The NYU Abu Dhabi Global Academic Fellowship Program enables talented and dedicated individuals to provide academic support and enrichment to the outstanding students who make up the student body of NYU Abu Dhabi's World's Honors College. The student body of NYU Abu Dhabi is comprised of a diverse and richly talented group, made up of approximately 450 first- through third-year students from more than 70 countries and speaking over 50 languages.
The Fellowship is designed for high-achieving graduates with an interest in leadership and cross-cultural communication. Fellows will be sensitive to the interplay of culture and cognition, intellectual, and personal growth. We seek Fellows with a dedication to teaching, mentoring, and an openness and sensitivity to a cosmopolitan community. The Fellowship is also appropriate for students considering a career in higher education. Fellows work closely with a faculty member and the Office of the Dean of Students, and are exposed to the range of activities that faculty and deans undertake.
This prestigious Fellowship, competitive with the best across the globe including the Fulbright, the Newton International Fellowship, Morehead-Cain, and AAUW, provides Fellows the opportunity to become a part of a very active and engaged team of innovators in higher education. Through curricular and co-curricular involvement, Global Academic Fellows offer critical support to undergraduates throughout their transformative undergraduate education. As a result of this meaningful work, fellows develop a wide range of skills over the course of this remarkable year.
What is the Global Academic Fellowship?
The primary assignment of the Fellowship is academic support for students and faculty. This typically comes in the form of one-to-one tutorials, office hours, recitations, discussion groups, workshops, etc., but can include leading classes, proctoring exams, grading problem sets, responding to written drafts, etc. Fellows are expected to stay current on the content of the primary course they support and to remain informed about the content of secondary courses.
There is also a small Campus Life component of the Fellowship, designed to expose Fellows to the non-academic side of higher education. Fellows engage in a project that supports one of the departments within Campus Life, such as Residential Education, the Health and Wellness Center, the Career Development Center, Community Outreach, Spiritual Life, etc. These projects are determined by institutional need but assigned in collaboration with the Fellow's supervisor.
Additionally, all Fellows are expected to take a role during a small number of intensive admissions events such as Marhaba (Welcome) Week and Candidate Weekends. These roles can include serving as a staff ambassador, chaperone/trip leader, airport runner, and staffing the hospitality suite, and Fellows can expect to work nights and weekends during these events.
The scholarship component of the Fellowship is individualized, allowing each Fellow to further his or her own research and/or writing with the goal of presenting or publishing a product during the Fellowship. Scholarship may be independent, in collaboration with peers and/or faculty, or a combination, but is driven by each Fellow's interests. Ideally, presentation or publication of this work contributes to the next educational or career step.
The multi-faceted and varied workday of a Fellow can include attending classes, scheduled tutorials or recitations, prep time, office hours, Writing Center hours, project work, professional development, meetings, scholarship time, and more. Classes can begin at 8:30am and recitations can end at 9pm. Attempts are made to arrange the weekly calendar to include time for all components of the Fellowship within a 40-hour work week, but some days can be longer than others, and the work can ebb and flow with the arc of an academic term.
Additionally, Fellows are expected to serve as trip leaders when their primary courses travel regionally or internationally. Many Fellows involve themselves in extracurricular activities as well, such as athletics, Community Outreach, NYUAD Institute events, or social groups, which fall outside the work week but contribute to a well-rounded and satisfying experience. Fellows are expected to follow the NYUAD academic calendar and take vacation days when classes are not in session. Exceptions can be made in consultation with Fellow's supervisor and colleagues, and some Fellows will be needed to work January Term classes and spring break trips.