Next Steps as a Summer Research Fellow or Scholar
Congratulations on being selected as a summer research fellow or Richter scholar with the URECA center at Wake Forest University! We were impressed by your application and found your upcoming project to be enriching for both you and the WFU community. These are the next steps that you will need to follow in order to make sure you get your stipend on time, get housing situated, get supplies ordered, and get your project started! (and catch a flight if you are traveling internationally!)
There is also important information here about what to do once your project concludes.
Wake Forest Research Fellowship and Arts & Humanities Research Fellowships
All fellows accepted into URECA programs are given a stipend. The total amount changes depending on both the type of fellowship/scholarship you are awarded as well as your US citizenship status.
All fellows are required to fill out the Mentor-Student Agreement. As soon as you know that you have been awarded you should make time to meet with your mentor(s) to talk about expectations and goals, and fill out the form. No funding will be sent to students who do not submit this form. Please send your PDF form to Nathan Allen (allejn16@wfu.edu).
On behalf of all fellows, the URECA coordinator will fill out and submit documentation to get funds sent to students. Students will receive funds in one of two possible ways:
- Direct Deposit. This is the fastest way to receive your funding. If you chose this option in your application, it is absolutely crucial that you sign up for direct deposit (follow these steps). The URECA center will not sign you up for direct deposit.
- Check. This option will take up to 2 weeks. You will need to make sure that the address that you have on WIN (or Workday) is the address that you wish to receive your check at. Otherwise the check may be posted to the old address on file.
International Students will also need to fill out the Foreign National Information Form (FNIF). In addition to this form, students will need to send scanned copies of the following to Nathan Allen (allejn16@wfu.edu):
- Passport
- Visa
- I-94 Departure Record
- Social Security card or ITIN card
- Form I-20 (if a student) or Form IAP66/DS2019
The FNIF and supporting documents should be sent in a single, merged PDF.
URECA will provide a housing stipend for those who requested it in their application. This stipend will cover your half of a standard double occupancy room. You may also live in a single occupancy room and apply the URECA credit, but you will have to pay the difference with personal funds. It is important to note that you must apply for housing yourself. The URECA center will only post funds to your student account once you have been charged for housing. To apply, you should:
- Go to the housing website to apply for summer housing. The portal for summer housing usually opens within the first two weeks of April. If you are a full summer fellow, choose to apply for the entire summer. If you are an Arts and Humanities Fellow, please choose the summer session that you will complete your research during.
- In the portal, you will be able to choose to live with a group of up to 6 people who will be here over the summer; roommates do not all have to be summer research fellows, but they certainly may.
- In late April, you (and your group if applicable) will choose your actual room in the portal.
- You will be billed as usual for housing and URECA will transfer funds to cover housing (up to the cost of your portion of a double occupancy room).
Please direct any housing questions to the RL&H Office.
In your application, you were given space to detail a proposed budget of up to $500. In your award letter, it stated the amount of supply funds that you were awarded. These funds are “reserved” for you but they are not given to you like a stipend.
To access these funds, you will need to have your mentor (or the coordinator of your mentor’s home department) order supplies for you. They can either:
- order directly through Workday if the vendor is set up and charge to the URECA cost center 500004 and add the worktag U01234
- order supplies with a P-card and then reconcile the order to the URECA cost center 500004 and add the worktag U01234
As always, any supplies bought with a URECA supply budget must remain property of the college. This means that the supplies, if reusable, should stay with your mentor or department.
You’ve done it! You have finished your project (or at least part of it since many projects become bigger for some students)! What now?
All fellows (both Wake Forest Research Fellows and Arts & Humanities Fellows) are required to do a few more steps around the end of summer and early fall.
One opportunity is Dinner and Dialogue. This annual set of dinners gives you, the student, a chance to sit down with other fellows and a URECA committee member to casually talk about what you have been up to over the summer. You will talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what is next. Information about signing up for a dinner will be communicated to you around early to mid July.
Another opportunity is Undergraduate Research Day. Your attendance at this event is required (unless you are studying abroad). This is the chance to get a feel for what it is like to present your research in either poster or presentation style. To get ready for this, you will need to:
- Submit an abstract via the portal here by Thursday, September 22nd.
- Look over the tips for creating a poster.
- To have URECA cover the costs of poster printing:
- Submit your PDF poster file to copies@wfu.edu in an email with the subject line: Poster to print for Fall 2022 Research Day
- Deadline to submit: Wednesday, September 28th.
- Deadline to pick up poster: Thursday, October 6th.
- Look over out best practices for Undergraduate Research Day.
- Show up on October 7th, 2022 at 3 pm to 5 pm.
Richter Scholarship
On behalf of all scholars, the URECA coordinator will fill out and submit documentation to get funds sent to students. Students will receive funds in one of two possible ways:
- Direct Deposit. This is the fastest way to receive your funding. If you chose this option in your application, it is absolutely crucial that you sign up for direct deposit (follow these steps). The URECA center will not sign you up for direct deposit.
- Check. This option will take up to 2 weeks. You will need to make sure that the address that you have on WIN (or Workday) is the address that you wish to receive your check at. Otherwise the check may be posted to the old address on file.
International Students will also need to fill out the Foreign National Information Form (FNIF). In addition to this form, students will need to send scanned copies of the following to Nathan Allen (allejn16@wfu.edu):
- Passport
- Visa
- I-94 Departure Record
- Social Security card or ITIN card
- Form I-20 (if a student) or Form IAP66/DS2019
The FNIF and supporting documents should be sent in a single, merged PDF.
Because scholars will be traveling internationally, all Individual student travelers must complete and submit the International Travel Forms which include:
- purchasing international travel insurance
- signing an Assumption of Risk & Release form
- completing a Health Questionnaire
You are automatically enrolled within a week of your decision letter, so there is nothing for you to complete. This class will take place in the second half of the spring semester before you plan to leave. If you decide to decline the Richter Scholarship, you will need to go to WIN and formally drop the course at that point.
The URECA center hopes that you have had a wonderful time abroad. And we want to hear about it! So, as part of your Richter Scholarship, you are required to:
Upload a report and financial summary via this form. The report will share the findings of your summer research and will be used by Wake Forest University to secure more grants like yours for future students. This report may or may not be identical to the report that you and your faculty mentor have agreed upon in the planning stages of the project, but it can be. Please be sure to consult with your mentor before you submit the report. Please also be sure to submit your financial summary. This summary should indicate how you spent the scholarship money. Do not include receipts. Should we need any receipts, we will be in touch with you. The report and the financial summary must be uploaded by Thursday, October 6, 2022. You will have received more info about the report in an email from the Richter Scholars program.
Attend Undergraduate Research Day. Your attendance at this event is required (unless you are studying abroad). This is the chance to get a feel for what it is like to present your research in either poster or presentation style. To get ready for this, you will need to:
- Submit an abstract via the portal here by Thursday, September 22nd.
- Look over the tips for creating a poster.
- To have URECA cover the costs of poster printing:
- Submit your PDF poster file to copies@wfu.edu in an email with the subject line: Poster to print for Fall 2022 Research Day
- Deadline to submit: Wednesday, September 28th.
- Deadline to pick up poster: Thursday, October 6th.
- Show up on October 7th, 2022 at 3 pm to 5 pm.