challenging and
substantive portfolio of assignments, hosts must provide mentorship,
networking opportunities, and other career advancement activities.
Organizations also cover the modest administrative costs associated
with hosting a fellow.
Past and current fellows have undertaken significant roles within their
host organizations, such as overseeing digital initiatives; managing the
research and publication of major reports on state, national, and
international policy issues; and creating and administering institutional
outreach and development campaigns. Please review the listings of
our first four cohorts of fellows, whose diverse backgrounds and
advanced training have made them integral to their host organization’s
operations. A full list of fellows and host organizations can be found at
http://www.acls.org/research/publicfellows/.
Please note: This program aims to demonstrate the wide applicability
of the PhD outside academia, and therefore does not place fellows in
traditionally “alt-ac” positions (i.e., semi-academic positions that are
located on university campuses or that combine administrative
responsibilities with teaching and/or academic research).
If you are interested in hosting a fellow, or have any questions about
the program, please complete the attached questionnaire and submit
it no later than October 27 to publicfellows@acls.org.
Sincerely,
John Paul Christy
Director of Public Programs
American Council of Learned Societies
APPLICATION FOR NEW HOST ORGANIZATIONS
Public Fellows Program 2015-2016
Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
The ACLS Public Fellows program provides recent PhDs in the humanities and humanistic social sciences
with the opportunity to embark on careers outside of academia.1 The two-year professional fellowships place
fellows in non-profit and government agencies where they participate full time in the substantive work of the
organization. The fellowship provides an annual stipend of $65,000 and contributes up to $7,000 each year
toward the host institution’s costs of providing health insurance for the Public Fellow. Public Fellows selected
during the 2015-16 competition will join host organizations in mid-summer or early fall of 2016.
Applicants to the Public Fellows Program will undergo a first-round peer review by a committee of
humanities PhDs working in a variety of non-academic fields. Finalists identified by this process are forwarded
to the host organization for a second round of review before an offer is made by ACLS. This multi-stage
review process ensures that each fellow meets the high standards of the program and will be a good match
for the host organization.
If you wish to be considered as a host organization for an ACLS Public Fellow, please complete the following
questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to acquaint ACLS with your organization and to provide
you with more detailed information on the responsibilities of being a host organization for a Public Fellow.
We ask that you limit your answers to a paragraph or less, except where specifically indicated.
1. Name of Organization:
Location (please provide the primary location and any subsidiary locations):
Contact Person:
Name:
Title:
Email:
Telephone:
Is this a government or a non-profit agency?
2. Please provide us with background information on your organization by answering the following questions (1 page
maximum).
a. What is the organization’s mission and primary focus?
b. When was the organization founded?
c. How is the organization funded?
1
Fellows’ PhD fields may include the following: American studies; anthropology; archaeology; art history,
architectural history; classics; film; geography; history; languages and literatures; linguistics; musicology; philosophy;
political science; religious studies; rhetoric, communication, and media studies; sociology; and theater, dance, and
performance studies. Partner organizations may not limit themselves to considering PhDs in any
subset of these fields.
d. How is the organization structured? Please attach an organizational chart if possible.
e. How large is the staff overall (full-time employees) and at the site where the fellowship will take place?
f. How many staff members have advanced degrees (MA, PhD, JD, etc.)?
3. While fellows work full time alongside professional staff and are expected to assume professional-level responsibilities,
they are participants in a fellowship program and are not permanent employees of the host organization. As such, they are
not necessarily eligible for the same benefits as permanent regular employees. Please answer the following questions:

ACLS provides two annual payments to the host organizations from which the organization pays the
fellow’s stipend through its payroll.
Is your organization able to remit the fellow’s stipend through its payroll department? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If
no, explain why.
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The stipend for fellows is set by ACLS at $65,000/year.
Is the stipend commensurable to the pay of employees on a similar level of responsibility?
(Yes ☐ No ☐) If no, please provide us with information on pay structure.

