ASAP Program Features

Summer Institute


The Aspiring Scholars and Professionals (ASAP) program begins each year with an eight-week summer institute on the campus of Princeton University. Interns in ASAP commit to working full time (36.25 hours per week) on program activities and are therefore discouraged from holding other employment during the duration of the program. Participating students have the option of a residential experience, in which they stay in a Princeton dormitory for the period of the summer institute, or a commuter experience, in which they travel to Princeton various times each week for program activities. Housing for residential students, and transportation for commuting students, is covered as part of the ASAP award.

 

Summer Institute Workshops

The Postgraduate Pathways Summer Institute (PPSI) brings together ASAP interns with students in Princeton's Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) program to engage with a curriculum of professional development and research methods workshops taught by Princeton University staff members, graduate students, or faculty members. The three-hour workshops take place three times a week during the summer institute. 

 

Mentored Internship Placement

As part of their experience in PPSI, ASAP students are paired with a Princeton University staff or faculty member for a mentored internship placement in an academic research group or an administrative unit at Princeton. In the internship placement, ASAP interns have opportunities throughout the summer to put into immediate practice the skills and approaches to which they are introduced through PPSI workshops. Interns meet for at least one hour per week with their faculty or staff Supervising Mentor to deepen the connections between workshop content and internship goals, receive guidance on their daily work in the sponsoring organization, and build relationships that will support them in their careers and other aspects of their future lives.

 

Library Liaison

Through a special partnership with the Princeton University Libraries, each ASAP intern will be assigned a Library Liaison who is knowledgeable in the subject area of the internship. The Liaison Librarian will be available to support the intern by helping them to access library and other resources relevant to the internship project. The Liaison Librarian may also help to connect the intern with a library colleague at the intern's home institution, to further build a support network that can continue beyond the summer.

As an additional benefit of the ASAP program, interns maintain access to Princeton Library resources for a full year, from June 1 through May 31.

 

Public Presentation

The PPSI culminates in a week-long Postgraduate Pathways Summer Symposium. During the Symposium, ASAP and MMUF students give 15-minute oral presentations about their summer work to an audience of their mentors and peers. Symposium presentations are open to the public, and we enthusiastically welcome the attendance of family members, friends, and faculty and staff members from the students' home institutions.

 

Community-Building Activities

Students in the PPSI also participate in community-building activities--like barbecues, a canoeing and kayaking trip, and excursions to nearby cities such as New York or Philadelphia -- with other undergraduates, from a variety of institutions, living and working on Princeton's campus in the summer.

 

Academic-Year Programming

 

For ASAP interns that complete the summer institute in good standing, interns are eligible to continue work in their internship practicum placement through the fall semester remotely between 5-8 hours per week by mutual agreement between the intern and their supervising mentor(s).

Research / Professional Development Support


As part of the ASAP award, interns have access to a research or professional development portfolio of up to $1,000, to offset costs for supplies or activities related to their internship placement. Students in the ASAP program retain access to these funds for a full year, from June 1 through May 31, to support them both in their summer experience at Princeton and in their academic-year experience on their home campus. Funds may be used for books; computer equipment; printing; software/licenses; sound or video recording equipment; and conference-related costs like registration, travel, or a single-year membership in a professional organization (especially as a requirement for conference presentation).