Planning a Summer MAP

Checklist for Summer MAP Applications
Timing and Time Commitment
The standard ten-week period for a summer MAP begins with the week of Memorial Day and ends in early August.

Summer MAPs require both a faculty request for funding (due 1st Friday in February) and a student MAP application. For information on deadlines, please click on Planning a MAP.
Planning summer MAPs must begin very early. All summer MAP students receive a stipend awarded by the Committee for the Support of Faculty Scholarship, so faculty desirous of mentoring students in an advanced project during the summer must submit a grant request form by the third Friday in February. A CSFS grant request for funding is necessary for student-initiated projects as well as for MAPs based on a faculty member's research.

Summer MAPs differ from those pursued during the academic year. The summer MAP is expected to be a full-time on-campus endeavor (this is why the College pays a stipend to the summer MAP student, as well as why students cannot be employed elsewhere on campus during the MAP). Mentors are expected to provide frequent and regular supervision, including at least two regularly scheduled meeting per week that the MAP is conducted.

Defining Projects and Identifying Summer MAP Students and Mentors Faculty members who normally use student assistants in their summer research programs apply for funds for student summer stipends as a matter of course each year, and identify qualified MAP candidates late in the Spring semester.

Because summers are reserved for faculty research, opportunities for student-initiated summer MAP projects are very restricted. Students who hope to pursue a summer research program of their own devising must discuss their plans with potential mentors well before the February deadline for summer grant requests. They should develop for the application a clear set of goals and a highly detailed plan, including the questions or problems they intend to address and how they intend to go about addressing them.

Students who are on a Personal leave of Absence or an Emergency/Medical Leave of Absence are eligible for summer independent study, directed research or MAPS, provided the following conditions are in place:

  1. The MAP meets Grinnell’s standards for summer MAPS
  2. The student has filed a personal or emergency/medical leave return letter and has been granted approval to return for the subsequent semester
  3. The student will be registering in April for fall classes
  4. The student must sign a promissory note agreeing to repay the stipend and appropriate tuition for the credits they earned if they do not enroll for the fall term.

 

Funding To secure funding for a summer MAP, the faculty member needs to submit a request to the Committee on Support of Faculty Scholarship (CSFS)  in early February. The form is available online at http://web.grinnell.edu/dean/grantrequest/. This request normally includes a stipend to support the MAP student during the summer, and in some cases modest expenses (such as research supplies (not including books)) needed to carry out the project.

Application The MAP application form is available from the Registrar's Office, including an online printable form at http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/registrar/additionalinfo/forms/. For summer MAPs, the Registrar's deadline is too late to secure funding for a project if your faculty mentor did not do so by the February deadline.

There are two parts to summer MAP applications and two deadline options. Part A of the application, due in late April or early May, asks for the title and the plans for meetings and coursework. Students in the Humanities and Social Students must include a Summer MAP Student Information Form with Part A. Part B asks the applicant to describe the project in detail. The MAP Director will determine whether Part B will be submitted in May or if the project will be better served by delaying Part B submission until June.

The June deadline best suits MAPs where students are working on the faculty member's research. The May deadline better serves student-initiated projects by helping the student and director develop a clear set of expectations early on.
 
It is important to remember that the application is not complete (and thus cannot be approved by the Dean's office) until both parts are submitted.

Housing MAP students are eligible to rent college-owned housing, subject to availability, either for that ten-week period, or for a six-week period during the first half or second half of the summer. Initial deposits and rent can automatically be deducted from MAP stipend payments. To accommodate building maintenance needs, the earliest date for students to move into the college-owned housing will be Memorial Day, and it will not be possible to remain any later than the first full week of August. (link to summer housing) Students interested in learning more about this opportunity should contact the Residence Life Housing Office.

Payment If the MAP student has not previously been employed by the college, the student needs to complete employment forms at the Cashier's Office. The student will need either a passport or a driver's license and social security card. It is not possible to receive a paycheck without filing these employment forms. Student paychecks are issued throughout the summer on alternate Fridays as determined by the Office of the Treasurer, and are available for pick-up at the Cashier's Office.