Scholarly or Creative WTE

The Scholarly and Creative WTE is an opportunity for you to explore, learn, create, and grow by doing an original, independent project with the guidance of a faculty mentor.

You can

Create an original piece of music or art.
Conduct an experiment on a topic that fascinates you.
Research a subject that you want to discover more about.
Start your own business.
Write and produce your own play.
And much more!

WTE Project Steps

Reaching out to a professor that inspired you in class or whose interest overlaps with your project is a great way to start.

Work with your faculty mentor to create a plan and timeline for your project.

To declare a Scholarly & Creative WTE project, please click the button labeled 'Declare Project' and fill out the Dynamic Form.

Declare Project

You can present your project at Day of Transformation, Apeiron or in another public venue.

The last step is filling out the SCWTE project completion form.

Funding your project with grants

You can receive up to $1,000 for your project, depending on the availability of funds. All grants are awarded on a rolling basis; there are no deadlines.

Student Grants

Student Grants provide funds for undergraduate students to purchase materials, equipment, travel or other eligible expenses.

Student grant application

Travel Grants

Travel Grants provide funds for faculty and students to travel to professional and academic conferences to present research and/or to participate in workshops.

Travel grant application

Graduate Student Grants

Graduate Student Grants provide funds for graduate students to pursue SCWTE projects. These projects should surpass typical graduate-level coursework. Funds can be used to purchase materials, equipment, travel or other eligible expenses.

Graduate student grant application

Exploring America Grants

Exploring America Grants allow faculty members to travel with students within the United States as part of a credit-bearing course.

Exploring America application

Poster Grants

Poster Grants provide funds for printing posters for use at Apeiron, Day of Transformation, or conferences. Posters must be printed at UMAPS.

Poster grant application

Guidelines for students

The requirements for the Scholarly or Creative Washburn Transformational Experience are:

The scholarly or creative project must be significant. That is, the project should result in a significant commitment of scholarly/creative effort on the part of the student, as judged by the student’s faculty mentor. The project need not be in the student's major.
The scholarly or creative project may be an independent project that is not part of a structured (faculty-planned) course. The project can be part of a capstone course in which the students create or develop their own projects, but not a course in which the students simply follow the instruction of an instructor
The project must be completed under the tutelage of at least one faculty member. The faculty mentor need not be in the student's major.
The completed project must be presented in a public forum that can take a wide variety of forms. If you are uncertain about whether the forum is sufficient, please contact Dr. Lindsey Ibañez at lindsey.ibanez@washburn.edu or 785.670.1610.
Completion and approval of all WTE "paperwork" (Declaration, Activity Plan, Completion Request Form).

Guidelines for faculty

The Washburn Transformational Experience would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of the faculty mentors who supervise student projects.

Faculty mentors are responsible for communicating with student mentees regarding project requirements and academic expectations, approving SCWTE project declarations, and confirming that SCWTE projects have been completed.

Faculty mentors may be eligible for compensation.

SCWTE Coordinator

As the assistant director of the Center for Undergraduate Scholarly and Creative Support, I administer the Scholarly and Creative WTE program, which is a unique and exceptional opportunity for Washburn students to explore their interests, work with faculty mentors, develop their professional portfolios, and receive university recognition for their efforts. I am also a sociology professor. If you'd like to learn more about the Scholarly and Creative WTE, you can reach me at lindsey.ibanez@washburn.edu or 785.670.1610.