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The William Wohlgamuth Memorial Fellowship/AssistantshipDouglas and Carol Rearick established this award for the purpose of supporting a graduate student who is interested in the study of youth sports. The recipient must be accepted into the graduate program in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University and maintain his/her status as a student during the year of the award. Termination of studies or failure to meet any of the other conditions of the Fellowship/Assistantship could result in a request for repayment of the award.
The award can be offered either as a fellowship or as a quarter-time assistantship, whichever is of the greatest benefit to the student. As a fellowship, the award provides a stipend up to $15,000 of which $12,000 is offered as a Fellowship, and up to $3,000 is offered to defer expenses of research and travel for the procurement and/or presentation of data associated with the recipient’s research. As an assistantship, the award includes a stipend, tuition fees, and health insurance that total approximately $12,000, and up to $3,000 for expenses associated with the research project. Approximately one-half of the assistantship time can be devoted to the research project and the remaining half to the work of the Institute.
The recipient is expected to work closely with a faculty member of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports during the academic year. Due to the requirement that the research project be completed by the end of the fellowship year, the recipient will not be allowed to accept additional research or teaching assistantships that exceed the equivalent of a one-quarter-time assistantship during each semester of the fellowship.
Applications for the Fellowship/Assistantship should include:
- A letter of application
- A research proposal (see the instructions that follow)
- All undergraduate and graduate college transcripts
- A resume of professional activities
- Two letters of recommendation, if a newly enrolled student.
The research proposal is limited to 5 pages, plus a budget page (total length = 6 pages). Copies of specific protocols (questionnaires, instruments) can be appended to the proposal. The proposal itself should contain:
- Title
- Introduction and purpose
- Methods of conducting the study
- Potential outcomes
- Budget
- Appendices (if appropriate)
The proposal will be evaluated for its merits and potential for contributing to the mandates of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. These are:
- To determine the beneficial and detrimental effects of participation in youth sports through on-campus and field-based research programs;
- To produce educational materials for parents, coaches, officials, and administrators; and
- To provide educational programs for coaches, officials, administrators, and parents.
Applicants and their proposals will be evaluated by the faculty members of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports according to the following criteria:
- Demonstrated academic achievement;
- Demonstrated scholarship (e.g., publications, presentations);
- Overall quality of the submitted research proposal;
- Understanding of issues related to youth sports; and
- Ability to collect, manage, and analyze data to complete the proposed research project.
Applications for the fellowship are reviewed once a year, usually in the early summer. A request for proposals comes from the ISYS director.
Past Wohlgamuth Memorial Fellowship Recipients
1990-91 Linda D. Lyman
1991-92 Robert S. Neff
1992-93 G. Keith Chapin
1993-94 Harold Ray Allen
1994-95 David M. Wisner
1995-96 Susan M. Walter
1996-97 Peter T. Katzmarzyk
1997-98 Sean P. Cumming
1998-99 Tempie P. Brown
1999-00 Joey C. Eisenmann/Jennifer J. Waldron
2000-01 Peter J. Morano
2001-02 Kevin A. Stefanek
2002-03 Peggy McCann
2003-004 Nicholas Meyers
2004-05 Sarah Carson
