QEP Mellon Initiative

This ambitious initiative aims to integrate student research experiences throughout the Arts & Sciences curriculum. In this context, "research" is broadly defined to describe the intellectual process of critical inquiry and discovery. It is not restricted, for instance, to the definition of research or scholarship in any particular discipline. The program has two main components:

1. Newly conceived curricular enhancements that allow students to engage in faculty-directed, hands-on critical inquiry and discovery.
2. The integration of research experiences in sophomore- or junior-level courses with the help of advanced undergraduates who serve as Teaching Fellows.

The initiative operates by soliciting and funding proposals from faculty members. Proposals are accepted in three funding cycles in each academic year. The intent is to provide faculty with flexible funding that can accommodate a wide variety of innovations.

• Funding Cycle
• Desirable Characteristics for Proposed Projects
• Guiding Principles for Proposals
• Proposal Requirements
• Teaching Fellows
• Budget Guidance for Proposals Submitted
• Annual Report for QEP Mellon (pdf)
• Annual Report for QEP Mellon, Year 2 (pdf)

Funded partly by a grant from The Andrew Mellon Foundation and partly through internal allocations, the initiative is coordinated by the QEP/Mellon Committee (QMC) appointed by the Provost on the advice of the Faculty Assembly.

Background

Students at William and Mary have long enjoyed close working relations with their professors. Increasingly, students are joining with faculty in collaborations that extend beyond the classroom - into laboratories, archives, and libraries, and on-site in the field.

The College is well positioned to become a national model for how these hands-on student experiences can be woven into the curriculum and throughout the learning environment.

In 1996, Arts & Sciences created the Freshmen Seminars requirement to introduce first-year students to a sustained research project. In the 2005-06 academic year, we began experimenting with an undergraduate Teaching Fellows program where about 20 advanced undergraduates coordinate individual or group research projects in sophomore- and junior-level courses.