The Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) is designed to support promising doctoral students with a passion for becoming faculty members for the diverse student population in the California State University (CSU) system.

What is the CDIP Community Commons?


The Commons is a collection of resources to support development of potential future CSU faculty. Materials have been selected to facilitate:

  • Awareness of the activities that make up faculty life,
  • Knowledge of the process of obtaining a faculty position
  • Engagement with questions and resources to become a more competitive applicant for CSU faculty positions, and
  • Connections across the system to prepare for CSU academic life.

While this collection of materials is designed to support participants in the CDIP program, we welcome all new faculty, as well as those who support faculty in other settings, and invite everyone to contribute. In addition to this home page, six areas will be explored in the Commons: Career Talk, Faculty Life (Scholarly Teaching, Research and Service), About CDIP Commons, and Sharing Ideas in MERLOT.


Career Talk

Faculty members track and communicate their records of accomplishment in a number of ways, including development of a curriculum vitae and a professional portfolio. A well-constructed record is key to obtaining a faculty position.  Expertise making a case of accomplishment, along with knowledge of other issues such as the nature of faculty life, governance structures, professional expectations, campus resources, and the retention, tenure, promotion process are extremely valuable when pursuing or retaining a faculty position in the CSU system.


Faculty Life

The mission of the CSU is dependent upon highly qualified faculty who engage in Scholarly Teaching, Research and Service. Applicants to CSU faculty positions must demonstrate a record of accomplishment in these three areas to be a competitive candidate for campus positions, and eventually to achieve tenure.

  • Scholarly Teaching
    Teaching at the university level is a complex and extremely demanding endeavor. By making effective use of resources new faculty members may streamline their development in to accomplished teachers. This section is designed to direct new faculty members to questions they may want to ask and resources that may help them find answers.
  • Scholarly Research
    Conducting high caliber original research and sharing it broadly is an expected component of CSU faculty life. In addition to many resources to guide research practices and enhance them, the commons offers materials related to ethics, ways to locate additional resources, and how to use collaboration or combined research methods to enhance a research agenda. This section is designed to explore issues related to how, where and when to go public and ways to build an increasingly complex pattern of research.
  • Scholarly Service
    Outstanding faculty members are fully engaged in the intellectual community. While new faculty members may start with fewer service responsibilities, they should be thinking about how to progress into broader and deeper service to their department, college campus, field of study and national/international organizations. Thoughtful ways to think about this progression are considered in this section of the commons.


About CDIP Commons

The commons resulted from several years of planning. The process used to determine what to include, who had contributed, and how to organize the materials is outlined on this page.


Sharing Ideas: MERLOT

A collection of tutorials describes ways to use the MERLOT archive of teaching and learning materials.  The Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) archive contains many types of materials for teaching either face to face or online. Some of the materials are: case studies, animations, simulations, assessments, and lessons searchable by field of study.  It is also a wonderful place to locate and contact people with similar interests in the area of teaching and learning.

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Faculty Career Resources

About the CSU System

  • Chancellor's Office Home Page
  • Offers information about the 23 CSU campuses, opportunities for students, faculty and staff, initiatives underway,
    and governance of the CSU system.

Search for a Faculty Position

  • CSU Careers
  • A searchable database for faculty positions across the CSU by type, region, campus, or discipline.
  • Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program
  • An overview of this program designed to support promising graduate students with a passion for teaching in the CSU, along with application details.

Sites of Interest

Share your ideas with us

  • If you have ideas or suggestions for this site, please send us an email!