The Hearst Foundations, a national philanthropic resource for educational and cultural organizations, announced last week Scripps College will share in more than $1.5 million in grants awarded to 10 different organizations across California. The $100,000 grant awarded to the College will expand the Undergraduate Research Program and will assist students who have to defray costs related to their research.
“This is a significant gift,” says Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, associate dean of faculty. “The grant supports summer research in the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences in addition to senior thesis research. A thesis is required of all Scripps students, but until now we haven’t had the resources to cover costs related to their research components.”
The Undergraduate Research Program was developed in 2012, in part from an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, and is intended to assist student researchers who are non-science majors. The program includes research fellowships, pre-thesis fellowships, and, with support from the Hearst Foundations, funding for senior thesis research.
“One of the many benefits of a liberal arts education is the development of critical thinking skills, and an important way to develop those is through independent research,” says Edwalds-Gilbert. “Funding makes it possible to build a scaffold for students to build their research skills, either with a faculty member on the faculty member’s project or independently in preparation for senior thesis.”
Founded in 1945, the Foundations have made over 19,000 grants totaling more than $925 million.