Faculty Fellows Program

Benefits of Being a Fellow

After their nomination by a current Fellow (see nomination process below) and approval by the Center’s Steering Committee, Faculty Fellows are appointed a three-year, renewable term and added to the Center’s Fellows directory.

Being a Faculty Fellow brings many benefits, including:

• Status as a core member of the geospatial analytics community at NC State
• Receive Graduate Faculty status in Geospatial Analytics at NC State
• Opportunity to collaborate with other Faculty Fellows across disciplines
• Opportunity to request matching funds to recruit and support Ph.D. students in the Geospatial Analytics Ph.D. program
• Opportunity to partner with MGIST students on capstone projects
• Open access to the Center’s shared computing infrastructure and software licensing agreements
• Priority access to Center meeting space and lab workstations for Geospatial Analytics Ph.D. students, as available
• Opportunity to include Center research staff, software engineers and service center in funded collaborative projects
• Opportunity for Center-affiliated research to be promoted through the Center’s science communication efforts such as press releases, social media, news blog, newsletter, etc.

Expectations of Being a Fellow

Faculty Fellows are pillars of the Center for Geospatial Analytics, making significant contributions to scholarly research and education and reflecting the Center’s commitment to excellence. 

In return for the benefits listed above, it is expected that Fellows will:

• Recruit and mentor one or more students in the Geospatial Analytics Ph.D. program and serve on Geospatial Analytics Ph.D. student dissertation committees
• Play a leadership role in the Center’s interdisciplinary collaborations to secure external funding
• Associate geospatial-related proposals and grants with the Center
• Affiliate geospatial-related research publications and presentations with both their academic department and the Center (guidance is available on the Center’s Internal Resources webpage) 
• Regularly attend the Geospatial Forum in person
• Participate in leadership activities for the Geospatial Forum such as hosting a guest speaker, moderating a panel discussion or presenting a studio demonstration at least once every three years

These activities are consistent with, and do not alter, faculty’s responsibilities in their home department, as delineated in their Statement of Faculty Responsibilities. They are also the metrics by which Fellows’ reappointment will be determined every three years.

How to Become a Fellow

NC State faculty with great potential for impactful engagement in geospatial research and education are nominated by current Fellows for a three-year term with potential for renewal.

The nomination is submitted to the Center’s Steering Committee for consideration, along with a personal statement written by the prospective Fellow and their CV. These documents are then reviewed by the Steering Committee, and the nominating fellow is invited to attend a committee meeting at which the vote will be held, to advocate for the nominee.

The nomination letter should include the following:

• What are the nominee’s most impressive geospatial accomplishments?
• How do you anticipate the nominee will leverage the Center and be an active fellow?

The nominee’s personal statement should provide answers to the following questions:

• How do you use geospatial analytics in your research? Provide examples that demonstrate your accomplishments.
• How will you leverage the Center to further your research and mentoring?
• How do you intend to be an active Fellow? In other words, which of the benefits listed above most interest you? Which of the expectations listed above most align with your intentions?

The nomination letter, personal statement, and CV should be emailed to the Center’s Executive Assistant, Lois Utt (ljutt@ncsu.edu).

Nominations are due March 15 for Fall appointment and October 15 for Spring appointment.