The Future of Higher Education Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

As a postdoctoral fellowship program, appointments are defined to be 50% research and 50% practice. The 50% research time will be split between institutional and personal research.

Institutional research project(s) will be either established by, or related to, the office or program a postdoctoral fellow is assigned.

Personal research will be flexible for the fellow to further develop research from their graduate studies through preparation for publication, conference presentations, etc.

The percentage of time spent between the two endeavors will be negotiated between the fellows and the hiring units; however, it is the expectation that institutional research will take priority. The specific time allocation will be dependent on the needs and expectations of the units to which the fellows assigned. 

The institutional research projects that the fellows will work on may vary in their methodologies, size and scope, individual or team-based nature, etc. In an effort to equip the fellow with the skills and exposure necessary to succeed, we are committed to work with hiring units to provide the fellow training and support, as well as to highlight the skillsets, values, and perspectives they bring. As such, we are particularly interested in applicants who are committed to evolving and adapting to new opportunities and projects, and who recognize the value of institutional research and higher education administration.

In addition to the 50% research focus, there will be a 50% professional practice component to the fellowship. The practice components of the fellowship will consist of exposure to higher education management and leadership by contributing to a variety of assigned tasks related to the hiring units’ priorities. These may include facilitating meetings, managing various projects that are aligned with the strategic goals of the units, managing staff, sitting on committees, or other duties as assigned. The goal of the practice portion of the fellowship is to allow the fellows to gain experience working at a managerial level within specific units and to engage with the dynamics and nuances that come with an administrative role.

Initial appointments will be for a period of two years, at the agreement of the postdoctoral fellow and the unit department. Each postdoctoral fellow will begin the program with an orientation. The orientation will introduce the scholars to different aspects of higher education administration; allow them to meet various campus leaders, and teach the fellows about what resources they have for both personal and professional development; and provide them an introduction to Berkeley’s organizational structure, data sources, networking opportunities, and campus bureaucracy. Following the orientation, fellows will work with their units to develop a plan for learning any additional skills needed for their administrative appointment and institutional research projects. Fellows will also periodically meet as a cross-campus group to continue peer learning. Fellows are expected to be physically present in Berkeley for the duration of the postdoc.

In keeping with the campus postdoc salary scale, the salary for this postdoc will be $69,073 plus benefits including an annual $2000 professional development fund.

Applicants must:

• Hold an earned PhD in any discipline by August 14, 2026
• Earned their relevant doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley
• Fellows are expected to be physically present in Berkeley for the duration of the postdoc.

Fellows will start their tenure on September 1, 2026

The mission of the Future of Higher Education (FHE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is to:

1. Equip recent doctoral graduates with the experience and exposure to a career within higher education administration.
2. Advance the diversification of higher education administrators by recognizing and supporting scholars who bring a diversity of perspectives, social positions, and backgrounds, including those from disciplinary backgrounds that are underrepresented in higher education leadership.
3. Provide critical mentorship and support that will allow recent doctoral. graduates the ability to successfully shift to greater administrative responsibilities without the loss of research productivity.

1. 1. The fellows will be asked to identify potential academic mentors in their application. The second is an administrative mentor who will advise the scholar on how to effectively transition to a career in higher education administration, as well as navigate a large campus effectively as an administrator/staff member. The third is the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies who will support the scholar broadly throughout the tenure of the program.
   2. Provide opportunities for UC Berkeley administrators to leverage new, diverse perspectives on how to grapple with contemporary challenges and the evolving needs of our campus community.

Each year the FHE administrative team solicits different departments to participate and host a FHE Fellow.  Below is a list of recent departments that have hosted FHE Fellows. 

• Berkeley Discovery
• Berkeley Language Center
• Berkeley School of Education
• Center for African Studies
• CITRIS
• College of Letters & Sciences
• Graduate Division
• Rausser College of Natural Resources
• ​​The College of Computing, Data Science, and Society
• The Division of Equity and Inclusion