Scholars Program
Scholars Program Overview
Our aim is to create safer and more meaningful fraternities and sororities through scholarship. The Piazza Center’s Scholar Program works with practitioners, post-doctoral, and doctoral candidates to build capacity and expand research for professional practice. The research mentoring program will support a cohort of 3-5 scholar-practitioners. Scholars will be matched based on their passion to serve on research teams under the supervision of the principal investigator. Scholars will be part of a cohort of researchers and will receive mentoring from the research fellow.
Preferred Qualifications
- Hold or be enrolled in a terminal degree program
- Understanding of research methodology and design (qualitative-ground theory or phenomenological; quantitative-survey)
- Experience in various data collection approaches
- Capacity to perform data analysis related to quantitative or qualitative methods
- Experience disseminating research in the form of presentation at national conferences or research reports to stakeholders
- Ability to work independently and remotely with others in the context of a research project timeline
- Strong presentation and writing skills with a knowledge of APA 7 style
- Some exposure to the scholarship of the fraternity/sorority experience
- Preference for previous practitioner experience advising/supporting fraternities and sororities
Scholar Responsibilities
- Support dissemination of existing research
- Commit to a two-year timeline of data collection and research dissemination
- Attend the annual summer AFA Oracle Writers Retreat
- Attend professional conferences related to research project dissemination
- Agree to present at virtual conferences and facilitate webinars
- Author timely thought pieces for dissemination to media stakeholders
- Collaborate with the research fellow on projects and other principal investigators
- Attend monthly cohort meetings and ad-hoc meetings
Scholar Remuneration
- Mentorship from principal investigators or faculty research fellow
- Opportunities for coauthorship of scholarly reports, white papers, articles, and peer-reviewed journal articles
- Potential compensation for data collection and analysis
- Additional exposure to the publication process and developing a research program
- Professional networking with the fraternity and sorority community of scholars
- Collaboration opportunities on future scholarly projects
Application Process
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, based on demand and capacity. To apply, send a curriculum vitae (CV) and cover letter with your research goals to PiazzaCenter@psu.edu. Include your preferred or general research expertise (methodology, areas of scholarship) and professional experience. Include a rationale for the further study of the fraternity and sorority experience and how your expertise may fit within one of the research areas of the Center.
For general questions or additional information, contact Dr. Steve Veldkamp, executive director, at sjv54@psu.edu or Dr. Pietro Sasso, faculty research fellow, at psasso@siue.edu.
