The Role of a Research Sponsor
"Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge…We must beware of what I will call "inert ideas"… ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilized or tested or thrown into fresh combinations."
- Alfred North Whitehead, 1924
Research sponsors play an important role in the Sterling College B.A. curriculum by providing opportunities for students to apply new learning while addressing authentic questions and problems.
Each student is required to identify a sponsor for a Senior Applied Research Project (SARP). The minimum responsibilities of a SARP sponsor are 1) to help the student identify a question or problem upon which to focus a SARP and 2) to have interest in the student’s findings. Sterling College faculty members provide structured support of the research process, and sponsors are free to participate as much or as little as they wish in that process. Ultimately, each student is expected to take one step toward implementation of the answer or solution identified. Such implementation may range from providing information for an appropriate audience to taking a specific action step that begins the process of solving a problem.
For more information about sponsoring a research project please contact:
E. Perry Thomas, Ph.D.
Dean of the College
Sterling College
Craftsbury Common, VT 05827
(800)648-3591/(802)586-7711
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