Funding Opportunity for Students – McMurrin Professorship

Student groups associated with academic programs are invited to submit nominations for the McMurrin Distinguished Visiting Professorship for the 2018-19 academic year.

The Undergraduate Council invites groups of students to submit a proposal to host the 2018-19 McMurrin Professorship. The McMurrin Professorship, named after the late Sterling M. McMurrin, Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Graduate School is designed to support an event that provides an academic focus on an area or question that is of paramount concern to undergraduate students. Interdisciplinary applications as well as those more centered in an individual discipline are welcomed. The funds ($7,500) can be used to support a variety of types of events that would bring academic attention to a topic of broad interest to students. They might be used to bring a teacher/scholar/ artist to campus for a period of two or three days, to fund a set of panel discussions, or a combination of panel discussions, presentations, or film screenings or creative performances. While the focus of the event should be a topic of interest to undergraduate students, we hope it will be of interest to the broader University community as well. A variety of formats is possible, but the primary audience for the McMurrin Professorship must be undergraduates. 

To be eligible to receive these funds, the student group must identify a faculty advisor who will be working with them throughout the duration of the Professorship.

To apply for the McMurrin Professorship please submit a 3-5 page proposal in which you present the area or question that will be the focus of the Professorship and provide evidence for its academic relevance to undergraduate students. Describe the types of activities that would be designed or speaker(s) that would be invited, and who (i.e, student names and contact information) would be involved in executing the event(s), including each student’s specific role(s). Finally, provide a preliminary budget for how the funds ($7,500) would be used and the plan to market the event broadly to undergraduate students. If the student group selected has a University account, the funds will be transferred to that account; if not, they will be transferred to an account under the faculty advisor’s control. Include a letter of commitment from the faculty advisor indicating their intention to be involved with the project for the duration of the Professorship.


Criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals include the following:

  1. Evidence that the topic/focus is of broad interest to undergraduate students.
  2. Evidence that the Professorship will have an impact beyond the parameters of the event(s).
  3. Evidence that the activities of the Professorship are unique and not duplicative of other planned events on campus that focus on undergraduate education.
  4. Discussion of how the Professorship fits within the four big goals of the University (

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact or 801-581-3412.

Please send your proposals to Ann Blanchard ( at Undergraduate Studies, 132 Sill Center by Friday, April 6, 2018.