Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, Call for Graduate Mentors 2016/17
Deadline: July 1 2016
Now in its second year of collaboration, the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) and the Graduate College offer the opportunity for first and second-year undergraduate students to assist advanced graduate students (those who have completed all coursework requirements and are in the dissertation research stage) with their research projects. Through a one-on-one research experience with their graduate student mentor, undergraduate students will have the opportunity to learn what it means to do research, create knowledge, and produce scholarship. Graduate student mentors begin the program in Fall 2016; undergraduate students will begin work with their mentors in Spring 2017.
URAP @ UI seeks to provide advanced graduate students with valuable research assistance and an opportunity to gain important hands-on mentoring experience, guiding and directing an undergraduate apprentice. Undergraduate researchers will be given flexible course credit, at a minimum of 2 (equal to approximately 6 hours per week) and a maximum of 3 credit hours (equal to approximately 9 hours per week). The program provides a workshop and seminar series for graduate mentors in the Fall semester, designed to help them plan and prepare to make the most of the semester-long spring apprenticeship. Topics covered will include “building and maintaining an accountable mentoring relationship”; “planning and assigning a workflow timeline”; and “negotiating the mentor/mentee dynamic.” Graduate students will also receive a Certificate of Mentorship, issued by the Graduate College, at the completion of the program.
Graduate mentor applications should include:
- A current CV
- An unofficial transcript
- A letter of support from the prospective graduate mentor’s dissertation advisor
- A cover letter describing the graduate mentor’s dissertation project, how an undergraduate apprentice might be incorporated into the project, and the importance of participating in this apprenticeship program
- A writing sample, no more than 20 pages in length
An online application is available at the following link: URAP @ UI - Graduate Mentor Application. Graduate students with significant and proven experience working with individuals from U.S. minority populations under-represented at Illinois are encouraged to apply. For full consideration, submit applications by Friday, July 1, 2016.
[Please note: undergraduate applications will not be sought until October 2016.]
