The MMUF program at CSUSB recruits potential fellows during the Fall semester through early Spring, with the applications due in the later half of the Spring semester. Decisions are made at the end of Spring semester, and students are notified of their standing by summer break.
Orientation and First Summer Project
Early meetings focus on introducing fellows to the comprehensive goals of the program while encouraging them to think broadly about their future plans. During the first summer students will attend a four-week residential program, the First Summer Fellowship Program (FSFP), at one of the CSU campuses where they will meet with the rest of the CSU Cohort. After completing the FSFP, fellows will begin the work on their research project and submit a discipline-specific literature review and/or annotated bibliography to the MMUF faculty advisor.
First Academic Year
CSUSB’s MMUF fellows will be required to attend bi-weekly seminars over the course of their first academic year. Fellows and their faculty mentors will submit a proposed research plan to the MMUF faculty coordinator at the start of the term and be required to submit a journal documenting their research experiences during this semester. Students are expected to present their research at the MMUF Western Regional Conference in the Fall semester. In the Spring, students are expected to present their research at the CSUSB Student Research Competition, and at CSUSB’s Annual Meetings of the Minds event sponsored by the Office of Student Research.
Second Summer Project
During the second summer of their fellowship, MMUF fellows will conduct intensive individual research on their Mellon projects. Overseen by faculty mentors, the overarching goal of this summer will be the completion of the majority of the research for these projects and the early stages of discipline-specific writing.
Second Academic Year
Fellows will continue to meet bi-weekly during the second year of their MMUF funding. Students will work with MMUF faculty to polish their statements of purpose and CVs and organize their application packages with the end goal being the submission of applications to the schools of their choice by the winter deadlines. For fellows that will not be graduating at the end of their second year, the primary focus will be on the creation of an application package to be submitted when they reach that point in their undergraduate studies. MMUF fellows will continue to work on their research project and serve as a teaching fellow for their faculty mentor during the second quarter of their second year.