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Students Partnering with Faculty (SpF)

Faculty guiding student

Program Description

The Students Partnering with Faculty (SpF) Summer Research Program is a competitive program that
was developed in 2004 to support and advance student and faculty research, scholarship, and creative
work at Kean University. Full-time faculty who are located on one of the Kean USA campuses may
submit proposals, in collaboration with undergraduate or masters-level graduate students, for a specific student-faculty research project. After receiving two consecutive awards, faculty must sit out a year before applying again.

Application Link

Application opens on November 1st
Application closes on January 29th

Click here to view application questions before starting application

Students Partnering with Faculty (SpF) Application

Eligibility and Guidelines

SpF Guidelines (PDF)

  • All full-time faculty with a home location on one of the Kean USA campuses are eligible to apply
  • Faculty who have received two consecutive SpF awards must wait a year before applying again.
  • All students currently enrolled as undergraduate or masters-level graduate students and who will be enrolled at Kean during the fall semester following the award in an undergraduate or masters-level graduate program are eligible to participate.
  • A minimum of two students and a maximum of three students per team are allowed to apply.
  • The summer research project should be different from research done in fulfillment of a requirement of the student’s academic program and cannot be used to earn academic credit.

Review Criteria

Proposals are reviewed by a university-wide committee of past SpF recipients and faculty who are active student research mentors using the following criteria:

Project Significance – 40 points

  • Does the project relate to important issues in the discipline?
  • Are the goals and methods realistic?
  • Is the timeline realistic? Does it conform with SpF guidelines (6 weeks in the summer, followed by continued work in the fall semester)

Faculty Impact – 20 points

  • Does the applicant make a case for how this project fits within their established research agenda?

Student Impact – 40 points

  • Is the level of faculty interaction sufficient for an authentic research experience and real research training to occur?
  • Are the student’s research responsibilities described in sufficient detail?
  • Does the student effectively express an interest in the research?
  • Does the dissemination plan provide opportunities for the student to present, publish or perform?

Additionally, the committee considers the originality of the project or applicability to a community need.

The record of the faculty researcher and undergraduate research supervision experience is also an
element in the review.

Award

  • The award period is May 1 to April 30. The project must begin by June 15 of the award year. The project must consist of a minimum of 6 weeks of research during the summer and should be continued during the academic year.
  • Student researchers receive $3,500 stipends each (no fewer than two, no more than three students per faculty researcher).
  • Faculty research mentors receive a $3,500 stipend. Two faculty may apply as co-mentors, sharing the stipend.
  • A maximum amount of $2,000 in materials to support the student-faculty project may be awarded, based on the budget submitted with the proposal.
  • All items purchased must use the Kean University purchasing system. There will be no reimbursement for items purchased any other way.
  • All funds awarded must be used by the award end date of April 30. Carryover is not allowed.

Notice of Award

The President's office and CURF will announce awards at the beginning of March. All
administrative procedures will be coordinated by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) on
behalf of the Office of the President. SpF funded projects must comply with all University policies and procedures, including purchasing, travel authorization requests, and hiring of student research assistants.

Reporting

A progress report must be submitted to ORSP by September 30th of the award year. A final report must be
submitted by April 30 of the following year.

Students are expected to present the results of the project during University Research Days in April.