Fellows will be allowed to take on a graduate assistantship of no more than ¼ time during the fall and spring semesters.  This could either be a research or teaching assistantship.  Fellows can take on any assistantships they like during the summer.

Can I propose to work on someone else's research project or do I have to propose a project independent of other work?

Prospective fellows may propose to work on their own independent project OR they may propose to work on another researcher’s project.  No preference will be given to independent versus nested or collaborative inquiries.   Students who wish to apprentice in an already established research program are encouraged to apply, and to explain their individual contributions and responsibilities within that work.  Students who wish to pursue an independent project may do so, but they are also required to apprentice on an extent project with their mentor(s).

Do I have to nominate a mentor? Can I have a mentor who already has a fellow?  Can I have multiple mentors?  Can I have a mentor at another institution?

You do not have to nominate a mentor, but you may do so if you wish.   The RTG program coordinator, with the advice of students and faculty, will make the final decisions about mentors.  You may propose a plan to have one, two, or more mentors, and you may propose to have a mentor who already works with another fellow.  However, because the work of mentoring can be very labor intensive and because the faculty believe that all faculty should be possible candidates for mentor roles, the coordinator will make mentor assignments carefully.  All mentoring decisions will be discussed with individual fellows and mentors before final decisions are made.   While you may propose a research project that entails working with faculty and researchers at other institutions, you must also have faculty member from the MSU College of Education as an on-site researcher. 

What is the role of the MSU/Spencer RTG  group within the COE?

The Spencer Fellows are but one of many collectives within the COE.  Other groups include research projects, theme groups, and collections of researchers interested in similar issues.  The particular focus of the Spencer Fellowship is on educational research on teaching and learning.  Thus, the charge of the Spencer Fellows is to participate in activities and events that enhance the intellectual life of the COE more generally and not to exist as a group cut off from the life of the College.

Can I work on my dissertation as a Spencer Fellow?

Some fellows will be ready to propose their dissertation research and collect data during their fellowship.  This is acceptable and appropriate.  However, the fellowship cannot be used to cover the writing up of dissertation research and no student who receives a Spencer Dissertation Grant is eligible for the MSU/Spencer Program.  No one who is close to defending a dissertation proposal can apply for a first year of funding.  The Spencer Foundation stipulates that students at the dissertation stage should apply instead for a Spencer Dissertation Fellowship.  All current first-year RTG fellowship holders are eligible to apply for a second year, even if they will be spending all or part of the first year gathering data for the dissertation, unless they are likely to complete their dissertation in the second year. 

Can MSU students apply for the Spencer/AERA Research Training program?

No.  As part of their commitment to the education of future educational researchers, the Spencer Foundation funds several programs.  In their concern for promising scholars who were not enrolled in colleges of education that received RTG grants, the Spencer Foundation established the AERA program.  Since MSU students are eligible for the MSU/Spencer RTG program, they are not eligible for the AERA program.  

How detailed do my plans for an apprenticeship experience and written research product have to be?

The review committee does not expect students who are early on in their careers as researchers to propose coherent, very detailed plans for the tasks that are part of this fellowship.  However, to take full advantage of the opportunities the fellowship offers, students do need to have staked out a territory of research interests.  We ask that you delineate that area in your statement of research interests.  We also ask that you communicate your tentative plans for how you might proceed with your apprenticeship and writing experiences in the program.  The examples of successful applications from last year are meant to provide you with some ideas about how other students have approached this task.

Do I have to be associated with a community of learners to apply for the fellowship?

Built into the program is the assumption that learning to be a researcher is enhanced through affiliations with “communities of learners.”  Within the COE, a number of communities exist.  There are funded research-project communities.  There are those associated with particular interests like mathematics (literacy, science, social studies) education, sociocultural research, discourse analysis, and the like.  In the best of all possible worlds, fellows would have an association with one (or more) of the existing communities.  This, however, is not always the case.  No potential fellow will be at a disadvantage or advantage because of their associations with (or lack of associations with) a learning community.

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