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K-State Today

December 10, 2014

K-State Graduate School announces new Small Research Grant program

Submitted by Geraldine Craig

The K-State Graduate School announces a new Small Grant Program to support research expenses for graduate students in their final year. Grants up to $1,000 will support direct research costs such as travel to an archive, data collection software, or exhibition and performance expenses for graduate students in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

A panel of faculty in these disciplines will review applications early in the spring 2015 semester. Graduate students interested in this opportunity can find complete information online. The application deadline is Jan. 23, 2015.

The grant program was highly recommended in the "Report of the Task Force on Needs of K-State Graduate Students in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Conducting Scholarly Activities" that was completed in summer 2014. Chaired by Katherine Ankerson, department head of architecture & product design, the task force was charged with identifying unique needs of graduate students enrolled in graduate programs in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Needs particularly related to scholarly activities and aspects of the graduate experience that would enhance quality of their academic experiences and professional achievement was the focus. The task force administered a survey to graduate students in these fields with the first question: "If sufficient funding from the university were available, how would you use it to enhance the quality of your academic experiences, scholarly activities, and professional achievements?"

The most common response categories were support for travel at 45.9 percent and support for research, scholarship and creative activity at 31.1 percent. The Graduate School responded to the task force recommendations by establishing this new opportunity for graduate students in these disciplines where department funding and teaching or research assistantships are limited.

K-State Graduate School Dean Carol Shanklin said, "This grant program should facilitate students' completion of their graduate degree while reducing some of their financial burden. The Graduate School is pleased to support our graduate students as we implement initiatives to enhance the Graduate Student Experience."