Doctoral-Undergraduate Opportunities for Scholarship (DUOS)

The DUOS program is an initiative aimed at heightening the synergy between graduate and undergraduate programs at Miami University, sponsored by the Graduate School, and the Office of Advancement of Research and Scholarship.  This program enables Miami undergraduates to do research or other creative activities with the guidance of a graduate student mentor. Applications may be initiated by either graduates or undergraduates, but the undergraduate student is to have intellectual ownership of the project and the submitted application must be agreed to and signed by both students. Application to the program is open to any Miami University undergraduate student and any post-master’s doctoral student in good standing who agree to abide by program requirements. Application forms, a printed version of the program guidelines and additional information may be obtained from: Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, Miami University, 102 Roudebush Hall, Oxford, OH 45056, Tel: 513-529-3734.

I. PROGRAM OVERVIEW

A. PROGRAM FEATURES

• a focus on undergraduates learning the processes of research and scholarship under supervision of graduate student mentors 
• a project/travel allowance of $400, each, for the graduate and undergraduate partners
• an additional project/travel allowance of $100 for each partner, contingent upon their participation in training offered by the program for their roles as mentor and mentee in a research partnership.

B. BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM

• adds a distinctive experience, shown to increase student intellectual maturity, to undergraduate education
• increases availability of graduate students as role models for undergraduate students
• enhances graduate student research programs by the participation of talented undergraduates
• enables doctoral students to enhance their skills as mentors of undergraduate scholars, and become more reflective about the role that they play in undergraduate education
• creates the basis for later job application materials documenting graduate students’ experiences/achievements in their role as research mentors
• publicly recognizes graduate students who are making an effort to enhance their performance as research mentors
• enhance the university community’s awareness and appreciation of the synergy between graduate and undergraduate programs
• clearly links scholarship and teaching at the University
• serves as a model program that other graduate schools may emulate

C. DISTRIBUTION OF AWARDS

Proposals by graduate-undergraduate duos will be reviewed by a panel. In developing its recommendation, this panel will consider:

· the readability/clarity of the proposal and its conformity to the required format

• the quality of experiences proposed by applications, including significance of the problem to be addressed, the clarity of linkage between problem and method/creative process, the feasibility of the project in terms of the partners’ skills, time, and budget, and educational value to the undergraduate student. 
• the quality and appropriateness of the mentorship supervision and interactions proposed
• the distribution of awards across disciplinary areas

II. ELIGIBILITY

A. GRAD MENTOR ELIGIBILITY

The program is open to all full-time post-masters’ doctoral students of Miami University. If the graduate student’s program does not offer a master’s, students must be in at least their second year of graduate study. Preference will be given to graduate students who can document prior research collaboration with a faculty member. Each graduate/undergraduate pair should make application as described below. To participate in the Scholar Partners program, a graduate student must be willing and able to provide appropriate supervision and mentorship of the undergraduate with whom she or he has elected to be paired.  A single graduate student can be listed as a prospective mentor on up to two applications only.  The graduate student’s faculty advisor must be willing to oversee the project as described below.

B. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

Application to the program is open to any Miami University undergraduate student who holds a minimum 2.75 GPA and is otherwise in good standing (not on probation, etc.) and who is willing to collaborate with the graduate student to complete the project and communicate the results of that work to the scholarly community.  Preference will be given to students who have not previously participated in a faculty mentorship program, e.g., Summer Scholars, Dean’s Scholars, Undergraduate Research Program, STARS. 

III. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility for a successful program will rest with the undergraduate student scholar and her or his graduate mentor.

A. GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

1. Joint Applications. Graduate students will collaborate with specific undergraduate students in developing and submitting applications for the Scholar Partners program.  Although either the graduate or undergraduate student may initiate the partnership, the undergraduate student is to have intellectual ownership of the project.  The program is not intended to support graduate student supervision of undergraduates who are doing menial tasks in service of the graduate student’s research project.  Instead, graduate students should strive to provide a meaningful and appropriate undergraduate student experience.  The graduate student should assist the undergraduate to develop a proposed project that qualifies as research or other creative endeavor that will add to the sum of human knowledge and contribute to the growth of the scholarly or creative capability of the undergraduate scholar.

In preparing the application, the graduate student mentor should assist the undergraduate to generate a well-written proposal that can be understood by an educated person who is not a specialist in the field.  The graduate student mentor and undergraduate scholar should jointly complete the application so that it conforms fully to the instructions provided, including all the requisite information and the specified number of application copies.  

2. Participation in collaborative scholarly project.   If selected for an appointment, the undergraduate and graduate student partners are expected to work collaboratively to complete the project and to present the results to the scholarly community.

3. Participation in training for mentor-mentee relationships in a scholarly context.  Each of the two partners who participates in training for mentoring undergraduate scholars offered by Miami’s Preparing Future Faculty initiative will receive an additional project/travel budget of $100.

4. Presentation of the project. It is expected that the undergraduate and graduate students will produce a product (paper, oral presentation, poster, artwork, portfolio, model, etc.) as a result of their joint project. The undergraduate student and graduate mentor at the beginning of the student's participation should agree as to the purpose and form of this product. Undergraduate students will be expected to present this product, if appropriate, at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session planned for April.  In addition, it is strongly encouraged that partners aim toward regional/national/international presentation/performance/dissemination of their work.

5. Evaluation. A final report and summary of the project will be due in April. Awardees will be asked to complete several questionnaires relating to their educational experiences and activities.

B. FACULTY ADVISOR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The graduate student’s advisor must endorse the project (i.e., provide a statement concerning the quality of the proposed project, and certify the undergraduate’s intellectual ownership of the project and the capability of the graduate student to mentor the undergraduate) and be willing to oversee the project as described below:

1. Need to Comply with University and Federal Research Regulations. It is the responsibility of the graduate student’s faculty advisor to assure that all required regulatory committee approvals (human subjects, vertebrate animals, radioisotopes or recombinant DNA) are obtained prior to the start of the project.

2. Oversight of the Project/Travel Allowances. Each project may receive up to $1000 total for supplies, services and travel used in direct support of the project and dissemination of its results. This is not a scholarship for tuition or a cash award.  It may not be used for entertainment.  The graduate student’s faculty advisor will supervise spending from this account using standard University ordering and accounting procedures. All charges must be made against this allowance by June 30.  This allowance account will be cleared and closed by the University Accounting Office on June 30. The faculty advisor is responsible for any charges made to that account above the $1000 allotted or after June 30.

3. Independent study credit, if appropriate.  The faculty member may determine that it is appropriate for the undergraduate student to receive independent study credit for his/her conduct of the project.  If so, the faculty member will serve as the instructor of record for that independent study. 

 IV. DETAILED PROGRAM SCHEDULE

DATE(S)	DEADLINE or SCHEDULED EVENT
September	Announcement and Guidelines for program are distributed
October	Graduate and Undergraduate students arrange appropriate collaborations and complete joint grad/undergrad application forms
October 13	DUOS applications are submitted to Graduate School
November	Panel reviews applications and selects awardees
December	Training session on mentoring in a scholarly context
April	Undergrads participate in Undergrad Scholars Poster Session
April	Final report and evaluation due to Graduate School
July	Accounts closed and cleared

Application forms, printed program guidelines, and additional information can be obtained from:

Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, Miami University, 102 Roudebush Hall, Oxford, OH 45056, Tel: 513-529-3734. Questions not answered in the guideline materials should be directed to:  Cecilia Shore, Psychology, shorec@muohio.edu