Special Programs, Opportunities, Scholarships, Service, Internships and Honors Societies for College Students

SCHOLARSHIPS

Grants & Scholarships: The JMU Honors Program website contains information about grants that provide financial assistance to attend professional conferences. In addition, Honors Program and national scholarships are listed. http://www.jmu.edu/honorsprog/honorscholarship.shtml

Be sure to check with your major department, your disciplinary honors society, the Office of Financial Aid, http://www.jmu.edu/finaid/, Office of International Programs, http://www.jmu.edu/international/ , and other campus resources for scholarships and for grants to support your research or conference participation.

Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships: Dr. Melinda Adams, Prestigious Scholarships Coordinator for the JMU Honors Program, is available to advise students in preparing for these awards. Contact the Honors Program office to schedule an appointment with her (568-6953). For information on these scholarships, see: http://www.jmu.edu/honorsprog/allscholarships.shtml

National Association of Fellowships Advisors has a list of major nationally competitive scholarships and their sponsors. This compilation of organizations reflects only the most prominent sponsors and is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of scholarships available to college students. http://www.nafadvisors.org/scholarships.htm

The Dollars for Scholars program , sponsored by the Southern Regional Honors Council, encourages innovative projects in honors and assists in the scholarly development of honors students by providing matching grants (up to $1,000) to member institutions for use by students. For more information, look under Conferences/Dollars for Scholars at http://www.jmu.edu/honorsprog/dollars_scholars.shtml

SERVICE

Teach for America, www.teachforamerica.org, mid-February application deadline, builds a corps of our country’s most promising future leaders who commit two years to teach in low-income communities to help impact the achievement gap for disadvantaged students.

The Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service offers a residential summer program at Georgetown University. Professional experience, academic learning (up to 9 credits), and service projects are offered. Deadlines: early February (priority) or early March. www.dcinternships.org/ipvs

The Peace Corps challenges young adults to serve their country in the cause of peace by volunteering to live and work in developing countries. This agency of the federal government is devoted to world peace and friendship. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whatispc

Partners in the Parks offers a week of exploring and serving in a national park. Modeled on the Place as Text workshops of the National Collegiate Honors Council, students learn about local geology, botany, environmental psychology, endangered species ecology, and photography in an active, research oriented setting. http://www.suu.edu/honors/parks/

HONOR SOCIETIES

The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, www.nscs.org , membership is offered by invitation only to 1st- and 2nd –year students who rank in the top 20th percentile of their class and have a GPA of 3.4 or higher. The purpose of the organization is to encourage members to pursue academic excellence, become campus and national leaders, and to give back to their communities. Scholarships and merit awards are available.

Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society for First Year Students, www.nationalald.org , membership is open by invitation only to first-year students who earn a GPA of 3.5 or higher and are in the top 20% of their class. The purpose is to recognize superior academic achievement, promote intelligent living and a continued high standard of learning, and to assist students in recognizing and developing meaningful goals for their roles in society. Scholarships and fellowships are available.

INTERNSHIPS

Dynamic Internship Program for Exceptional Black Males scholarships available for admitted students. http://www.i4rc.org/programs.htm
The Institute for Responsible Citizens has two summer internship programs. The Washington, DC, program focuses on public service, with most participants interested in careers in law, politics, and business. The New York City program focuses on career achievement and citizenship in the financial services industry. Deadline for early decision: early November; for regular decision: early February. Interested candidates should contact info@i4rc.org or (202) 659-2831 before applying. For announcement, see http://www.i4rc.org/announcement.htm

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, www.twc.edu or honors@twc.edu , scholarships are available. Various programs available throughout the year: Washington Center Internship Program for spring or summer, DC-London Internship Program for 10 days in D.C. and 8 weeks in London in the summer, Inside Washington for choice of one or two weeks in D.C., Leaders on Leadership for a one-week seminar in May for honors students

Virginia Capital Semester is an internship sponsored by the Virginia General Assembly during the spring semester. Early October deadline. $1.000 stipend. See www.vcu.edu/capitalsemester or Jen Thompson at jlthompson2@vcu.edu .

New 11/12/07 LIVE. LEARN. INTERN. DC internships and internships abroad for fall, spring, or summer. www.dcinternships.org Priority consideration for scholarships given to NCHC Honors Students. Sponsored by The Fund for American Studies in partnership with Georgetown University, the Institutes combine substantive internships, courses for academic credit, career development activities, site briefings and lectures led by prominent policy experts. NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR EARLY DEADLINE OF NOVEMBER 30, 2007. Four eight-week programs are offered in the following subject areas:

• Politics, Public Policy and International Affairs
• Journalism and Communications
• Corporate Business and Government Affairs
• Nonprofit and Community Service

Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN): Women and Public Policy Internship Semester in Washington, D.C. Semester sessions available for fall, spring, or summer. www.plen.org Contact (202) 872-1585 or plen@plen.org. PLEN’s program is devoted exclusively to women and public policy and designed specifically for women students. Participants work as interns with women leaders in policy organizations and agencies and participate in seminars designed to present a variety of issues.

