Independent study grants
A message from the dean
Course-based instruction in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) provides our students with a high quality education, but that’s only part of what is available to prepare them for career and life success.
As a college, we are committed to providing comprehensive educational and research opportunities for motivated undergraduate students in all of our majors.
CAS provides two grant opportunities for undergraduate students that can help them pursue independent projects and research under the guidance of a CAS faculty member: one program provides grants for the academic year and the other for summer initiatives.
The Summer Undergraduate Mini-grant Program began more than 15 years ago and has provided funding for dozens of students, primarily in the natural and physical sciences. The grants (up to $3,000) are intended to offset the student’s summer housing and living expenses as well as cost of materials for independent project. This past summer, CAS awarded 15 grants to students in five disciplines for projects as diverse as agricultural modeling, computer language translation, radiopharmaceuticals, and environmental studies in Vancouver Lake and on Mt. St. Helens.
The CAS Grants for Undergraduate Scholars is a new initiative designed to augment opportunities for students on the Pullman campus during the school year. Each grant, up to a $1,500 maximum, is coordinated through the faculty mentor for direct support of the project. In the first year of the program, 14 grant applications were approved and supported a broad range of projects in arts, humanities, and sciences, from x-ray diffraction to job discrimination to theater to prescription drug recognition.
Funding proposals for the second round of academic year grants are due Friday, October 4, 2013. Summer grant applications will be available next spring. These are both great opportunities for our students; if you know of a talented undergraduate who might be interested in either program, please pass along the information.
Once CAS students have completed their projects, they are encouraged to share and disseminate their work in publications and presentations, both on- and off-campus One vehicle for communicating undergraduate student scholarly work is our new peer-reviewed online journal, ASK.
ASK: Arts. Science. Knowledge. is a CAS showcase of faculty-mentored student production, highlighting quality undergraduate scholarly research and creative work from all disciplines encompassed by the college across WSU campuses. It is a venue for students to disseminate research results, display their creativity, and contribute perspectives that touch upon a diversity of knowledge and artistic expressions. ASK provides a platform for all CAS students who are committed to excellence in scholarly and creative work, and supports the research and educational mission of the college and Washington State University.
The first issue of ASK is quite impressive. It includes 13 projects completed by 15 students under the supervision of 12 CAS mentors in 8 different departments.
The keys to success for each of these programs are the CAS faculty mentors, who not only train students in their respective scholarly disciplines but provide insights for students as leaders in their fields. Truly, a world class, face-to-face student experience.