Nomination Process

The nomination process for the Grace Jordan McFadden Professors Program (GJMPP) is now open. The Grace Jordan McFadden Professors Program prepares under-represented ethnically diverse students to become professors. It is open to under-represented students who will be entering their first or second year in a doctoral or MFA program and are interested in becoming college professors. In keeping with the program’s historic mission, addressing the underrepresentation of African American and LatinX scholars in higher education is a program priority. Scholars are assigned a faculty mentor and participate in monthly professional development seminars. These additional forms of educational support have been instrumental in the successful retention and graduation of former scholars.

 Funding and Support

In addition to the funding provided by the home academic program, GJMPP scholars are also provided a $10,000 annual stipend (4 years for doctorate, 5 semesters for MFA). The stipend is distributed over eight semesters for doctoral students (total of $40,000 over four academic years) and five semesters for MFA students (total of $25,000).

Additionally, the academic program must provide the fellow with whichever is greater:

• 50% tuition and fee abatement plus an $8,000 annual stipend OR
• The standard level of funding for a graduate assistant in the academic unit

Required Materials

In the nomination letter, we encourage academic programs to highlight the particular attributes, accomplishments, special interests, and unique contributions that make the nominee an outstanding prospective scholar. Nomination letters should include:

1. Applicant’s Personal Statement
2. Two Reference letters (including official nomination from a USC academic Program)
3. Formal notification of Admission from the Graduate School
4. Proof of a 3.4 GPA or higher
5. Written commitment of financial support from a USC academic program. The nomination letter must include a letter of financial support from the academic program. The financial support letter must include the Academic Program Funding Commitment Table below indicating the specific anticipated funding package from the academic program each year. The nomination will not be considered without this table. Download the Academic Funding Commitment Table.

Academic Year	% Tuition to be Abated1	Stipend from Program	Additional Guaranteed Funding from Outside the Academic Program2	Total Stipend3	Standard Level of Funding for PhD/MFA Student in Program4
2024-25
2025-26
2026-27
2027-28

¹ Tuition abatement from the academic program. Abatement provided by the student (from USC employment or the military, for example) does not count.

² Must identify the source.

³ Sum of 'Stipend from Program' and 'Additional Guaranteed Funding' columns.

⁴ Provide for informational purposes. Write 'N/A' if your program does not have a standard funding level.

The program must provide the fellow with whichever is greater:

• 50% tuition and fee abatement plus an $8,000 annual stipend OR
• The standard level of funding for a graduate assistant in the academic unit 

Submission Instructions

All nominations should come from the department or program, not directly from the student. Web-based applications are no longer accepted. Nominations from the department or program should be forwarded to Dr. Andrea Fleming.

Deadline

The application deadline is February 24, 2024.

Questions can be forwarded to Dr. John McFadden, Director of the Grace Jordan McFadden Professors Program at JMCFADDE@mailbox.sc.edu.

We look forward to welcoming another cohort of GJMPP scholars to the Gamecock community!