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January 11, 2022

Dear Faculty Member,

Welcome back to Spring Semester.  We hope you had a restful holiday break. 

This message is to make you aware that applications are now being accepted from students for the 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program.   For those of you unfamiliar with SURE, it is a program that funds promising undergraduate researchers for eight weeks over the summer to engage in faculty-supervised research.  More about the SURE program can be found at /research/student-research/summer-undergraduate-research-experience.

Student applications for SURE must be partnered with a commitment from a faculty member to mentor the student research experience.  Once the student has obtained the mentoring commitment from the faculty member, the student will fill out the application, and the faculty mentor will be prompted to provide a letter of support and description of the experience.   

This year, the Office of Student Research will host SURE from June 6th through July 29th.      Given the ongoing uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and what public health recommendations will look like months from now, we are approaching this year’s program with as much flexibility as possible. As such, we are using the plan implemented for SURE 2021. 

• SURE students may be engaged in either a full-time (40 hours per week) or a part-time (20 hours per week) experience

• SURE students may be engaged in-person (if consistent and aligned with COVID-19 guidelines), or virtually.  If you are planning to support a student for an in-person research experience, we ask that you also provide a brief description (back-up plan) in the event that we are required to provide the program in a virtual-only format.  If you are not able to provide a virtual back-up plan, please indicate this on the application/letter of support that you submit.

• Applications will be reviewed by a small committee comprised of  Research and Sponsored Programs personnel and faculty from the Arts, Social, Physical, and Life Sciences.

• We anticipate that decisions will be made by March 31st so that students who are not awarded a position can explore/commit to other summer employment/engagements/initiatives. 

• Faculty can host only one full-time SURE student with funding from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs but may engage other students in the SURE program if they can provide or secure funding for the additional students.

• Funding for students is $3,200 for a full-time position and $1,600 for a part-time experience. Students registered for classes during the summer will find that their award will be made through their Bursar’s Account.  Thus, if a balance is due the University, the stipend will go to pay that balance.  Students not enrolled in summer classes will be paid as they have in previous years without payments being directed to their bursar bill. 

• Faculty may be eligible for a $400 award to directly support the work of a student researcher (e.g., needed materials or supplies for student engagement, needed software or hardware, lab chemicals, etc.).

Please direct questions to Ann Gosky at agosky@kent.edu.

Thank you for your support of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s SURE program! 

Doug Delahanty, Associate Vice President, Research Faculty Development                                       Ann Gosky, Director, Office of Student Research