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Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

 

MMUF at Cal State Fullerton

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program is the centerpiece of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’sOpens in new window initiatives to increase diversity in the faculty ranks of institutions of higher learning. The program includes 48 member schools and consortia, including three South African universities and a consortium of historically Black colleges and universities within the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) membership.
 
As of 2021, over 6000 students have been selected as fellows, more than 1000 of whom have earned their Ph.D. and over 190 of whom are now tenured faculty members. The great majority of those who have completed the Ph.D. hold or have held an appointment in the academy. For more information please visit, www.mmuf.orgOpens in new window
 
Cal State Fullerton is proud to be one of five CSU campuses—including CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Long Beach, CSU Los Angeles, and CSU San Bernardino—that houses the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. The MMUF program is the hallmark of humanities-based research at Cal State Fullerton with a programmatic aim to support student fellows and their potential to bring historically marginalized or underrepresented perspectives to the academy through the pursuit of undergraduate research and graduate school in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. 

 

EXTENDED DEADLINE: APRIL 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm

 

Program Description

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program is the centerpiece of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’sOpens in new window initiatives to increase diversity in the faculty ranks of institutions of higher learning. Established in 1988 by William G. Bowen, then the president of the Foundation, and Mellon program associate Henry Drewry, the MMUF program began with an initial cohort of eight member institutions.

Since then, the program has grown to include 48 member schools and three consortia, including three South African universities and a consortium of historically black colleges and universities within the membership of the UNCF. As of 2019, over 5000 students have been selected as fellows, more than 800 of whom have earned the PhD and over 120 of whom are now tenured faculty members. The great majority of those who have completed the PhD hold or have held an appointment in the academy.

For more information visit, mmuf.org.

 

What the Program Provides

Mentoring

All MMUF fellows are paired with a faculty mentor, with whom they are expected to meet on a regular basis. Fellows work with their mentors to develop their scholarly interests into a research project. Mentors will demystify the formal and informal aspects of conducting research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, applying to graduate school, and navigating the graduate school experience.

Support Networks

MMUF fellows are chosen in cohorts of four students per academic year with eight MMUF fellows at any given time. Fellows will build community with each other, other CSU MMUF fellows, and MMUF alumni throughout the two-year fellowship period. Beyond the Cal State University system, fellows will have access to larger regional and national MMUF support networks that continue beyond graduation.

Meetings and Workshops

During the academic year, MMUF fellows at Cal State Fullerton are expected to meet regularly with each other, their faculty coordinator, and their mentors. These meetings can include workshopping research proposals, developing graduate school application materials, demystifying the graduate school experience, guest speakers from a variety of universities across the country, and other personal and professional development activities. In addition to regular Cal State Fullerton meetings, fellows across the CSU MMUF Consortium participate in planned community building programs and scheduled fieldtrips in the Fall and Spring semesters. During the summer, first-year MMUF fellows will participate in a “first year summer program” hosted by one of the CSU MMUF Consortium campuses. Second-year MMUF fellows will participate in a summer research opportunity program. Further detail about these meetings will be made available to fellows as necessary. 

Program Benefits

  • $4000 term stipends for each year in the program (2 years)
  • $4500 summer stipends for each year in the program (2 years)
  • $600 travel stipends for research based travel expenses (2 years)
  • GRE preparation
  • Up to $10,000 repayment in undergraduate/graduate student loans, once admitted and enrolled into a Ph.D. program
  • Guest lectures and social/cultural activities throughout the year
  • Ongoing professional advising and moral support as fellows develop their research with other students around shared ambitions, including MMUF fellows at other institutions

The MMUF Undergraduate Journal

Every year since 1995, the Harvard University MMUF program has published the MMUF Undergraduate Journal, a collection of scholarly articles by undergraduate Mellon fellows from all member institutions. The aim of this rigorously edited journal is not only to serve as a showcase for fellows’ research and scholarship, but to provide undergraduates with an early glimpse into the processes and expectations of scholarly publishing.