Dammon Dean's Scholar Program
Every year, twenty-five to thirty beginning students are selected as Dammon Dean’s Scholars. Their participation in the program is rewarding: academic disciplines come alive, and new opportunities open up as a result of their unique first-year experience. The Dean’s Scholar Program could enrich your first year, too.
As a Dean's Scholar you will:
- Work with a faculty member on a research project
- Learn and grow in a community of dedicated scholars like yourself
- Participate in a living/learning community with other Dean's Scholars (required)
FACULTY-STUDENT RESEARCH
The Dammon Dean’s Scholar Program offers you the opportunity to study one-on-one with a professor during your first year at Purdue. Scholars are free to choose research projects involving any area in the College of Liberal Arts. Dean’s Scholar projects expand students’ understanding of specific disciplines, develop their academic connections, and test their personal career choices. In addition, scholars benefit from having professors as their mentors. To see examples of previous Dean's Scholar projects, look here.
GROWTH IN A SCHOLARLY COMMUNITY
As a Dean’s Scholar in a community with professors and fellow students, you will have an immediate support network that will foster intellectual growth and friendship. Much of the interaction among fellow scholars takes place in the Dean’s Scholar Seminar, a course that earns students one credit per semester during their freshman year. During the fall semester, students investigate possible research opportunities, learn about the College of Liberal Arts, and discuss issues related to their first year at Purdue. The following semester, scholars get to know each other more closely when the seminar class is divided into small groups to discuss their ongoing research projects with fellow scholars.
"When you come in as a freshman, you feel like a little fish in the sea. But working in the Dean’s Scholar Program, you get to meet the faculty and get involved. And it makes the school seem much smaller." – Jenica Szymanski, Psychology major, Manchester, New Jersey
PARTICIPATING IN THE LIVING-LEARNING COMMUNITY
Through learning communities, first-year students have a great way to make friends and learn the ropes at Purdue. Research results here and at programs across the United States show that students who take part in a learning community earn higher grades, make friends faster, and graduate at higher or faster rates than students who don't participate.
AN ADDITIONAL BENEFIT
Participating in the Dean’s Scholar Program means that you will receive a $1,000 scholarship. If you are a Trustees or Presidential Scholarship, this $1,000 will become part of the Trustees or Presidential Award that is made possible by generous donors who have contributed to the University. Although the amount of merit money you receive from Purdue cannot exceed the amount of the Trustees or Presidential Scholarship, you will have an additional named award that you can add to your resume.
"The Dean’s Scholar Program is very beneficial for both students and professors. Professors enjoy this relationship where a student is excited about learning. And from the student’s point of view, it opens up a whole new world." – Robert Melara, Associate Professor, Psychological Sciences
HOW TO APPLY
You must first be admitted to Purdue in order to apply for scholarships. Notification of admission begins on December 11, 2009. Students who have a combined SAT of 1800 or above, or an ACT composite of 26 or higher, or are a high school valedictorian may apply here:
https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/DFA/ScholarShipApp/ScholarshipApp_start.cfm
The application deadline is February 1, 2010. Corey Linkel, the Honors Program Coordinator, leads the Dean's Scholar Program in Liberal Arts.
Contact Us
CLA Honors Program
Beering Hall, Rm. 1175
100 N. University St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
(765) 496-3235
clahonors@purdue.edu