Public Service Scholars Program

The Haas Center established the Public Service Scholars Program in 1994 to encourage students to connect public service with their academic work and research interests through an honors thesis.

Key Elements of the Program

Community of Scholars
PSSP students, under the mentorship of the program director, form an interdisciplinary community of scholars who provide diverse perspectives and support while sharing the pursuit of outstanding academic research as a form of public service. PSSP students write theses in human biology; peace and conflict studies (an individually designed major); feminist studies; history; American studies; political science; urban studies; sociology; and science, technology, and society. The PSSP complements the requirements of students’ honors programs and the efforts of faculty advisors during the thesis-writing process. Early in autumn quarter, an overnight retreat provides the foundational community-building experience for the group. 

Academic Excellence
PSSP offers the support, structure, and accountability necessary for the successful completion of participants’ theses. All program participants are required to enroll in Urban Studies 198: Senior Research in Public Service during the Autumn (3 units), Winter (3 units), and Spring (1 unit) Quarters of their senior year. The director of public service research and students co-facilitate the weekly seminar, which is designed to explore the theory and practice of research as a form of service and to provide students with opportunities to share their writing in small groups, solve problems collaboratively, and critique thesis plans, conceptual frameworks and methodologies.

Mentorship
By request, PSSP students can be matched with a Stanford staff, faculty or community member who serves as a mentor. The mentor relationship is highly individualized, but mentors typically provide advice and support to foster the public service dimension of the thesis research and to pursue larger questions of how this work relates to students’ lives and career goals.

Public Service Plan
During the course of the academic year, PSSP students develop public service plans by identifying audiences who might be interested in or benefit from their thesis research. Through this process, participants are challenged to make the link between scholarly research and the public good. Knowing their research will do more than “sit on a shelf” is a powerful motivation during the thesis-writing process.

Thesis Presentations
In May, PSSP students present their thesis research along with its public service implications and applications during a mini-conference entitled “Research With a Public Purpose.” The presentation affords students an opportunity to share and celebrate the results of their yearlong work.

Additional Resources:

• A Community of Scholars: an essay on the origins of PSSP written by PSSP alumni
• Scholarship for Social Change: document on the first ten years of PSSP, with bios of alumni

If you are interested in theses written from 1995 to the present, please contact Clayton Hurd.

Requirements

To apply for the 2016-17 PSSP cohort, please complete the online application which can be found at the following link: PSSP Application

In addition to the student application, please have your faculty advisor complete this form: Faculty Advisor Form

**Please note that a complete application includes both the student application as well as the faculty advisor form** 

1) Applicant Information

• name
• email address
• phone
• academic major
• program in which thesis will be written (if different from academic major)
• faculty thesis advisor
• expected date of graduation

2) Supporting Documents

• faculty thesis advisor's letter of support
• unofficial transcript (email as an attachment to churd@stanford.edu)
• Verification of acceptance to the honors program in your major academic department or interdisciplinary program (email to churd@stanford.edu)

3) Personal Statement

Please describe both your personal and academic reasons for applying to the program. Please ensure that you are thorough and specific in your responses to the questions. Please respond to each question separately; each response should be approximately one to two paragraphs in length.

1. What are your previous public service experiences?
2. How and what will you contribute to the development of a community of scholars and rich learning environment for your PSSP peers?
3. How will you manage your senior year commitments so that you are able to complete research that not only meets the requirements of an honors thesis but also manifests the values of research as service?

4) Honors Thesis Research

Please describe the nature of your research project, your preparation for conducting research, and what you deem to be the practical applications of your research. Please ensure that you are thorough and specific in your responses to the questions. Please respond to each question separately; each response should be approximately one to two paragraphs in length.

1. What is the objective of your research project? Please identify the specific research question you want to explore and explain why it is significant.
2. What will you do to answer the question you are posing? Please describe your theoretical framework, the methods you will use to generate and analyze data, and the logistical hurdles you may encounter, e.g., securing research clearances/visas for international studies, translating instruments, identifying respondents, and transcribing interviews.
3. What specific steps have you taken to prepare for your research project? What methods and data analysis courses have you taken or plan to take? If your project requires the participation of human subjects, have you submitted a Human Subjects Protocol?
4. What might be some "real world" or practical applications of your research? What challenges to implementation do you anticipate?

5) Application Essay

Please describe a dilemma you faced at some point since entering Stanford that challenged your core beliefs. How did you handle the situation? What did you learn from it? Please limit your essay to 1000 words.

Contact Information

For more information about the Public Service Scholars Program, please contact Clayton Hurd.