How to Apply

Sharpe Summer Grants are available only to students who have participated in the Sharpe Community Scholars Program as freshmen, and students who are continuing enrollees in the Community Studies Minor program.

The application deadline is 12:00 noon on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

Applicants must submit a clear and persuasive proposal designed in consultation with a faculty advisor and community agency director that meaningfully connects community-based service, activism, or research to academic concepts, principles, or methods.

All applications must be submitted to the Charles Center, Blow Hall Suite 254, and should include:

• An application cover sheet
• One complete copy of your application, which consists of the following items, in this order:
  
  
  1. Transcript, including Spring 2010 enrollment information (the unofficial transcript that can be printed from banner will do)
  2. A 2-3 page project proposal, double-spaced
  3. A 750-word personal statement (see application form for details)
• One letter of recommendation from the William & Mary faculty member best able to attest to the applicant's suitability for the project and with whom he/she has previously discussed the proposal. The applicant should submit one letter in an envelope, signed across the seal, with the rest of the application.

Recipients must agree to blog about their research on the Process of Undergraduate Research (POUR) site at least five times and present their work at a summer scholarship event in the fall of 2012.

A student proposing to conduct research on behalf of a community agency should also include a letter from the agency director, indicating that the agency is willing to allow the student to pursue his or her project. In addition, applicants should submit two reference letters, one of which should come from the project faculty advisor and one from either a faculty member or an individual in the community who is familiar with the student's work. Students should submit these letters (in envelopes, signed across the seal) with the rest of their application. We will make copies of the letters. Please keep a copy of your application.

Note: There are no interviews. A committee of William and Mary faculty members and administrators reviews the applications and determines the recipients. The decisions of this committee are final. A Sharpe grant recipient may accept a scholarship awarded by an outside source or another W&M source, if there is sufficient time to complete the second project before or after the official period of the initial Sharpe-funded project. The undertaking of a Sharpe summer grant project should not interfere with the recipient's course work during the regular academic year.

For more information, please contact Monica Griffin at [[mdgrif]]. For a complete listing of research and service related summer grants at the College of William and Mary, please visit the Charles Center and the Office of Community Engagement and Scholarship.