Summer Institute on International Development, internships and seminars at George Mason University, 3 – 9 credits for applicants with a GPA of 2.5 and above. Early April deadline. globaled.gmu.edu .

POLITICS & LEADERSHIP

Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, www.sorenseninstitute.org, late February deadline. The college leaders program provides intensive training in state and local government, politics and public policy to students across VA in an effort to better prepare students to create positive change within their communities for issues they are passionate about.

The Southern Education Foundation, www.southerneducation.org, mid-March deadline, seeks highly motivated and talented students to participate in a unique leadership development opportunity intended to improve education for all, especially low-income families who need the most help. This project commemorates the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. A generous stipend for undergraduates and for graduate students is provided.

STUDY ABROAD

JMU Office of International Programs, for Study Abroad information, http://www.jmu.edu/international/abroad/index.shtml. For information about Honors Abroad study at Oxford, Cambridge or St. Andrews in England and Scotland, see http://www.jmu.edu/international/abroad/forms_jmu_honors.shtml or contact the Honors Abroad Director, Dr. John J. Butt, at buttjj@jmu.edu

New 11/12/07 The ScholarShip, www.TheScholarShip.com , is a semester-long academic program aboard a dedicated passenger ship that traverses the globe as an oceangoing campus and includes students from around the world. www.TheScholarShip.com offers scholarships for honors students. Click here to view the November 2007 Newsletter . Early March deadline.

Summer Study in Sweden with other Honors Students, earn six credits of honors electives or seminars. Mid-February deadline. See http://www.umkc.edu/international/SwedenInfo07.htm or Lynda Payne at paynel@umkc.edu.

New 10/17/07 Summer Study in Greece
St. Mary’s College of Maryland is once again sponsoring a 4-week summer study tour to Greece. The dates are May 14-June 12. There is a description, a syllabus, an itinerary, photos from “past year highlights,” cost information, and applications available at the study tour’s website: http://faculty.smcm.edu/mstaber/Greece/index.htm

SUMMER PROGRAMS

New 2/13/08 SEC Summer Program
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Summer Honors College Program introduces undergraduate students pursuing degrees in such areas as accounting, economics, finance, human resource management and information technology/information security, among others, to the regulation of the securities markets and the work of the Commission. Students have the opportunity to work for ten weeks during the summer at the Commission’s Washington, DC headquarters or in one of its 11 regional offices nationwide. More information is available at http://www.sec.gov/jobs/shcp.pdf . The application for the Summer Honors College Program is now open.
Applications will be accepted online via the following link: http://www.avuedigitalservices.com/sec-sp/applicant.html. Applications must be submitted via this link by 11:59 pm on March 17, 2008. Please note that applications may not be sent to the Commission via US Mail, as in previous years, and that selections are made on a rolling basis. Early submission of materials is encouraged.

New 12/04/07 University of Dreams
University of Dreams is the #1 summer internship program for college students located in major cities, including Barcelona, London, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Costa Rica.
Your participation includes a guaranteed internship, lodging for 8 weeks at one of the host universities, breakfast and dinner every workday at the campus dining hall, participation in the weekend excursions, career development seminars once a week, and professional staff assistance. University of Dreams provides students with a chance to be exposed to a new city while pursuing an internship in any industry of interest.
For more information, visit the website at www.summerinternships.com

New 10/24/07 Summer Archaeology Program in Belgium
Dig a Castle for Credit 2008
The Eastern Illinois University Honors College, in partnership with the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, invites applications for the eighth season of its Summer Archaeology Program. The dates are June 29-August 2, 2008, and the program centers on the excavation of medieval Walhain Castle.
Honors students may receive Honors credit, awarded in either History or Earth Sciences. The course is open to all students in good standing; there are no prerequisites, and no previous background in archaeology is required.
The cost of the program, which includes tuition and fees, board and lodging --but not overseas airfare-- is estimated at around $4600. For more information please contact Professor Bailey Young at bkyoung@eiu.edu. or write c/o History Department, Coleman Hall, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL 61920.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Nanoscale Materials Science and Engineering, held at the New Jersey Center for Engineered Particulates at The New Jersey Institute of Technology. The program exposes undergraduates to topics associated with nanoscale materials science and engineering as well as to professional development, particularly focused on the research enterprise. A generous stipend is paid for the 10-week summer program. Early March deadline. Students should have a major in engineering, chemistry, or physics, or a strong background in one of those areas. http://mechanical.njit.edu/news/reu.php Contact Professor Kwabena A. Narh, REU Director, kwabena.a.narh@njit.edu , (973)596-3353, Fax: 973-642-4282. Awards will be made on a competitive basis to students who have completed at least 2 years of their undergraduate engineering or science program by the start of the program.

