About the CDIP Commons
Purpose of the commons
The CDIP Community Commons is designed as an orientation to faculty life for CDIP Scholars. It is based on the belief that awareness of and preparation for academic life will increase the competitiveness of applicants for a California State University (CSU) faculty position. The commons offers questions to consider, tips from veteran faculty members, and links to resources. By browsing through the commons and exploring the materials, potential CSU faculty members will understand the twenty-three campus university system better.
Audience for the Commons
As a CDIP Scholar you will learn what might be expected of you as a faculty member in the areas of teaching, research and service. We encourage you to use this site whether you are a potential future faculty member or a current faculty member in the CSU. Visit and revisit the site as new issues arise, new questions come to mind, or new challenges come your way.
Decisions about the commons design
When preparing this site, a group of dedicated individuals from a number of CSU campuses and the CSU Chancellor’s Office gathered together monthly over three years to brainstorm the common issues that faculty members face. After laying out the framework for the site, it was decided to house it on the MERLOT site, an archive of teaching materials that have been developed by faculty members around the world. The community commons template offers an easily accessible format that guides users to the many materials within the site.
How materials were selected
Materials were gathered for the issues identified as pertinent to faculty members from a wide variety of places, including refereed journals and books, newsletters, blogs, YouTube, and submissions by veteran faculty members. Each was reviewed for appropriateness, quality, innovative ideas, issues they address, and thinking they provoke. In no way does inclusion on the site imply agreement with the perspectives presented or advocacy. Instead resources are offered as multiple perspectives on an issue, alternative views, and as insight into the many and varied conversations going on about academic life. We hope we have offered a range of opinions, advice, and evidence that mirrors the broad views in the field
Universal issues
All of the campuses of the CSU system are diverse, individual, and unique universities in their own right, connected by their commitment to the students of California and increased access to higher education. There are some general principles that come up time and time again when talking with faculty about the Commons site. We have focused on these common issues along with common questions that new or potential faculty members ask about academic life.
To learn more
Visit the CDIP website to learn more about the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive program. Visit the CSU system website to learn more about the California State University System.
Credits
Many thanks to Robin Marion, CDIP Faculty Director, for collecting and organizing content from many faculty within and outside the CSU.
Many thanks to Gerry Hanley, Executive Director of MERLOT and Senior Director of Academic Technology Services at the CSU Chancellor's Office and the CSU Center for Distributed Learning for the technology framework and designs for the CDIP website.
We want to express genuine appreciation to Anthony Durgavich, Web Designer, CSULB student, for constructing the initial website and offering many design suggestions.
We are indebted to Sara Rogers, CSUF alum and CDIP staff for fine tuning and completing the Commons by uploading content, formatting links, and placing images.
Many other faculty members and graduate students, too numerous to mention, have provided feedback, suggestions, assistance and criticism that has greatly improved the Community Commons.
CDIP Working Group
The feedback from the CDIP Working Group has been invaluable to the construction of the Community Commons. Working Group contributors include:
Beth Ambos, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Initiatives & Partnerships
Cal Caplan, Kinesiology/PE, CSU East Bay
Anastasios Chassiakos, Pre-Doctoral Program Director, Engineering, CSU Long Beach
Laurie Faure, CDIP Program Coordinator, CSU Chancellor’s Office
Ester Hernandez, Chicano Studies, CSU Los Angeles
Cecile Lindsay, Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies, CSU Long Beach
Robin Marion, CDIP Director, College of Education, CSU San Marcos
Margy Merryfield, Academic Human Resources, Chancellor’s Office
Christine Miller, Communication Studies, CSU Sacramento
Kip Polakoff, Pre-Doctoral Program, History, CSU Long Beach
Lorie Roth, Academic Affairs, Chancellor’s Office
Cynthia Sherman, Business Lecturer/Graduate Student, CSU Pomona
Luis Soto-Ortiz, Ph.D. Engineering Student, Cal Tech
Resources for
CDIP Commons
Support for Faculty Members
MERLOT Communities
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
MERLOT Community Portals are categorized by discipline and program area to provide users with centers that contain a broad spectrum of resources.
Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP)
This program offers financial, mentoring and professional development supports to promising graduate students who are interested in becoming California State University faculty members. CDIP applications are solicited each fall for the following academic year and are submitted through individual campuses.
CSU Professional
Development Opportunities
