Duke-UNC project proposals due today

UNC students seeking to collaborate with Duke University students through a new program have to submit their applications today.

Applications to the Kenan-Biddle Partnership were originally due on Nov. 15, but the deadline was extended to today in response to several requests for extensions.

The partnership, in its inaugural year, allows students from UNC and Duke to partner to improve academic life at both schools through a research or service plan.

One week before the original Nov. 15 deadline, no one had submitted proposals. As of midday on the original deadline, 26 applications were received. By midday the next day, the number had risen to more than 70.

Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke and co-chairman of the partnership, said he expects about 10 more proposals to be sent in by today’s deadline.

“Projects being proposed are all across the board,” Moneta said.

Ron Strauss, executive associate provost and co-chairman of the partnership, could not be reached for comment.
Students were allowed to apply for a grant of about $5,000.

The activities called for by the proposals are expected to have a year-long term but are up for renewal at the end of the year.

The program website says that preference will be given to proposals submitted jointly by students from both schools.

Program representatives have said that the quality of proposal is more important than what type of research or service is being proposed.

Partnerships or teams had to consist of at least one student from both schools, but there was no formal campaign to help students from different schools find each other.

“A lot of students have taken the initiative to go out and find partners,” Moneta said. “I’m thrilled about it.”

The proposals will next be reviewed by a panel consisting of faculty members from both schools and student body presidents Hogan Medlin of UNC and Mike Lefevre of Duke. The projects that are approved have an assumed start date of Jan. 1.

The program is not the first of its kind to combine efforts of students from both schools.

The Robertson Scholars Program allows Duke and UNC students to take classes and enroll for a semester at the other school.

“The first year is always tough,” said Lars Schoultz, a Kenan-Biddle committee member and political science professor at UNC.

“You don’t know what to expect. But undergraduate research is our biggest goal.”

He also emphasized the opportunity that a program like the Kenan-Biddle Partnership would give to interested undergraduates.

“The University has always promoted graduate research and research by junior faculty, but this is a great program for undergraduates to engage in research,” Schoultz said.

The committee is given a $50,000 budget for this year and will appropriate funds among the application groups.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.