For the Postdoctoral level support, Fellows should be on track to successfully defend their dissertation proposals before the end of the Spring semester prior to the Fellowship year. If you are still unsure, send us an email at ctefellows@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to help guide you.

Yes! Our program’s advisory board is committed to integrating practitioners and leaders in the field of Postsecondary CTE into the program as part-time Research Fellows. Part-time Fellows have the same research and engagement requirements as full-time Fellows, but their full-time work is done in place of supplemental activities, so part-time Fellows receive a lower annual stipend than full-time Fellows. If you have more specific questions, just send us an email at ctefellows@gmail.com.

The purpose of the letters of recommendation are to show a commitment of support from your individual research sponsor and the department or college. If your research sponsor is also the department chair/dean/director, one letter is sufficient, just be sure they address both their research sponsor role as well as the support of the larger department or college.

The purpose of the Postsecondary CTE Research Fellows program is to expend research and support emerging researchers who are looking at CTE in the postsecondary (usually a community or technical college or career school) setting. We welcome research proposals from those who have previously focused on secondary CTE research and are interested in expanding their research to look at postsecondary CTE. If you have any questions about your research ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at ctefellows@gmail.com.

This is up to your sponsoring faculty member and institution. We have some Fellows who have worked out hybrid or remote work with their sponsoring institution, and some who have relocated. We encourage you to work this out ahead of applying so there are no surprises later.

While Fellows are expected to identify a sponsoring faculty member who will guide their research, the research mentor pairing is done by the program after the first institute. If you have someone in mind, please let us know, but you do not need to reach out to them directly.

We are looking for research proposals strongly rooted in improving the field of Postsecondary CTE. Preference will be given to research proposals that address postsecondary CTE in terms of improving student success or using CTE to address larger problems such as economic mobility. Our view of student success uses the pillars of learning, transfer, completion, equity, and labor market outcomes.

Additionally, we are looking to sponsor Fellows who intend to continue to work in the field of Postsecondary CTE as researchers, faculty members, practitioners, leaders, policymakers, etc. Our mission is to support Fellows who intend to make a lasting impact on the field of Postsecondary CTE.

The CTE Leadership Collaborative was launched by the ECMC Foundation in 2018. The NC State Postsecondary CTE Research Fellows Program was the first program funded under the LC.