School of Physical Activity & Educational Services

Honors Initiative: Undergraduate Research Funding Award Guidelines

The School of Physical Activity & Educational Services has funding to support the Honors Initiative by funding undergraduate research.This is given in five awards, one for honors students in each of the four undergraduate programs (Exercise Science Education, Special Education, Sport and Leisure Studies, and Technical Education and Training) and one at-large.

Eligibility: Students who are eligible to apply for a PAES Undergraduate Research Funding Award through the Honors Initiative must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program in the School of PAES and have submitted materials for graduation with distinction. Students who are in the EHE/PAES Honors Program are given first priority in awarding these funds.

Application: Materials that are required for consideration include the Undergraduate Student Research Proposal Application Form, the research proposal from the graduation with distinction application materials, and a proposed budget. The application, proposal, and budget are due in Room A100 PAES Building by the third Friday of Winter and/or Spring Quarter.

Honors Initiative Application Form

Approved Budget Categories: The money awarded to the student will be available to support research and/or for travel to present the research at a conference or to attend a professional development activity. Other acceptable expenditures include questionnaire development and materials, expendable laboratory supplies (i.e., electrodes, assay kits), and presentation materials for abstracts accepted at conferences and research forums.

Terms of the Award: Students who receive research funding are required to submit abstracts to the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum. Students are encouraged to abstracts or papers to other outlets for the dissemination of research results, such as a presentation at a regional or national professional conference or the submission of a manuscript of research results to a professional journal.

Graduation clearance will be contingent upon (1) successful completion of the oral examination that will certify the student for graduation with distinction and (2) written verification of the submission to the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.

Procedure for Proposal Review

The dissemination of PAES Undergraduate Research Funding Award will be through the EHE/PAES Honor Coordinator according to the following guidelines:

• There will be two application deadlines, which are the third Fridays of Winter and Spring Quarters.
• Students will submit the application form, research proposal, and budget to the PAES Office of Student Services and Academic Programs. Application materials will be forwarded to the Honors Coordinator within one week after the deadline.
• The Honors Coordinator and two available faculty members from the School of PAES will evaluate each application using the Research Proposal Evaluation Form and rank proposals within each program area. If one of the three reviewers is the student applicant's faculty advisor or project advisor, the committee member will abstain from commenting on and evaluating that proposal.
• The Review Committee will discuss the rankings, and a consensus will be reached on the best proposals in each undergraduate program. The at-large award will be recommended if the Committee determines that two applications from the same program area are of equal and deserving merit.
• The recommendations for the awards and supporting materials will be forwarded to the School Director for coordinating the announcement.
• If no student from a program submits a proposal in Winter, the award allocated to that program will be held over to the second review in Spring. If there is no student application from that area in the second review period, the remaining rewards will be distributed to meritorious applicants in other areas.
• Notification of Awards will be the responsibility of the Honors Coordinator and will occur no later than three weeks after the application deadline.