Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program Description
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) selects ten students in their sophomore year to join a tightly-knit research community during junior and senior years to conduct independent research in close collaboration with a faculty mentor and attend monthly seminar meetings with twenty other fellows.
Funded primarily by the Mellon Foundation, MMUF exists to counter the under-representation of minority groups on college and university faculties nationwide. MMUF encourages minority students, and others with a demonstrated commitment to racial diversity, to pursue academic careers. It provides opportunities for talented undergraduates to work with faculty mentors and sponsors in research and other activities designed to encourage the pursuit of the PhD in the humanities and core sciences.
The Program aims over time to address not only the racial disparities in higher education but also the attendant educational consequences of these disparities. The program serves the related goals of structuring campus environments to be more conducive to improved racial and ethnic relations, and of providing role models for all youth. The name of the program symbolically connects the mission to the stellar achievements of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, educator, college president, and civil rights activist.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
MMUF Students meet monthly in seminar style meetings led by a combination of graduate students, the MMUF Faculty Advisor and Staff Coordinator and Invited Guests. Students are expected to conduct independent research in conjunction with a Harvard faculty mentor in addition to attending the monthly meetings. Juniors may serve as a research assistant to a faculty member and choose to begin an independent research project with that same faculty mentor at the end of junior year. Regular reflection papers on the research experience are expected. Seniors will present their research at the end of senior year in a MMUF Research Symposium open to members of the Harvard community.Throughout each academic year there are one to two opportunities to interact with MMUF Students from other campuses in the Northeast that support a MMUF program. In the past these Saturday mini-conferences have taken us to Wesleyan and Yale, both in Connecticut.
PROGRAM GOALS AND BENEFITS:
The program is designed to address two issues that may contribute to the small number of minority students who pursue the Ph.D.: lack of familiarity with the nature of academic careers and concern about the long-term cost of education.Learning About Academic Life: Program participants gain insight into the life of a professor by working closely with a faculty mentor on the faculty member's or the student's research. Along with enriching the student's academic life, these research experiences also enhance graduate school applications. One of the missions of the Mellon Program is to establish a community of young scholars who can share undergraduate research experiences and support one another throughout graduate school.
Financial Assistance: Fellows receive a term-time fellowship of $1600 for each academic year and up to $3400 for the summers after their sophomore and junior years provided that a student is conducting research related to the MMUF project. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship enables students to devote time to academic pursuits that they might otherwise have spent on part-time jobs. The term award is dispersed to students at the monthly seminars in increments of $200.
Funding for the program comes from two sources: the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Each cohort is divided into five Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows and five Mellon Mentored Undergraduate Fellows with the former group sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and the latter group sponsored by Harvard. The only distinction is that the Mellon Foundation sponsored cohort is eligible for loan reimbursement of up to $10,000 if a student receives a PhD. The loan forgiveness feature, available to students funded by the helps students overcome any disincentive to pursue an academic career caused by undergraduate loan indebtedness. Fellows who enroll in a Ph.D. program in one of the designated fields within 39 months of receiving their undergraduate degrees are eligible for up to $10,000 in undergraduate loan payments. The program repays guaranteed student loans in two halves. The first half is disbursed in yearly increments of $1250. The second half is repaid upon receipt of the Ph.D., provided that occurs within 6 years of entering graduate school. At the end of junior year, students are asked to write a letter requesting selection as a Mellon Foundation supported MMUF. In addition to loan reforgiveness, those selected are part of a larger community of academics representing undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty who have access to resources available through the Mellon Foundation.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY:
MMUF selects students during the spring of their sophomore year.Participation in the program is limited to students who are considering graduate study toward the Ph.D. in fields where minorities have been most severely under-represented, primarily the humanities and natural sciences. These fields include English and American Literature, Foreign Languages and Literatures (including area studies), History, Philosophy, Classics, Religion, Art History, Musicology, Anthropology, Demography, Sociology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Geology, Ecology, and Earth Science. Participation is not limited by undergraduate field of concentration, but the program focus is on encouraging graduate study in the arts and sciences. If you are considering an academic career in a field not listed here, please inquire at the SEO about the Harvard College Research Program. International students are eligible for the Harvard sponsored MMUF, but will not be eligible for loan reforgiveness.
PROGRAM SELECTION:
Up to ten fellows are chosen in March of their sophomore year for funding during junior and senior years and the summers between. Selection is based on academic performance and promise, interest in pursuing graduate study toward the Ph.D. in one of the designated fields, demonstrated commitment to increasing opportunities for under-represented minorities, and dedication to understanding persons of all races and ethnicities. Preference is given to students who have a faculty mentor or specific research interest identified at the time the application is due. The Review Committee is comprised of faculty, graduate students and administrators throughout the University who are focused on issues of access and opportunity for under-represented minorities.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship is due Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at the Student Employment Office at 86 Brattle Street. Please be sure to give your faculty recommenders ample time to meet this deadline.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES:
Please submit the following attachments along with your application form:- A statement of purpose describing your academic interests and possible career plans. Please explain why MMUF is integral to your future academic goals and what you hope to get out of the experience and the community of fellows. (2-4 pages double-spaced)
- A brief paper you have written for a Harvard class (no more than 5 pages double-spaced)
- A transcript, including your grades for the Fall Term 2007
- A resume, indicating your extracurricular activities and any honors or awards you have received
- Two letters of recommendation, at least one from a professor who has taught you at Harvard. (Please give a copy of the attached memo to anyone writing a letter of support for you.) Letters should be sent directly to Meg Brooks Swift, Director of Student Employment, 86 Brattle Street, Cambridge 02138
NOTIFICATION OF AWARD:
Selected students will be notified by April 15, 2008 and expected to attend a Welcome Reception on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 6 pm.