Senior Fellows | Center for Christian Study at USF

Purpose

The Senior Fellows Program brings together a small community of Christian faculty members who contribute their scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and wisdom to the life and mission of the Center for Christian Study at USF.

Senior Fellows help the Center create spaces in which students, faculty, and members of the wider community can encounter the intellectual and spiritual riches of the historic Christian faith. Through their participation, Senior Fellows strengthen the Center’s educational programs, mentor emerging Christian scholars and leaders, and help guide the Center’s ongoing development.

The program recognizes that faculty members are essential partners in the Center’s work of integrating faith, learning, vocation, and life.

The Role of a Senior Fellow

A Senior Fellow is a faculty member or established scholar who:

  • Demonstrates excellence and credibility within an academic discipline;

  • Is committed to the historic Christian faith and supportive of the Center’s mission, vision, and values;

  • Desires to help students integrate Christian faith with their studies, vocation, and formation;

  • Contributes regularly to the Center’s teaching, mentoring, or instructional programs; and

  • Participates in the collaborative leadership and intellectual life of the Center.

Senior Fellows hold a formal affiliation with the Center but are not members of its governing board and do not exercise fiduciary authority. Together with the Center’s staff, they form the Senior Fellows Council, which serves as the Center’s primary programmatic and intellectual leadership team.

Responsibilities

Each Senior Fellow is expected to participate in two principal ways during each active program month.

1. Educational Contribution

Each Senior Fellow will complete at least one educational contribution each month. Contributions may include:

  • Teaching a Fellows Program session, seminar, class, or reading group;

  • Coaching or mentoring a student Fellow;

  • Advising a student’s thesis, research, writing, or vocational discernment;

  • Leading a faculty or student discussion;

  • Giving or moderating a public lecture, panel, or conversation;

  • Developing curriculum or instructional materials;

  • Providing another comparable form of teaching or formation approved by the Center’s director.

The particular form of contribution may vary from month to month according to the needs of the Center and the Fellow’s expertise and availability.

2. Senior Fellows Council

Each Senior Fellow will participate in one Senior Fellows Council meeting each month.

The Council will normally:

  • Reflect on the Center’s mission and spiritual and intellectual direction;

  • Help shape educational programs and curriculum;

  • Review the progress and needs of the student Fellows Program;

  • Identify emerging opportunities and challenges at USF;

  • Recommend speakers, teachers, mentors, and institutional partners;

  • Provide counsel and encouragement to the Center’s staff; and

  • Pray for the Center, its students, and the university community.

The Council serves in an advisory and collaborative leadership capacity. Responsibility for day-to-day operations, personnel, finances, and final administrative decisions remains with the Center’s staff and governing board.

Appointment and Term

Senior Fellows are appointed by the Center’s executive director, with appropriate consultation, for a renewable term of one academic year.

Appointments are based on:

  • Alignment with the Center’s Christian mission and values;

  • Academic or professional qualifications;

  • Capacity for thoughtful teaching and mentorship;

  • Commitment to Christian unity and respectful intellectual engagement;

  • The programmatic needs of the Center; and

  • The ability to participate consistently in the life of the Center.

Appointments may be renewed by mutual agreement. The program will ordinarily include two to four Senior Fellows so that the group remains relational, collaborative, and actively engaged.

Stipend

Senior Fellows receive a modest monthly stipend in recognition of their regular contributions to the Center.

The stipend is not intended to represent full compensation for the professional value of a Fellow’s time or expertise. It expresses the Center’s gratitude, establishes mutual commitment, and makes consistent participation more sustainable.

The amount, payment schedule, term, and administrative conditions of the stipend will be stated in each Fellow’s annual letter of appointment.

Relationship to USF

The Center for Christian Study at USF is an independent organization serving the university community. Appointment as a Senior Fellow is an affiliation with the Center and does not constitute an appointment, endorsement, or official responsibility of the University of South Florida.

Each Senior Fellow is responsible for complying with any applicable university policies concerning outside activities, conflicts of interest, use of university resources, and disclosure of outside compensation.

A Community of Christian Scholarship

Senior Fellows are more than occasional speakers or program volunteers. They form a community of Christian scholars committed to the intellectual and spiritual formation of students and to the flourishing of the university.

Through teaching, mentoring, conversation, hospitality, prayer, and shared leadership, Senior Fellows help cultivate a Center where Christian faith seeks understanding and where students are prepared for faithful, virtuous leadership in every sphere of culture and life.