Summer Institute on International Development, internships and seminars at George Mason University, 3 – 9 credits for applicants with a GPA of 2.5 and above. Early April deadline. http://globaled.gmu.edu .

Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth seeks staff for their summer programs. Residential site locations in CA, DC, HI, MA, MD, NY, PA and RI. Salaries range from $1970 - $2970 each 3-week session. Submit applications by December or January. www.cty.jhu.edu/summer/employment , 410-735-6185, or ctysummer@jhu.edu .

Summer Study in Sweden with other Honors Students, earn six credits of honors electives or seminars. Mid-February deadline. See http://www.umkc.edu/international/SwedenInfo07.htm or Lynda Payne at paynel@umkc.edu.

CONFERENCES & EXCHANGES

New 01/07/08 9th Annual National McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research Conference and Graduate School Fair
March 13-16, 2008, in the Inn and Conference Center, 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, Maryland. The Graduate School Fair will be held in the Main Concourse from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Friday, March 14, 2007.
The McNair Conference brings together approximately 300 of our brightest and outstanding scholars from throughout the United States whose strongest desire is to attend graduate school. The students will have the opportunity to present their academic research and engage in workshops to explore graduate opportunities and resources throughout the conference. Your academic institution and/or organization plays a pivotal role in this process and we welcome your participation. For more information, contact the Graduate School Fair Coordinators: Ms. Celina Dixon-Famous (301-405-4749 or cedifa@umd.edu) and Ms. Gloria Anglón (301.405.4182 or ganglon@umd.edu).

Southern Regional Honors Council, conference in late March, http://www.winthrop.edu/honors/srhc/ .

National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and Colonial Academic Alliance (CAA) encourage students to present papers on their research in the spring each year. JMU’s Office of Sponsored Programs selects top proposals for funding to attend these conferences. Submit one proposal, which is the application for both conferences. The proposals are due in late October. For the application form and more information, see www.jmu.edu/sponsoprog/ncur.html and look for the link to the JMU Internal NCUR Application.

The Virginia Collegiate Honors Council provides an annual opportunity for students to present research papers and engage in learning experiences with students from other honors programs around the state. http://www.longwood.edu/vchc/

Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference of Undergraduate Scholarship (MARCUS), http://www.sbc.edu/marcus/ , an annual conference in October, MARCUS focuses on the scholarship and research activities of undergraduate students. College students from VA and surrounding states are invited to participate. A call for papers is issued in March.

National Student Exchange, www.nse.org , annual placement conference, in early March, is a consortium of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada that share their resources to expand student experience and academic programming in exciting, cost-effective ways. Students cross state, regional, provincial, and cultural borders to take courses not available on their home campuses, expand academic options, reside in a different region, be exposed to diverse cultural settings, and to seek out graduate schools and explore career options. It includes an exchange in honors program courses.

GRADUATE WORK AND FELLOWSHIPS

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, www.pdsoros.org , application deadline is early November, provides opportunities for continuing generations of able and accomplished New Americans to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. The program is established in recognition of the contributions new Americans have made to American life and in gratitude for the opportunities the United States has afforded the donors and their family.

Math for America – Newton Fellowship Program, www.mathforamerica.org , early February deadline, designed to significantly improve mathematics education in the nation’s public schools by increasing the number of well trained and properly motivated people entering careers as high school math teachers. Newton Fellows receive master’s level teacher training, on-going financial incentives, and supportive services. They teach in NY city high schools.

Phi Kappa Phi Grants, www.PhiKappaPhi.org , application deadline is early February for the fellowship program, designed to support graduate students in their first year of graduate study, and a mid-February deadline for the Study Abroad program.

The National Institutes of Health & the Univ. of Pennsylvania have combined their resources to create a graduate training partnership unlike any other – The NIH-UPENN Advanced Immunology Scholars Program. 2-4 graduate students per year are sponsored in an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to train students in basic science and advanced research technologies to solve key research questions of immunology and infectious diseases. Application deadline to both institutions is mid-December. http://www.med.upenn.edu/immun/ and http://gpp.nih.gov/Applicants/ProspectiveStudents/AppInfoProspective.htm Contact Pam Schwartzberg: 301-435-1906, pams@mail.nih.gov

RESEARCH AND WRITING