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Visiting Scholar Series

Rationale

The purpose of the visiting scholar program is to enlarge student and faculty knowledge and provide an off-campus faculty and student mentor. This should be a person of considerable accomplishment and stature in their respective field of inquiry. It is also an excellent opportunity to inform the visitor about BYU, and its very able faculty and students.

Guidelines for a Chair's Submission of a Visitor Proposal

Each academic department may nominate one (not to exceed two) visiting scholars per year to be sponsored by the College Annual Fund. It is expected that these costs will be shared equally by the department and the college.

These visitors will be short term (typically, one to three days). A reasonable model for each visit might include: a seminar for students, a seminar for faculty, and informal mentoring of students and faculty. Mentoring of students could include a student breakfast or other gathering where the scholar talks about the discipline. Mentoring of faculty could include an agreement that the visitor will be willing to read and comment on faculty papers in process. For approved visitors, we would ask that for each seminar that notice be given that this visit is sponsored by the College of Family, Home, and Social Science Annual Giving Fund. This will build the understanding among faculty and students that their contributions are productively at work.

Proposals should include the following:

  1. Letter of support and justification from the chair, to include:
    1. An explanation of background and standing of the potential visitor indicating why the person was nominated (how will this visit enrich student and faculty learning?).
    2. A projection of costs and the particular cost-sharing arrangement for the visit.
    3. The seminars and mentoring experiences this person will conduct.
  2. The nominee's vita.

These proposals should be emailed to Mikaela Dufur, the Associate Dean over faculty.

After the visit, please provide a short report of the events with your request for reimbursement. This should go first to the department chair, who will forward it on to the Associate Dean for Development.

If you plan to advertise your event to anyone outside of your department, you must get speaker approval. To initiate this, click the button below.