Undergraduate Fellowships & Awards
Porter Research Fellowships
Hitchcock Modern Poetry Fund
Foley-Mendelssohn Travel Scholarship
Porter Student Senate Grants
Creative and Innovative (C&I) Grants
The James B. Hall Prize for Outstanding Creative Project
Porter College Undergraduate Fellowships & Student Project Funds
This Fellowship assists Porter students in all fields of study with funding for reasonable and necessary expenses associated with original research, scholarly work, and/or artistic projects. Student Project Funds support public events (organized by Porter Students) of benefit to the college, campus, or off-campus communities.
Application deadlines:
First day of winter quarter AND first day of spring quarter
Eligibility:
Continuing Porter undergraduates.
Applications must include:
- a completed application form including a detailed budget
- a written recommendation from a faculty sponsor (email to lbrowne@ucsc.edu)
Application for Porter Undergraduate Fellowships and Student Project Funds
Please send your applications via email to Leah Browne, College Academic Manager, at lbrowne@ucsc.edu.
Porter Research Fellowships
There are up to four Research Fellowships to be awarded by Porter College.
Application deadline:
First day of spring quarter
The Program:
The program has two essential but completely separate components:
1. A paid job working for a faculty member in the student's major department: approximately 7 hours/week at approximately $13/hour for one or two terms during the upcoming academic year.
2. A 2-5 unit independent study (199) during EACH of the terms of the Fellowship, in which that faculty member guides the student in her/his OWN independent research project.
BOTH of these requirements must be met during each term of the Fellowship.
Eligibility:
Eligibility is further limited to current Porter College students who have a good to excellent academic record. The likelihood that the student will benefit from advanced instruction in the proposed area is a key consideration in the selection of successful applications.
The Fine Print:
Porter College will provide $700 for one quarter or $1400 for two quarters for the student to be paid at a rate around $10/hour for approximately seven hours per week of research assistance to the faculty member - approximately sixty to seventy hours per quarter. The $700-$1400 provided by Porter College must cover the hourly rate PLUS the cost of benefits to the student. (Student employment can assist with calculating this.) All funds provided by Porter College in fulfillment of this grant must be paid to the student as salary and benefits.
In return for the assistance with her/his research, the supervising faculty member will guide the student in the student's OWN independent research project (or undergraduate thesis) in the context of one 2-5 unit independent study during each term of the Fellowship. The student's research must culminate in a completed project by the end of the second term.
Student and faculty member must apply together -- each completing a part of the application form below after discussing the nature of the projects involved. Students are encouraged to approach faculty to offer their services as an assistant and to arrange for the independent studies (199's).
Application for Porter Research Fellowship
Please send your applications via email to Leah Browne, College Academic Manager at lbrowne@ucsc.edu.
Hitchcock Modern Poetry Fund
The Hitchcock Modern Poetry Fund provides enduring support for poetry at Porter College and UC Santa Cruz, thanks to a generous gift in 2002 from George Hitchcock, a renowned publisher, poet, painter, and Lecturer Emeritus at the University. Following Hitchcock’s death in August 2012, the poet Marjorie Simon honored Hitchcock’s life and work, and his hopes for poetry at Porter College, by donating an additional $500,000 to the Fund. Today, the Fund generates approximately $20,000 each year, to be distributed in grants for projects that will be completed in the year following the year in which funding is sought.
Application deadline:
First day of spring quarter
Eligibility
All UCSC faculty, including lecturers and emeriti, are eligible to apply to the Fund. Applications for funding initiated by undergraduates and graduate students must be submitted by a UCSC faculty member who agrees to be an advisor to the project. Proposals from students and faculty who are affiliated with Porter College are especially welcome.
Evaluation of applications
The College Provost, in consultation with Porter’s Executive Committee and the Poetry Advisory Committee, shall determine the final status of all applications to the Fund. All successful applications will propose projects of high quality that are likely to involve, affect, or be of interest to the UCSC community and the Porter College community in particular. All proposals must describe the benefit of the project for students or faculty who are affiliated with Porter College. This criterion will be an important factor in the selection process.
Funds may be requested in any amount. However, applicants should be advised that requests ordinarily exceed the amount of available funding, and therefore many requests will likely be denied.
How to apply
In order to receive full consideration, applications must have four clearly labeled parts:
- Coversheet: must include the applicant’s name, department or program affiliation, quarter of graduation (if the applicant is a student), email address, phone number, and amount requested from the Fund.
- Proposal: which should be no more than 750 words, must describe how a grant from the Fund will be used.
