This program is open to all Social Sciences faculty and lecturers. Faculty apply to the program, and if selected, will choose students for their research projects. By applying to this program, faculty agree to mentor undergraduate students on a research project or a community-engaged scholarly project. Faculty may apply to mentor up to four student quarters per academic year maximum (includes fall/winter and spring/summer application cycles). The students can work individually with faculty or as part of a group. Faculty are expected to meet regularly with the student researchers. If faculty need help identifying students they can work with the institute and the EOP office.

The program aims to support undergraduate students in Social Sciences who are:

• EOP eligible
• first-generation
• low income
• under-represented/BIPOC
• undocumented
• former foster youth

A Building Belonging fellowship award is $1,500 per student for the quarter. This equates to approximately 100 hours per quarter. In the application, faculty will need to indicate in which quarter the research will be conducted. The intention of the program is to support as many individual students as possible, but faculty may request to support a student for two quarters with appropriate justification (this would use two of the faculty’s possible four student quarters for the academic year).

All student fellows will be required to participate in a research symposium in the spring (summer fellows can participate the following year).

As the goal is to build a sense of belonging among current students, participating students must be enrolled in at least 6 credits at UCSC for the term requested (except summer). Students can not participate in the program post-graduation. We encourage faculty members to recruit students who are not in their final year for these mentoring opportunities. 

Please note that if the proposed research project is connected or related to a class or independent study where students receive credit, the research must be separate and distinct from the class work. In other words, students cannot receive a Building Belonging fellowship payment for work where they are also receiving course credit.

Meet the student fellows and faculty mentors who have participated in our program >>

Faculty apply to the program, and if selected, will choose students for their research projects. In the Spring all student fellows will be required to participate in a research symposium poster session (summer fellows can participate the following year).

Fall/Winter Timeline

• Faculty applications due September 15, 2021. Decisions will be announced by the end of September.
• For fall quarter fellowships, student names and IDs must be provided by faculty to IST by October 1, 2021.
• For winter quarter fellowships, student names and IDs must be provided by faculty to IST by January 7, 2022.

Spring/Summer Timeline

• Faculty applications due January 31, 2022. Decisions will be announced in early March.
• For spring quarter fellowships, student names and IDs’ must be provided by faculty to IST by March 18, 2022.
• For summer quarter fellowships, student names and IDs’ must be provided by faculty to IST by May 2, 2022.

Summer Extended Timeline

• Faculty applications due May 6, 2022. Decisions will be announced in late May.
• Student names and IDs’ must be provided by faculty to IST by May 18, 2022.

Student fellowship awards will be processed by the institute and disbursed as a fellowship/scholarship to the student’s financial aid account per quarter awarded. Please note that these are not posted as jobs in the ER System. The fellowship award will be incorporated into the student’s financial aid offer and the amount received as a payment/refund will depend on each student’s specific financial situation, including any unpaid university fees and other awards or aid they may have. If students have questions about this they can contact the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office or click here for frequently asked questions about fellowship/scholarship payments.