Supplemental Graduate Fellowship Program

The University of Missouri Graduate School sponsors two major fellowship programs: our spring fellowship competition, and the Supplemental Graduate Fellowship program. Both of these programs require nomination by directors of graduate studies. Students are not allowed to apply on their own.

SGF Call for Proposals

The Graduate School is announcing the call for proposals for the Supplemental Graduate Fellowship (SGF) Program to help departments/graduate degree programs recruit outstanding graduate students who would be new to MU starting Fall 2010. Supplemental fellowships will be awarded to departments that demonstrate best practices in graduate education by recruiting, training, and professionally placing outstanding students. This program is made possible by generous support from the Chancellor and Provost.

The program is specifically aimed at assisting graduate programs recruit new students with exceptional merit and promise. Funds can be used only for students newly admitted to an MU program and who have never been students at MU; priority should also be given to students whose previous degrees were conferred by institutions outside of the University of Missouri system. Each fellowship must be awarded as a supplement to a .50 departmental teaching or research assistantship. By supplementing existing financial packages, the SGF award should allow MU to be more competitive to outstanding new graduate students. The program seeks to reward and encourage excellence; it does not seek to remediate low stipend levels.

This year there will be approximately $120,000 awarded to departments on a competitive basis. Successful departments, in turn, will select the individual recipients of their Supplemental Graduate Fellowships. Students receiving SGF awards must be enrolled as full-time graduate students (i.e., 9 graduate credit hours in Fall and Winter semesters). Departments should submit proposals ranging from $1,000 and $10,000 in supplemental fellowship money. The proposal narrative should include a justification of the supplemental award amount per fellowship plus the total number of fellowships sought. Supplemental funds must be spent on the student’s behalf in a one-year period.

Application Format

An application must consists of a completed SGF application form, a two to three page narrative proposal, and the "Supplemental Graduate Fellowship Report" covering the past three years as documented by the Graduate Student Progress System.

All three documents should be submitted electronically as an e-mail attachment by Tuesday, November 3, 2009, to Jessica Manley: manleyj@missouri.edu Files should be in a commonly used format (e.g. .doc, .txt., .rtf, .pdf, .xls). The application form must either be scanned or include electronic signatures of the chair and DGS.

The proposal narrative should state how many fellowships are being sought at what financial level (up to a maximum of $10,000). The proposal should focus on program strengths rather than on the inadequacy of its stipends. The narrative must include information related to the life-cycle of graduate education in the department or program from recruitment to successful completion and professional placement. Please cover the following topics:

• Recruiting. Number of applicants and size of incoming class, any special programs or programs that otherwise help insure a good fit between student and program/faculty. Provide the number of incoming students who are supported, the number who are not, the level of financial support and the years committed to that support per student.
• Retention. Retention and completion rates for degree programs. Evidence of successful orientations, handbooks, and special programs of a social and/or academic nature that encourage faculty/student interaction. Integration of students in the teaching and research missions of the department/program. Procedures designed to help students find appropriate mentors. Program structures, including curricula and examinations, that focus work and enable successful graduate education.
• Completion and placement. Numbers of students graduating per year (with comparison to numbers admitted to the degree program per year), time to degree for students in the graduate program, evidence of successful academic or professional placement, and current departmental programs to aid student career development in job market preparation.

Note on the Graduate Student Progress System Report: Administrators log in to the Graduate Student Progress System and can find a "summary reports" tab at the top of the working page. Choose all of your students and run the report over the past three years. Under "type of report" use the drop down menu to find "Supplemental Graduate Fellowship Report." You can then create your report as an Excel file.

The report should include all of the information related to publications, presentations, and fellowships submitted by a department's students.

Submission

Submit all materials no later than Tuesday, November 3, 2009, via email to manleyj@missouri.edu

All files should be in a commonly used format (.doc; .pdf; .jpg; .gif; etc.)