Ford Scholars

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Students

Applications, along with an unofficial copy of your most recent transcript, are due
to cajarvis@vassar.edu by Wednesday, February 11, 2009. (Carol Jarvis, Box 15, 437-5844)

Download student application (Word)

Vassar College Ford Scholars Program - Summer 2009

The Ford Scholars Program provides financial support for collaborative summer research projects between Vassar undergraduates (current freshmen, sophomores and juniors, especially minority students) and Vassar faculty members in the humanities and social sciences.  Students apply to work as research assistants on faculty-initiated projects.

The Program involves:

1. The collaborative research project may last a maximum of eight weeks and may be conducted either on or off campus.   Projects conducted on campus should be completed within the ten-week time frame between Monday, May 25, and Friday, July 31, 2009.  (For example, an 8-week project beginning on May 25 would end on July 187.
2. At the end of the project, the Ford Scholar is expected to write a summary/abstract about the summer’s work and submit it to the Program Director (August 2009).
3. Teaching/professional component (when appropriate):  student presentations of the findings in a Vassar course or related professional activity of the faculty mentor (academic year).

Detailed descriptions of the Summer 2009 projects and the application form will be available online once the projects have been determined. The application deadline is Wednesday, February 11, 2009.  Please email your application and transcript to cajarvis@vassar.edu.

Please note the following guidelines:

1. All Ford Scholars are expected to work full-time (40 hours per week) during the designated project dates.
2. Members of the Classes of '10, ’11 or ‘12 who have not previously been Ford Scholars may apply.  Applications from students of color are especially welcome.  Students who have been approved for academic leaves for 2009/10 may apply.  
3. Qualified students may apply for more than one project, but a separate application form and transcript must be submitted for each project.  The application form may be photocopied or reproduced on your computer (be sure to include all requested information).  Specific academic skills or interests sought by the faculty mentor are indicated in their proposal; please read these with care and address them in your application.
4. The student stipend for an eight-week project is $3,200 (subject to taxation), from which the student must pay room and board.  Stipends for projects of fewer than eight weeks will be pro-rated.
5. For on-campus projects, scholars are eligible to apply for residence housing ($5 per day); however, scholars are not required to live in a dorm or to be on the meal plan.  For projects away from campus, scholars are responsible for securing their own housing and travel arrangements.  Please note that for off-campus projects, room, board and travel expenses may be greater than for on-campus projects.  Each project is eligible to be reimbursed for research-related expenses.  With the approval of the faculty mentor, some or all of these monies may be designated for subsidizing student travel to the research site.

If you have any questions about a particular project, please contact the individual faculty member.  The faculty mentors will participate in the selection process.  In general, the selection is based on the application form information and the student's academic record at Vassar. In selected cases, faculty mentors may request personal interviews with applicants.

Katherine Hite
Ford Scholar Program Director