Creative Inquiry Mentor Resources

Dr. Moore de Peralta and her CI students work in Las Malvinas, Dominican Republic
Dr. Moore de Peralta and her CI students work in Las Malvinas, Dominican Republic

More than 400 innovative and challenging Creative Inquiry projects are active at this time. Each project is led by one or more faculty members, sometimes collaborating with staff or graduate students.

Any potential mentors are encouraged to join the bi-monthly CI + UR News email dissemination for deadlines and targeted opportunities for CI projects, mentors, and students. To join this list, please email ciinfo@clemson.edu.

Proposing a New Project

Managing Your Project

Once your proposal is approved:

  • Use the CI project manager to edit, update information, add courses, and accomplishment/reports.
  • Each semester you must enter your CI Course and section numbers on the 'course' tab.
  • Review the Procedures for Spending CI Funds page.
  • Reporting: Annual reports (for the academic year) are required and due no later than 30 June. You may enter project accomplishments at any time in the project manager (they will automatically populate in your annual report for that year).
  • Present CI project research at the annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Poster Forum.

Students Conducting Research for Credit – Medical Coverage

  • Undergraduate students conducting research for credit (i.e. not in a paid position such as a student worker, etc.) are NOT covered under the university’s workers compensation program in the event of an accident.
  • In such cases, any medical costs incurred that are not covered under the student health fee, may have to be paid by the student.
  • It is recommended that students and parents consider the risks associated with the work to be conducted and determine the need for additional medical insurance coverage (if applicable).
  • A list of services covered and not covered under the student health fee, as well as a link to purchase the Student Health Insurance Plan can be found here: https://www.clemson.edu/campus-life/student-health/insurance-and-billing.html

Project Funding

  • All CI projects eligible for CI funds received fall budgets on September 7.
    Eligibility:
    1. Annual reports entered by the deadline (June 30)
    2. Courses entered by the deadline (first day of classes)
    3. CI project participation at FoCI within the past two years
    4. Enroll students in a CI course. CI courses are courses listed as Creative Inquiry courses in the University Catalog or course sections approved by the CI office and committee to have a CI attribution added in Banner
  • CI projects with teams of 6 or more students may request budgets of ≥$2000 per semester to support research/project activities. Budgets will be prorated for projects with lower enrollments.
  • CI LAUNCH projects may request up to $500 per semester.
  • Please reference the Policies and Procedures for Spending CI Funds to see what are allowable versus not allowable expenses.
  • Conference travel grants are available to partially support mentor and students travel to professional conferences in order to present their CI project research.
  • Foreign travel requires advance approval by your college, the Office of Global Engagement, and must include undergraduate students who are part of the CI project.
    **CI will not budget international travel funding until receiving the approval (or forwarded approval) from Global Engagement, the names of traveling students, and the travel itinerary from the project mentor.
  • All travel must follow university policies and procurement procedures. Appropriate departmental and/or college permissions are required.

Project Assessment

All CI projects are assessed annually. 

CI Committee, Your College Representatives

Please use your representatives as a resource! The 2023-2024 representatives are:

College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities
Joey Manson, Art
Alan Grubb, History

College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences
Troy Farmer, Forestry & Environmental Conservation
seat vacant

College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences
seat vacant
June Pilcher, Psychology

College of Business
James Gaubert, Marketing
Hope Parnell, Management

College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences
Jessica Larsen, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Steven Brandon, General Engineering

College of Education
Ryan Visser, Education & Human Development

College of Science
Michael Sehorn, Genetics & Biochemistry
Tzuen-Rong ‘Jeremy’ Tzeng, Biological Sciences

Advisory members:  David Knox (Clemson Thinks2); Juan Xu (Institutional Research); Joanna Floyd (Research/Industry Contracts)

Additional Resources

Our Opportunities page is constantly updated to bring you the latest available research, funding, and travel opportunities for undergraduates at Clemson University.

See our Services page for a list of equipment available for checkout.

FAQ