The tightrope helps with learning extreme balance and concentration. You body and your focus makes a triangle with the rope. Also, walking on the rope helps you learn where your weight is (because you can't move outside your weight) and to continue breathing (which is what finally got me across!). --Mallory Morris (Theater)
The tightrope helps with learning extreme balance and concentration. You body and your focus makes a triangle with the rope. Also, walking on the rope helps you learn where your weight is (because you can't move outside your weight) and to continue breathing (which is what finally got me across!).
--Mallory Morris (Theater)
The purpose of the Exploration Scholars Program is to encourage and facilitate scholarship in the arts, music, humanities, journalism, or other fields dealing with more qualitative, creative or exploratory scholarship methods. The program also encourages research in the areas of business, law, public health, social work, education, and other currently under-represented fields for undergraduate scholarship. Honors College students are encouraged to pursue research in these and other areas.
The Exploration Scholars program is intended in the spirit of Lewis and Clark, who made valuable contributions to our early understanding of western North America, despite never fulfilling their original intended purpose of finding a water-based route to the western coast. Similarly, this program finds value in students engaging in inquiry and gaining research skills and an understanding of the realities of scholarship in the field, even if the process does not result in immediate discovery or the intended discovery. Creative expression projects are also encouraged. Exploration Scholar projects may therefore take a number of forms depending on the discipline and students and faculty are encouraged to consider high-risk, but potentially high-payoff, exploratory projects.
Please learn more about previous students' Exploration Scholars research:
The Exploration Scholars program is designed to allow Honors College students to work with a mentor on a project in the mentor's discipline area. Ideally, the student and mentor jointly conceive the project idea or it should be student initiated, but for students in the early stages of their development as scholars, their work may serve to directly facilitate the mentor's research program. While the Scholars' project may be a part of the mentor's program and may contribute directly towards the faculty member's scholarship, the student should have a clear sense of involvement and ownership of the project, and not be seen in the role of a work-study student.
Faculty mentors are expected to be permanent full-time faculty on the Columbia campus of USC or the Medical School. If you wish to be mentored by an appropriately credentialed person who is not a USC faculty member, please contact Dr. Alexander in the Honors College. If a student wishes to change mentors once an award has been made, petition must be made to the Honors College directly and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. There are multiple ways to find a mentor. You may strike up an interest in the work of a professor from whom you take a class. You can search using keywords in Office of Undergraduate Research or the USCera database of faculty research interests. Students are also encouraged to explore on a faculty member's departmental webpage. Reading a research paper written by a faculty member is an excellent way to determine if you are interested in that research area. It also gives you a high degree of credibility and demonstrates self-initiative when you then contact the faculty member and ask questions and if they are taking any students in that area.
Exploration Scholars funding is available to all Honors College students, Sophomore and above, wanting to pursue research in their field of interest. Students may apply for a combination of awards not to exceed a lifetime maximum of $4,500 per student. Please note, Exploration Scholars funding cannot be used to support a student when enrolled in SCHC 499 (Senior Thesis); please apply for a Senior Thesis grant instead.
Exploration Scholars funding may be awarded to students just beginning to develop scholarship skills in a discipline. Examples of the range of "apprentice" projects include preparation of research materials for use by the faculty member, search and identification of appropriate venues for exhibiting artistic work, compilation of primary sources into an annotated bibliography, etc.
Funding may also be awarded to students who are more experienced and/or possess more research skills. Examples of the range of "journeyman" activities include pursuing more open-ended research questions or investigations where the source, type, nature or location of the data or resources are more ambiguous and require significant intellectual creativity and/or tenacity as well as more independence on the part of the student.
Project funds may be used to pay a stipend to the student for the time they work on the project (at a rate of $10/hour) up to a total of $3,000 per year and $4,500 per student cumulative over their SCHC career. SCHC students are additionally eligible for the USC Magellen Scholars funding program.
A detailed budget must be submitted as part of the application. If during the course of a project, unanticipated needs are discovered, a student must submit a revised budget in order to receive approval for expenses not included in the original budget. Please note, the revised budget must be submitted prior to incurring expenses not included in the original budget, as non-approved expenses cannot be reimbursed. Funds will not be awarded retroactively for work already performed or materials purchased without prior approval. In addition, funds must be spent during the approved funding period and cannot be carried over into the next funding cycle. Funds not utilized during the duration of the project remain within the Honors College.
The work schedule is flexible: students can begin work as early as July 1 of each year and go as late as June 30 of the same academic/fiscal year. The number of hours worked per week as well as exact nature of the tasks is determined by mutual agreement between the faculty member and student. Students can receive a stipend for up to 15 hours of work per week during weeks that classes are in session. During breaks, funding may provide support for up to 40 hrs per week.
As with any funding agency, the Honors College requires a written report on the results of the supported project. If your results are not what you expected, that is fine. Simply summarize and report what you did and what you found and subsequent future research or recommendations you think should be pursued as a result. Students are strongly encouraged to present their project at the USC Discovery Day Research Fair in April upon completion of their projects. In addition, students may choose to present at a local professional meeting. In some cases, students work closely with their mentor and are able to co-publish the results of their work in a peer-reviewed journal.
Students may use a portion of their SCHC funding to be reimbursed for presentation materials to facilitate their participation in Discovery Day or other local conference if specified in a detailed budget request.
The following conditions apply:
Interested students must contact Dr. Alexander to schedule an interview, susan@schc.sc.edu. Following the interview, the student along with the faculty mentor should jointly complete the Undergraduate Research Fellowship & Scholars Program application. All applications must include a detailed budget indicating how the funds will be spent (stipend, materials, etc.). Budget revisions may be submitted later to cover initially unanticipated expenses or opportunities however, the revision must be submitted for approval prior to incurring the expense.
The following sample applications will help you in completing your own:
Collaborative and interdisciplinary projects involving several students are encouraged. Please clearly indicate and delineate such connections among individual applications when applying. Funding limits are per student, not per project.
Funding periods:
April 16, 2012 deadline for funding period July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013
September 4, 2012 deadline for funding September 15, 2012 - June 30, 2013
Please expect 30 days from the time you submit your application until notification of award decision. Please also be aware you need to allow two weeks for the paperwork to be processed.
For more information about the Exploration Scholars Program, please contact:
Susan Alexander, Ph.D. Director of Service Learning/Undergraduate Research 803-777-8005 susan@schc.sc.edu