- Budget: must itemize all of the costs associated with the completion and presentation of the project, including those costs for which Porter funding is not sought. The budget should also clearly identify what other sources of funding have been sought, in what amounts, and whether those other applications have been successful.
- Endorsement: In the case of applications from undergraduates and graduate students, the faculty advisor’s endorsement must clearly state that the application is, to the best of his or her knowledge, an accurate representation of the costs associated with the proposal. The endorsement must also clearly and explicitly state the faculty advisor’s commitment to guiding the project to completion.
Application for Hitchcock Modern Poetry Funding
Please send your applications via email to Leah Browne, College Academic Manager, at lbrowne@ucsc.edu.
Foley-Mendelssohn Travel Scholarship
The Nathan Foley-Mendelssohn Memorial Scholarship supports undergraduates who want to travel abroad for coursework, creative and scholarly projects, or internships. The fellowship commemorates the life of the son of Kathy Foley, Professor of Theater Arts and Porter Provost Emerita.
Students are eligible to apply for the scholarship, provided they are in good academic and judicial standing and currently enrolled in courses. Awarded funds must be used completely no later than the end of the quarter following the recipient’s graduation.
A grant from this program is unlikely to cover the full cost of traveling abroad. Applicants are encouraged to seek funding from other sources too. In recent years, the value of a Foley-Mendelssohn grant has been between $1500 and 2500, and awards fluctuate with the number of fundable proposals the College receives.
Application deadline:
First day of spring quarter
How to apply
Please be sure to have the following materials prepared before starting your application
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Statement: of no more than 1000 words that describes in detail what the purpose of the travel is, where it will take place, and for what length of time.
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Budget: a line-item budget that estimates all costs associated with the applicant’s proposed trip and information about any other funds that have been sought or received from other philanthropic organizations.
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Endorsement: A faculty adviser needs to fill out the Foley-Mendelssohn Faculty Advisor Endorsement Form to confirm the proposed trip is educational in nature.
Questions? Contact the College Academic Manager at lbrowne@ucsc.edu.
Ready to submit? Fill out the Foley-Mendelssohn Travel Scholarship Application.
Porter Student Senate Grants
Support for Porter student projects of all kinds. Only Porter students are eligible to apply.
Grant proposals are considered on an on-going basis throughout the academic year.
Grant proposals must include a detailed breakdown of expenditures.
Porter students should be the primary (but not necessarily the exclusive) beneficiaries of the project.
Please see Porter Senate Guidelines. The funding process takes a minimum of two weeks. Applicants are required to attend two consecutive Senate meetings. At the first meeting, submit completed proposal and give a brief oral description before the voting body. At the second meeting, the voting members will ask detailed questions of the applicant. Voting takes place during this meeting.
Applications forms and further information may be obtained from the Porter Student Activities office, Room D-143. Applications are due at the Porter Activities Office by 4:00pm the day prior to the Porter Student Senate's regular meeting.
Creative and Innovative (C&I) Grants
Support for creative and innovative Porter student projects. Funding is provided by the Porter Provost and awarded by the Porter Senate. Only Porter students are eligible to apply.
Application deadline: 5PM on the third Thursday of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters.
Porter students should be the primary (but not necessarily the exclusive) beneficiaries of the project. Grants must be highly rated according to some (but not all) of the criteria below:
- Does the project facilitate Porter students' work as creative artists and innovators (in any and all fields)?
- Does the project involve Porter students as makers of art and proponents of cultural or societal or scientific change (rather than only as audience members)?
- How many students will directly benefit from this grant? How many Porter students? How will these students benefit?
- How will this project have a positive affect on the Porter community as a whole?
Grant proposals must include a detailed breakdown of expenditures. Late or incomplete applications will not be funded.
Application forms and further information can be obtained from the Porter Student Activities office.
The James B. Hall Prize for Outstanding Creative Project
In memory of James B. Hall, Professor of Creative Writing and founding Provost of Porter College, The James B. Hall Prize for Outstanding Essay and The James B. Hall Prize for Outstanding Creative Project recognize exceptional achievement in the Porter College Core Course.
The Prize for Outstanding Essay will be awarded to three students who, in the judgment of the College Provost and Core faculty, have written analytical essays that consistently demonstrate the principles of good writing that the Core Course teaches.
The Prize for Outstanding Creative Project will be awarded to three students who, in the judgment of the College Provost, Core faculty, and Porter freshman class, thoroughly engage and transform the topics and questions of the Core Course in works of art.
Each prize winner will receive a $250 scholarship. Awards will be made during EnCore.
