In an effort to attract the most qualified students (both four years and transfer) the MMUF program at CSUSB would recruit potential fellows during the fall and winter quarter with the applications due at the beginning of the spring quarter (late March, early April). Decisions would be made during the first weeks of the spring quarter, and students would be notified of their standing by the third week of the spring quarter (early May).
Orientation and First Summer Project
During May, new fellows and their mentors would be brought together as a cohort for the first time. Early meetings will focus on introducing fellows to the comprehensive goals of the program while encouraging them to think broadly about their future plans. During the first summer students will attend a four-week residential program, the First Summer Fellowship Program (FSFP) at one of the CSU campuses where they will meet with the rest of the CSU Cohort. After completing the FSFP, fellows will begin the work on their research project and submit a discipline-specific literature review and/or annotated bibliography to the MMUF faculty advisor before the start of the fall term of their junior year. The pair will present their research during the summer symposium.
First Academic Year
CSUSB’s MMUF fellows will be required to attend weekly seminars over the course of their first academic year. Fellows will work as a research assistant for their faculty mentors during the first quarter of the year, with the goal of developing graduate-level research strategies. Fellows and their faculty mentors will submit a proposed research plan to the MMUF faculty coordinator at the start of the term and be required to submit a journal documenting their research experiences during this quarter. Students and faculty will also be asked to present a portion of this research at CSUSB’s Annual Meetings of the Minds event sponsored by the Office of Student Research in the spring of their first year. During the second and third quarters, MMUF fellows will also be asked to meet weekly with the Peer Research Consultant to create their long-term research plans and map out the process for completing their honors thesis.
Second Summer Project
During the second summer of their fellowship, MMUF fellows will conduct intensive individual research on their Mellon projects. Overseen by faculty mentors, the overarching goal of this summer will be the completion of the majority of the research for these projects and the early stages of discipline-specific writing. Fellows will be asked to present their research at CSUSB’s student research conferences during their second year.
Second Academic Year
Fellows will continue to meet weekly during the second year of their MMUF funding. Students will work with MMUF faculty to polish their statements of purpose and CVs and organize their application packages with the end goal being the submission of applications to the schools of their choice by the winter deadlines. For fellows that will not be graduating at the end of their second year, the primary focus will be on the creation of an application package to be submitted when they reach that point in their undergraduate studies. MMUF fellows will continue to work on their research project and serve as a teaching fellow for their faculty mentor during the second quarter of their second year.