Distinctive Features of the Mellon Scholars
Summer Program: To provide financial and intellectual support for students
to undertake a substantial scholarly project in-residence during
the summer, typically between their junior and senior years, though
sophomores may apply. Unlike other research grants at Hope College,
the student’s research agenda rather than the faculty member’s
drives the Mellon Summer Fellowship. Mellon Scholars and their
faculty mentors are expected to participate in the lunches and
presentation venues for summer scholars that are sponsored by the
Arts and
Humanities
Division. The summer project should produce results that can be
presented by the end of the summer, and, in some cases, it may
become the basis
for a more ambitious junior or senior project. For rising seniors
the summer research fellowship may be an opportunity to extend
or refine a project that may serve as a sample of their research
capabilities
in applications to graduate programs.
Applications: To be submitted
jointly by the student and his or her proposed faculty mentor
by April 1 to the Director of the Program
for consideration by the Mellon Scholars Committee. The application
should include, in no more than four pages, the following elements:
a description of project, the scope of the work to be undertaken,
the integration of technology, as appropriate, preparation for
the project,
a plan for dissemination of the results, the relevance of the project
to the student’s academic program and professional plans, and
a budget, including hours to be worked and related expenses. The
application should also include letters of support from the proposed
faculty mentor
and one other faculty member. The faculty mentor’s
letter should assess the quality of the student’s application
proposal (i.e., the value of the project, the feasibility of the
work plan, and the student’s
preparation for the project). The faculty mentor’s letter also
should state how the project would relate to the mentor’s other
summer activities and funding. Preference will be given to projects
that integrate technology and enable online disseminationof results.
Funding
Details and Expectations:
1. Normally, the term of the funding
is defined as 4 weeks for rising juniors and 8 weeks for rising
seniors, though other arrangements
may be proposed. The Mellon Scholars Program encourages faculty
mentors
and students to think creatively about how they might make use
of support
for mentoring and research during the summer.
2. The total support
for students may not exceed $4,000 and for faculty mentors may
not exceed $1,000.
3. The Mellon Scholars Committee need not allocate
all summer fellowship funding if there is a shortage of appropriate
projects;
remaining
funds may be held in reserve for subsequent summer fellowships,
research-related travel and conferences for students, and funding
for needed technology.
4. Normally, Mellon Summer Fellows (students)are
funded at a rate of $350 per 40-hour week ($8.75 per hour), plus
expenses approved
in advance by the Mellon Scholars Committee (or by the faculty
mentor and director during the summer). The rate of funding is
subject to
adjustment according to institutional norms for student compensation.
5.
Mellon Summer Fellows may not undertake other employment, including
service funded by Nyenhuis faculty-student collaborative grants,
during the term of the project.
6. Mellon Summer Fellows receive a 50%
housing discount, subsidized by Hope College, during the term
of the research project. Students are responsible for the other 50%.
7. During the term of the fellowship,
Summer Fellows and Faculty Mentors are expected to attend at least
half of the Summer Research
Mentoring Lunches and the Summer Research Showcase normally held
at the beginning of the fall semester.
8. Completed summer
research projects will be placed in the student’s
electronic portfolio for the Mellon Scholars Program and in the
institutional repository for faculty and student research.
9. Students
and faculty mentors will complete the “Research Project
Self Assessment and Faculty Self-Assessment of Student Work” at
the end of the fellowship.
10. Faculty mentors are compensated
at a rate of $125 per week of involvement in the fellowship
up to a maximum compensation
of $1,000).
They are expected to be available for individual meetings on
a weekly basis and to provide timely support and feedback on projects.
Faculty
mentors are expected to be available locally for at least half
of the term of the grant. Stipends are divided for shared mentoring
arrangements (e.g. two mentors for one month provides a $250 stipend
for each mentor).
Please
direct any questions about Mellon Scholars Summer Research to
the Director of the Program.
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