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Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Scholars Program
in the Arts and Humanities
Hope College
Holland, MI 49422-9000

  

Senior Tutorial Guidelines

Guidelines for the Mellon Scholars Senior Tutorial and Project:

  1. The Mellon Senior Tutorial and Project is a two-semester sequence taken during the fall and spring semesters of the senior year.
  2. Continuing Mellon Scholars register for an independent study in their major discipline with their mentor in the spring of the junior year and the fall of the senior year. The topic of the Mellon Senior Tutorial must be approved by the mentor and the director in advance of registration. At the end of each semester Mellon credit will be given to the student if the work performed meets the expectations of the Program Director in consultation with the Mellon Scholars Committee. The approval of the appropriate department chair is required if the student seeks course credit in a disciplinary area for a major or minor.
  3. A project proposal must be submitted to the program director before October 1 for approval by the Mellon Scholars Committee in order for a student to register for the spring semester of the Mellon Senior Tutorial. The proposal (no more than 1,000 words) should include a description of the project, an explanation of its scholarly significance, including a supporting bibliography, plans for incorporating digital technology, and, in some cases, a budget for appropriate expenses. It should also include a 1-page endorsement from the student’s faculty mentor(s).
  4. The Senior Tutorial and Project may not substitute for a departmental capstone experience without the permission of the appropriate department chair.
  5. The Senior Tutorial and Project is undertaken with a single faculty mentor over both semesters of the senior year, but other arrangements are possible with the approval of the program director and the Mellon Scholars committee.
  6. At the conclusion of each semester of the tutorial, the student may apply for disciplinary credit with the approval of the appropriate department chair using the “credit/waiver substitution form.”
  7. The Senior Project is a substantial work of scholarly research, typically 40-50 pages or the equivalent, including creative production. The creative use of digital technology may constitute a portion of that written work.
  8. Seniors are encouraged to present their work at off-campus conferences appropriate to their disciplines and petition the program director for support to present their projects.
  9. Seniors are expected to present their work at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research.
  10. Off-campus study programs in the senior year, such as the Newberry Library Program, should support the preparation of the Senior Project. If a Mellon Scholar participates in an off-campus study program in the spring of the senior year, he or she must still participate in the Mellon Scholars Program’s conference presentations in order to complete the Program. That participation may be done electronically.
  11. Students who complete the Mellon Scholars Program will receive special recognition at the Honors Convocation and Commencement. Completion of the Program is also noted on Mellon Scholars’ academic transcripts.