Wells College
AC-10: Support for Research

Each semester, the College supports academic internships, independent study projects and capstone experiences related to sustainability. In addition, in summer, the College supports two paid academic internships to support the Aurora Farmers Market and to develop and maintain campus gardens. In addition, Wells College offers funding to support research grants that bring faculty and students together on campus during the summer months. A total of $15,000 is available; the number of projects supported will depend on budgetary needs of projects submitted but we hope to support projects at the $3000-$5000 level. Applications are due February 15th to the office of the Provost and Dean of the College. Applications will be reviewed by the Dean’s Council. Criteria for review include:  Clarity and completeness of the description of the proposed project  Confidence that the student(s) involved will benefit from the experience  Likelihood and quality of a scholarly outcome of the project proposed  Adequacy and appropriateness of budgeted items and their costs The Dean’s Council will recommend whether to fund, fund with a revised budget, or not fund. Faculty awarded funding are responsible for selecting the student(s) involved in their project. Students will be eligible to live in campus housing during the time period of the project upon approval of the Dean of Students. In addition, academic departments and the Office of the Provost have provided financial support for student researchers to be able to travel to conferences and academic meetings to present their work. Moreover, each semester, the Office of Experiential Learning and Career Services hosts an Internship/Research Fair at which students explain posters of their research, internship, or independent study work. Recent summer research projects included work completed by Dr. Jaclyn Schnurr and two student researchers to document the impact of deer browse on quantity and diversity of vegetation in the campus forested lands. In summer 2016, 4 student researchers studied various aspects of invasive species on campus. The College offers on-campus housing at a very reasonable rate for student researchers.

Wells College offers funding to support research grants that bring faculty and students together on campus during the summer months. A total of $15,000 is available; the number of projects supported will depend on budgetary needs of projects submitted but we hope to support projects at the $3000-$5000 level. Applications are due February 15th to the office of the Provost and Dean of the College. Applications will be reviewed by the Dean’s Council. Criteria for review include:  Clarity and completeness of the description of the proposed project  Confidence that the student(s) involved will benefit from the experience  Likelihood and quality of a scholarly outcome of the project proposed  Adequacy and appropriateness of budgeted items and their costs The Dean’s Council will recommend whether to fund, fund with a revised budget, or not fund. Faculty awarded funding are responsible for selecting the student(s) involved in their project. Students will be eligible to live in campus housing during the time period of the project upon approval of the Dean of Students. In addition, the Office of the Provost provides a pool of funding for faculty accepted to present their research work at academic conferences and meetings.

The Long Library offers a research guide for Environmental Studies which lists many relevant references and resources. The Library media group has also partnered with the Center for Sustainability and the Environment to purchase film titles for use for campus educational screening events and also to be added to the permanent collection.