Graduate Studies

Graduate Student Research/Creative Endeavors

Appalachian State Univeristy as seen from Howard Knob.

The Challenge

How do you insure that Graduate Students at Appalachian State University have sufficient resources to carry out research/creative activities of the highest caliber?
How can graduate students work with the best possible mentors if the mentor has no funds to support their research?
Where can funds be obtained to provide assistance to students conducting action research projects that benefit North Carolina schools?
How can we afford to provide funding to students to attend national meetings where they can present the results of their research/creative endeavors?

Students at Appalachian State University write 30-40 dissertations/theses each year, and complete an equal number of action research projects with only the most minimum of resources available to support the financial requirements of the research/scholarly activity. Despite the fact that only minimal resources are available, our graduate students have put Appalachian State on the map. Appalachian students have won the Best Thesis Award from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools three times in the last ten years. Psychology graduate students have won the best paper presentation at their conference 5 times in the last 7 years, biology students regularly win the best paper presentation at the Associate of Southeastern Biologists Annual Meeting, and graduate students in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling have won regional and national awards. Graduate students have been featured presents in Sweden, Italy and China - trips that they have had to finance from their own resources. Having done all this with so little, think what additional achievements might be gained if the students were assured of adequate support each year to carry out their research and scholarly activities.

How much would we need?

Just look at what was requested for research/creative endeavors (exclusive of travel) and what has been available for the last 5 years:

5-Year Period - 1997-02

Average Requested - $26,368

Average Allocated - $11,353

The average amount requested is actually considerably less than what is needed. Students are told to keep their requests to approximately $300, regardless of how much the total project costs. Moreover, we cannot afford to fund action research proposals.

The Solution

The solution to this problem is a restricted endowment designed to fund high quality graduate student research/creative activity and travel to professional meetings to present the results of thei research. Donate $10,000 and name a $500 fellowship (based on 5% payout) after yourself or your favorite relative! Give $100,000 and the income would provide enough to add another $5,000 to the amount available to students on a competitive basis annually. $500,000 would allow us to double the amount currently allocated, and every award could carry the name you designate!