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The Robert & Colleen Haas Scholars Program
Information for Faculty Mentors



men-tor [fr. Greek Mentor] 1. a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus’ son Telemachus. 2. a trusted counselor or guide.





About The Haas Scholars Program:

Established in 1997, through the generous donation of Robert and Colleen Haas, the Haas Scholars Program creates opportunities for academically talented, financial-aid-eligible undergraduates to engage in a sustained research, field-study or creative project in the summer before and during their final year at UC Berkeley under the sponsorship and tutelage of a faculty mentor.

Each year, twenty Haas Scholars—selected from all disciplines and departments across the university by a campus-wide faculty advisory board—are provided with a summer and academic year living stipend and funding for their final-year projects. They also have the unique opportunity to become part of an interdisciplinary academic community of scholars and mentors through a series of coordinated intellectual enrichment activities designed to support their intellectual and professional development.


About the Faculty Mentor’s Role:

Haas Scholars Program Faculty Mentors have the privilege of working with some of the most talented undergraduates at Berkeley—students who enter the program possessing a high degree of intellectual independence, creativity and motivation. Applications to the program are limited to those students who have maintained a 3.5 Berkeley GPA or higher during their undergraduate careers at UC Berkeley and who are eligible to receive need-based financial aid. Haas Scholars will be provided with the financial and intellectual support necessary to engage in a capstone research or creative project in their senior year. With the important guidance intellectual mentoring can provide, we believe these already outstanding students can go on to make important contributions in their fields. We expect many Haas Scholars will choose to go on to graduate study and eventually join you as colleagues in your respective fields.

Click here to view a list of exemplary past Haas Scholars mentors.


Faculty mentors make a commitment to contribute in the following areas:

Research Mentoring: Mentors provide on-going guidance, advice and supervision as necessary for advisees’ successful completion of their research or creative projects;

Participation in the Activities of the Haas Cohort: Mentors participate in the coordinated intellectual enrichment activities of the program including the Summer Research Retreat (June 3-7, 2008 at the Berkeley City Club); a weekly Friday 12:00-2:00 colloquium during the Fall 2008 semester; the Spring Research Conference tentatively scheduled for May 1-2, 2009; and one practice session prior to the spring conference. Our expectation is that faculty mentors will agree to participate in at least one session (i.e. a two hour time commitment for each event) during each of these four activities: the retreat, the colloquium, the practice for the conference, and the conference itself.

Professional Development: Mentors advise Haas Scholars on application to graduate and professional schools in their fields and help open doors to future professional opportunities.

Faculty participation in the intellectual life of the program is critical to the scholars’ intellectual development and to the program’s success. In recognition of the serious commitment of time entailed in this role, faculty mentors will receive (at their discretion) one of the following:

$1,500 for their own research accounts; or
$3,000 for graduate or undergraduate fellowship support or research assistantships in their departments; or
$3,000 for the library, earmarked for collection development in their fields.


Eligibility:

UC Berkeley Academic Senate members and other UC Berkeley ladder faculty are eligible to serve as Haas Mentors. In exceptional circumstances, applicants may request an exemption to the ladder faculty rule. Please contact the Program Office to initiate a request for approval.


For Further Information:

For further information about the Haas Scholars Program, please contact the Program Coordinator, Leah Carroll:
phone: 510.643.5374

e-mail: haas_scholars@learning.berkeley.edu

office: 345 Campbell Hall

Haas Scholars Home Page

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