We encourage student success and support as you explore educational opportunities. The program was designed to help fellows achieve multiple outcomes including designing research products, building a lasting academic network, and graduate school application materials.
Essential Program Outcomes
Research products: Each fellow will design an original research proposal through scaffolded assignments in the spring Research Methods course and with guidance from PURPOSE faculty mentors. Through program partnerships with the local Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools sites, all fellows will have the opportunity to implement their research during the six-week summer reading camps designed around a culturally relevant education model. PURPOSE fellows may also develop research products with their faculty mentors as they continually participate in research apprenticeships across the three semesters.
Academic relationships: The cohort model of the PURPOSE program provides weekly opportunities for fellows to collaborate with each other as well as with faculty mentors. Bi-weekly proseminars provide a forum for discussing a range of topics relevant to fellows’ ongoing research development and social justice inquiry. During the summer research practicum, fellows will have support from graduate student peer mentors from FAMU and FSU, who in some cases will be from prior PURPOSE cohorts. Peer mentors will help fellows conduct their research by sharing their prior experience working in Freedom Schools® settings to develop respectful relationships with all stakeholders.
Graduate preparedness: Whether fellows are undergraduate or graduate students, the PURPOSE program will help them prepare for the next level of their educational career. PURPOSE fellows may use some of their $2,000 research fund allotment to pay for GRE prep courses, the exam itself, and graduate application fees. Proseminars in the summer and fall will focus in part on creating a strong application package including products like writing an effective academic goal statement.