As health insurance plans and costs vary widely among host institutions, ACLS will contribute up to
$7,000 per year to defray the cost that the institution incurs by providing health care to the fellow. The
fellowship does not provide health benefits for members of the fellow’s family. It also does not require
other fringe benefits such as disability, long-term care, retirement contributions, etc. Health coverage
must commence no later than one month after the fellow’s start date. (Please select the start date
according to your organization’s timeline for providing health insurance for the fellow.)
Is this arrangement acceptable to your organization? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
If you have answered “yes” to the above, is your organization capable of separating out health insurance
as the only benefit available to the fellow? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
If you have answered “no” to the above, is your organization willing to assume the costs of providing
additional benefits? (Yes ☐ No ☐)

Prior to joining your organization, will the fellow require security clearance or undergo a background
check? (Yes ☐ No ☐) If yes, please explain the requirement and procedures, and timeline involved.
4. While ACLS provides significant financial support for Public Fellows, please be aware that participation in the program as
a host organization is not without cost. Host organization contributions include:
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A one-time, $6,000 placement fee payable within two weeks of the fellow’s start date.
Payroll taxes (including employer FICA contribution), annual health insurance premium costs in excess of
ACLS’s $7,000 contribution, and any additional costs incurred by providing optional fringe benefits to the
fellow.
Staff time and expertise, including significant supervisory and mentoring responsibilities.
Resources associated with hosting a fellow on-site, including requisite office space (Public Fellows may not
work remotely), office equipment, travel funds (if travel is required), etc.
Access to vacation and sick leave commensurate with employees at the fellow’s relative professional rank
(NB ACLS does not require that such leave is provided as a benefit that accrues from year to year or that
can be redeemed at the end of the fellowship.).
Have you verified with your human resources or finance office that your organization is capable of
covering the costs listed above? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
Please list the name and contact information of the colleague with the relevant contracting authority
below.
5. The Public Fellows Program is a career-building opportunity for recent PhDs in the humanities who have elected to pursue
careers in the non-profit or government fields. While ACLS can provide the placement and financial support, it is the
responsibility of the host organization to provide the challenges and opportunities that will ensure that fellows grow, mature
and succeed in their positions, and are able to embark on careers in their chosen fields after the completion of the
fellowship.
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The following is a list of skills. Please check the skill/skills the fellow will gain over the course of the
fellowship at your organization. (You are welcome to include a narrative explanation as well.)
☐ Advocacy
☐ Assessment
☐ Budgeting
☐ Communications
☐ Development/fund-raising
☐ Digital innovation
☐ Digital publishing
☐ Employee supervision
☐ International affairs
☐ Legislative
☐ Liaison
☐ Lobbying
☐ Negotiation
☐ Planning
☐ Policy analysis
☐ Project development
☐ Project management
☐ Research/writing
☐ Strategic analysis
☐ Other:
Is your organization willing to provide opportunities for the fellow to develop the skills necessary for
success in the position and to develop the networks needed for building a career? Please check what
opportunities would be available and provide at least one example of how you would do this.
☐ In-house training and orientation
☐ External advancement opportunities (e.g. conferences, classes, meetings, travel)
ACLS requires that each fellow be assigned a supervisor to oversee the fellow’s work and a separate
mentor to be a sounding board and to offer career advice. The mentor should stand outside the formal
reporting chain of the fellow. Are you prepared to provide the fellow with a supervisor AND a mentor?
(Yes ☐ No ☐)
If you have answered yes, please identify a potential mentor and explain his/her role within or external
relationship to your organization.

While the majority of our fellows continue on with their host organizations beyond the two-year term of
their fellowships, we understand that this might not happen in each case. How would your organization
approach the task of preparing a fellow to pursue his/her chosen career path after the fellowship?
6. As the fellowship provider, ACLS requests regular updates and reports from the supervisor of the Public Fellow on his/her
integration into the organization and professional development. This includes a) a professional development plan developed
jointly by the supervisor and fellow, submitted within 45 days after the fellowship begins; b) a 3-month performance review;
and c) two annual performance reviews.
Is your organization willing to adhere to the fellowship’s reporting requirements? (Yes ☐ No ☐)
7. Each application must provide descriptions of 2 positions in separate offices or divisions within your organization that an
ACLS Public Fellow might assume. The descriptions should not exceed 2 pages in length and must include the following
information:
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Position title
Department/Office
Location
Name of potential supervisor (if known)
Host office mission and overview
Position description and primary responsibilities
Required and preferred qualifications
The position should be appropriate in level for a recent doctoral degree recipient. Positions that require a PhD in
a specific discipline or disciplinary subfield are not appropriate for the Public Fellows program. You can find
examples of previous position descriptions on the ACLS website (www.acls.org/programs/publicfellows/).
If you have questions, please contact John Paul Christy, director of Public Programs, at publicfellows@acls.org.
Final decisions on the list of host institutions for the 2015-16 competition will be communicated to all institutional
applicants no later than December 2015.
Thank you for your interest in the American Council of Learned Societies’ Public Fellows Program.
The Public Fellows Program is sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies with generous funding by
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.