Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP)

Assisting faculty and staff to engage in research and scholarly & creative endeavors

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) / Internal Research Support for Faculty and Students

Internal Research Support for Faculty and Students

St. Mary’s College strives to provide a supportive environment for faculty research, scholarship and creative endeavors. To this end, faculty members are provided, as needed, with research and studio space, start-up funds, and base level support for professional travel and materials.

Faculty Development Grant Program

In addition, the college funds a Faculty Development Grant Program in support of professional activities including research, creative expression, improvement of learning & classroom materials, and conference participation. These funds are especially intended to foster advances in scholarship for early career faculty and to support seed projects that result in:

  • external funding
  • implementation of innovative pedagogies and research methodologies
  • dissemination of findings
  • wide-ranging collaborations on and off campus

Teaching and Learning Program

In recognition of the connections between research and teaching, the College’s Teaching and Learning Program also funds projects that explore the links between scholarship and pedagogy, as well as the scholarship of pedagogy.

Faculty/Student Research and Creative Collaborations

St. Mary’s professors are teacher-scholars actively engaged in pursuing their own research and creative projects; and they strive to engage St. Mary’s College students in such professional activities. Many of those students make significant contributions to project outcomes and ultimately become co-presenters at regional and national conferences or co-authors on peer-reviewed publications.

In addition to the ongoing opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty members on projects of mutual interest, the following formal programs encourage all St. Mary’s College students to engage in research and creative collaborations:

St. Mary’s Project (SMP)

St. Mary’s College’s commitment to undergraduate research is borne out in the St. Mary’s Project (SMP) — a capstone project of original research, scholarship or creative performance undertaken in the senior year. Students from all disciplines take advantage of this opportunity to excel in scholarly and creative projects, and roughly 60% of the students complete such SMPs. A required part of this capstone experience is the SMP presentation at the conclusion of the project, which provides students with a chance to practice another essential skill set: that of public presentation. In general, St. Mary’s Projects realize several of the following goals of our honors college:

  • The maintenance of high academic standards
  • The creation of a sense of intellectual community in which academic disciplines are appreciated as both unique and interrelated
  • The development of each student’s ability to think critically and creatively in order to foster curiosity and promote inquiry
  • The encouragement of each student’s ability to identify personal educational goals and to select courses that will help to realize these goals
  • An emphasis on learning not only in the classroom, but between faculty and students and between students and their peers
  • Sponsorship of a project of quality as the culmination and means of assessing the whole of a student’s education
  • High standards of intellectual and creative endeavor and a sense of responsibility and personal integrity that leads to meaningful performance in a world that is complex and interdependent.

SMPs provide faculty members the opportunity to work one-on-one with students on projects originating directly from the students’ research queries, as well as engage students in their own research projects. To recognize the time commitment involved in intensive mentoring and the significance of the experience for students’ education, faculty members obtain one course release for every six SMPs that they mentor.

Read more about guidelines, past projects, and presentation schedules

St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, SURF

To expand undergraduate opportunities to engage in research and creative activities, St. Mary’s College implemented a summer research program, the St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, SURF. The SURF program brings together students working on projects from across multiple disciplines, and incorporates an ongoing seminar-style discussion and presentation schedule in addition to supporting individual projects. The program is funded through generous support from the College, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and a private donor; it provides both a stipend and room & board to student fellows, and compensates faculty mentors.

DeSousa-Brent Scholars Program

Students from underrepresented populations have additional opportunities to engage in sponsored (i.e., funded) summer research through the DeSousa-Brent Scholars Program, which was designed to cultivate the academic and leadership potential of underrepresented groups at St. Mary’s.

Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA)

In 2011, St. Mary’s College of Maryland entered an Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at Patuxent River Naval Air Station and The Patuxent Partnership (TPP). This agreement advances scientific research and fosters academic growth in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering (STEM). As a result of this partnership, many St. Mary’s students participate in research and/or internships at nearby Patuxent River Naval Air Station.