Students in awarded positions will have $750 deposited in their Bursar's office account toward the middle of the semester. If a student carries a balance of greater than $750 with the Bursar's office at that time, the award will go to reduce that amount. Students with a balance of less than $750 will be given a refund for the remainder of the amount. The award is dispersed at this time to minimize any possible interference with the student's financial aid for the following semester. However, students are still required to successfully complete their URCA Assistant position, and should a student not meet URCA requirements after the award has been dispersed, the university will revoke the award. Although every attempt has been made to design the award so that it will not interfere with student aid, each student's financial situation is different, and it is simply impossible for us to guarantee that this award will not affect the student's financial aid. If a student is concerned, they should check with the Financial Aid office.
This award is considered financial aid and will be taxable. At the end of the calendar year all financial aid students receive is reported to the IRS and the student will receive a Form 1098 from the Bursar’s office to file with their taxes. In the case of Foreign National students, the award is taxed up front and a check is cut for any remainder of funds. Also, any funded URCA student who does not have a social security number, including Foreign National students, needs to have one in order to receive the award. To do this, please email ISSS@siue.edu for assistance with this process.
Finally, in extremely rare cases, some students who have maximized their financial aid may be ineligible for the stipend as they are prohibited by state and federal guidelines from receiving any additional funds. (While this rare occurrence could affect any student, it would most likely only affect Meridian Scholars, but only in instances where cost of attendance has been reached; that is, not all Meridian Scholars would be affected.)
Congratulations to all of our URCA Assistants and Mentors for the Spring 2024 semester! We wish you all the best of luck with your projects.
College of Arts and Sciences
Department and Mentor
Assistant(s)
Anthropology
Susan Kooiman
Eileen Kanost
Julie Zimmerman
Miles Cleland
Art & Design
Brigham Dimick
Chloe Albers
Shelly Goebl-Parker
Pedro Henrique Gonzalez-Moro Fagundes
Joseph Page
Alex Okentuss
Laura Strand
Joshua Waggoner
Michael Strumbas
Dmitri Rainey
Rodrick Whetstone
Allison Schwartz, Alison McMahon
Biological and Environmental Sciences
Tom Anderson
Allison Mettenburg, Karlie Markus, Isabelle Hill, Faith Williams
Brandon Underwood, Syeda Zunehra Banu, Emmorie Brown
John Matta
Simran Patel, Paris Somerville, Aiden Nelson, Jared Christopher
Robert Ware
NFN Meenakshi
Construction
Chris Gordon
Ryan Bender
Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering
Arman Dabiri
Zechariah Georgian
Jagath Gunasekera
Jay'len Alcin, Jackson Wooten
Nima Lotfi
Tyler Mowen
National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center
Yan Zhang
Iretomiwa Idowu
School of Education, Health and Human Behavior
Department and Mentor
Assistant(s)
Applied Health
Chaya Gopalan
Rabiya Syeda, Julia Armbruster, Christina Cruse
Brianne Guilford
April Hornsey
Marie Klopfenstein
Isabel Watz, Bailee Nail
Allison Sauerwein
Natalie Quinlan
Bryan Smith
Matt Gierer, Jacen King, Janel Straub, Jennifer Barker, Miquel Navarro Gomez
Joshua Wooten
Jacob Western, Josh Behary, Maxwell Hardiek
Psychology
Ashley Abraham
Bree Cunningham, Mackenzie Carter
Rachel Bradley
Kamya Castro, Gwyneth Comer, Christina Cheeseboro, Anna Hendricks, Allison Stricker
Marie Childers
Roman Becker, Ashley Schneedbli, Damion Posey, Lauren Bible, Jessica Lambert
Sarah Conoyer
Elizabeth Adams, Rachel Britton, Camryn Collings-Vaughn, Tabitha Dehne-Pizzo, Carmen Kline, Isabella Perryman, Rylee Walling
Jason Finley
Joseph Chirillo, Syann Oats, Justin Pfister, Liezel Lindo
David Fisher
Jessica Chen, Sara Burns
Carlee Beth Hawkins
Alyssa Gerstenecker, Lauren Belaska
Jeremy Jewell
Alexis Belfiore
Elizabeth McKenney
Audrey Verge, Emily Mutschler
Laura Pawlow
Edith Pointer, Arial Trautmann, Will Proffer, Kayla Myers
Jonathan Pettibone
Cameron Woodard, Emma Rhodes
Eunyoe Ro
Taylor Meagher, Maya Nieters
Mitsuru Shimizu
Sydney Ohl
Teaching & Learning
Barbara Martin
Alexis Groves
Research, Teaching, & Learning
Elizabeth Kamper
Lindsey Marshall
School of Nursing
Department and Mentor
Assistant(s)
Primary Care and Health Systems
Angela Andrews
Adrienne Carril
Amy Reed
Mary Gomez
Sheri Compton-McBride
Emily Hasquin
Kelley McGuire
Maria Vahling
Family Health and Community Health
Amelia Perez
Marian Vazquez
Annie Imboden
Dirk Tecson II
Nurse Anesthesiology
Leah Baecht
Emily Buss
Jenna Tebbenkamp
Emily Kohlenberger
School of Dental Medicine
Department and Mentor
Assistant(s)
Growth, Development and Structure
Alicia De Maria
Logan Butler
Barbara McCracken
Nguyen Cao
Cinnamon VanPutte
Emily Laird, Eleanor Schuler, David Ferrier, Anne Strullmyer, Rosemary Hardy, Leigha Riley
Other Projects
Department and Mentor
Assistant(s)
For more information about the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Program, contact Dr. Ariel Belasen at (618) 650-2940 or abelase@siue.edu.
