About the Project:

College is a period of significant transition, for both students and their parents. College is also a period of particular vulnerability for the experience of psychological disorders and other psychological stressors. Eckerd provides many resources to support students in these transitions, including the unique opportunity to live in their dorm room with a family pet, and a strong emphasis on faculty mentorship.

First-Year Research Associates will have the opportunity to assist the professor with one of several projects related to the college student experience. Possibilities include a study of the role which emotional support animals play during academically stressful situations; of the parent-child relationship across the four years of college; and an examination of what predicts a good match between faculty mentor and student. The student would participate in a variety of study-related tasks including literature reviews and planning, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis and write-ups.

The First-Year Research Associate Program at Eckerd College honors academically outstanding students with awards of up to $1,000. The program also provides the opportunity, during the freshman year, for the award winners to work closely with a sponsor (faculty or administrative personnel) on a project of mutual interest. Associates might assist with research for faculty publication or new courses, conduct scientific experiments, work with creative artists, or develop projects related to any phase of the academic, cultural, and social life of the college. Scholars are selected on the basis of achievement in high school and on the creativity and depth of responses to items on this application.​

Online submission due no later than February 1, 2019.