The Cal State University foundation awarded a $442,000 grant for the university’s Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program last month.
The purpose of the grant is to provide undergraduate students with academic training and financial support in order to help them with their pursuit of a doctoral degree.
According to Angela Locks, director of the office of undergraduate research services and principal investigator in the program, the grant will extend from 2018 to 2021.
“The 2018 cohort will include four sophomores and each following year of the grant a new group of four sophomores/rising juniors will join the program,” Locks said in an email.
Fellows involved in Mellon Mays will work with faculty on research projects, participate in a summer program with other members and continue their research for their final two years in the university.
According to The Andrew W. Mellon’s Foundation, the program aims to increase diversity on academic campuses and provide resources for underrepresented students to achieve financial success at the highest levels in universities. The foundation has expanded to almost 50 campuses around the country.
“Undergraduate research is a priority for our campus and is integral to our strategic plan,” President Jane Close Conoley said in a press release on Feb. 14. “We are grateful for the Mellon Foundation’s generous support of humanities students.”
The foundation doesn’t directly give individual students the award. Instead, the university Mellon Mays Institution selects fellows from a pool of students who formally applied to the program.
According to Locks, all students are encouraged to apply, but applications are encouraged from African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and other underrepresented minorities.
A typical eligible student is one who is of sophomore standing, has a GPA of 3.5 or higher and plans to pursue a doctoral degree in fields of study approved by the university’s Mellon institution.
Basic requirements for selection require a completed application, a resume, a writing sample, two letters of recommendation from faculty and an academic transcript.
The deadline to apply is March 14. For specific information of how to send in the application, visit the application and eligibility tab on the university Mellon Mays website.
Eligible fields of study include Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Asian and Asian American Studies, Art History, Chicano Latino Studies, Comparative World Literature & Classics, Design, English, Film, Geography, History, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistics, Music (Musicology), Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political Science (with emphasis on political theory or political philosophy), Religious Studies, Romance, German and Russian Languages and Literature, Sociology, Theater Arts (emphasis on theoretical lines of inquiry), Women Gender & Sexuality Studies.