Community-Engaged Summer Research Opportunities

The Community-Engaged Summer Research Program provides opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty members as full participants in community-engaged research.

Students selected for these competitive awards will receive a $4,000 stipend, summer housing and up to $500 in funds for research materials and supplies if necessary. Primary components of this program are a public presentation of the student’s work at the conclusion of the research project and a community-based presentation on the collaboration and findings. The Community-Engaged Research Program is supported in part by the "Sense of Place" grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Jump to: How to Apply and Program Details | Additional Guidelines | Selection of Awards

How to Apply and Program details

Proposals

Proposal submissions for summer 2020 are due no later than 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2020. A complete proposal consists of:

The Summer Research Application
Project Description and Budget: clear, concise description of the goals and methodology of the proposed project, understandable to individuals outside the discipline (limit 2000 words), as well as a budget detailing expenses limited to materials, equipment, and travel directly related to the research project — uploaded pdf as part of the application.
Faculty Mentor Form: This form allows the faculty mentor to describe how the proposed projects supports/advances their scholarly interests, to provide a clear plan for mentorship and collaboration, and evaluates the readiness of the student to take on the proposed research. The mentor also indicates whether grant funds may be available to support the student stipend and expenses beyond the $500 research budget.h team is responsible for completing the Summer Research Application, while the faculty mentor completes part 3 and submits it directly.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Students awarded a summer research scholarship whose research involves the use of human subjects must apply to the Kenyon College Institutional Review Board for review of their research protocol. Be sure to read the IRB information for researchers and pay special attention to their advice to student researchers and advice to summer scholars. IRB applications should be submitted well in advance of the start date of your program and research.

Equipment and Materials

Students may apply for assistance in meeting the costs of research, including presenting results at conferences. If these requests are funded, any materials, supplies and equipment will become property of the College and remain with the sponsoring faculty member’s department or the Office for Community Partnerships. An estimated budget must be prepared and submitted with each proposal. Costs for equipment and materials or conference travel, if appropriately invoiced and receipted in the Accounting Office and approved by the faculty mentor, may not exceed $500.

Public Talks

Community-Engaged Research Summer Scholars will present their research at two public talks before the end of the fall 2019 semester, one of which will be in a community-based setting and the other usually occurs during Family Weekend.

Final Paper

Students will also be required to submit an electronic copy of the final comprehensive paper that serves as the research project’s concluding report by Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Submit the paper to Alyssa Lawrence at lawrencea@kenyon.edu.

Transcript Notation

Students who successfully complete a summer community-engaged research project in accordance with program and project requirements and who receive the endorsement of their faculty mentor will have this summer research experience noted on their College transcript.

additional GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING PROPOSALS

The proposal must contain a clear and concise statement of the research questions and focus of the
research. Explain clearly what it is that you are attempting to investigate and why your question is
important. This might include a statement about your field or discipline's approach to your question or
related issues. Include information about your desired collaboration with a community partner and
information regarding the value this research would bring to that partner and the broader community.
The proposal should contain a statement about the sources of information, data, or literature about your research topic. Here you will want to talk about what materials or sources you think exist to advance your work as well as how you expect and intend to access these sources. You might also discuss why your project requires funding and cannot be accomplished through a class assignment (e.g. it requires travel to archives, it involves field work or interviews of subjects, etc.).
The proposal should articulate your goals and objectives in pursuing the research. Ask yourself what you hope to have achieved or accomplished when you have finished your work. Further you might reflect upon how you will assess or evaluate whether your project was successful.
The proposal must contain a statement about the methodology you expect to employ in your research. Indicate why you have chosen this approach as opposed to others.
The proposal must contain a well-conceived timetable for the research, indicating the anticipated calendar of tasks week-by-week; this is where you will show that you have realistically calculated the time it should take to accomplish the phases of your work. If you are enrolled in an individual study course or some other class during the spring semester through which you can prepare for the summer research, you should discuss this in your proposal. If you expect to enroll in such a course in the fall to continue the research, this should be discussed as well. Of course, projects that involve human subjects will require Kenyon IRB approval, so your proposal's timetable should reflect your planning and intentions in this regard.
A good proposal will be clear and understandable to a reader who is not an expert or even particularly knowledgeable in your field of inquiry. It will avoid unnecessary jargon in favor of demonstrating a sophisticated and nuanced approach to the issues presented therein. Be sure to proofread it and submit it in a form that shows that you appreciate the fact that your receipt of an award is based entirely upon the impression that your proposal will make upon the selection committee.