A significant decrease in the number of applicants for the Harrison Awards may have been caused by a change in the application rules, which no longer allow first and fourth years to apply for the grants.
The Harrison Awards are grants for up to $3,000 that allow undergraduate students to pursue independent research projects.
This year 95 undergraduates applied for 40 scholarships, while last year 150 students applied for 25 awards. University alumnus David A. Harrison donates the money for the awards and the Faculty Senate distributes them.
Bill Kehoe, chairman of the Senate Research and Scholarship Committee, said the Committee decided second and third years are the best candidates for the awards.
"Fourth years cannot participate in the Harrison Award symposium," which is held in the fall, Kehoe said.
At the symposium, winners of the previous year's awards present their research to faculty.
First years will be better prepared to apply for the awards next year and will have formed better relationships with faculty members, Kehoe said.
Faculty Senate Member Francis Peyton said barring first and fourth years from the application process probably is one of the reasons for the decrease in applications but not the sole reason.
Since the awards have only been given out for two years, it is difficult to determine the cause, Peyton said.
Kerry O'Neill, a third-year history major who applied for the Harrison Award so she can study Intellectual and Social Nationalism in Ireland, said she was unaware first and fourth years could not apply for the awards.
"I don't see any reason for keeping first and fourth years from applying," O'Neill said.
She said she would not have been ready to apply her first year but believes others should be allowed.
"If they are that motivated in their first year then they should be allowed to apply," she said.
Third-year College student Nick Jabbour, who also applied for a Harrison Award, said, "It disappointed me that this would be the final year I could apply for the award."
"I had to think about what I wanted to write my thesis on a year early," Jabbour said.
The application process involves a student proposing a project and choosing a faculty advisor.
After receiving the applications, a committee of Senate members evaluates the proposals and awards the scholarships.
Students' projects can be on any topic they choose to research. Last year, the award winners studied a variety of topics such as history, anthropology, architecture and women's studies.
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