Undergraduate Research – What’s In It For YOU? Kathy Whatley Associate Vice Chancellor for Natural Sciences UNC Asheville

Research =  Research  Scholarly activity  Creative activity

Partnership Between Research and Teaching  Cooperative, not competitive  Undergraduate research IS teaching and learning  Mentoring  Alternative learning styles

What’s In It for Students?  “Make you own assignment” Investigate what you like! Investigate what you like!  Work closely with faculty  Become an expert in your project  Present your results – communicate like a professional  PUBLISH! (Your parents will love this!)  Increased independence

What’s In It for Faculty?  Grow your own research team Make your own collaborators Make your own collaborators  UR “counts” in teaching load Research courses Research courses One-on-one learning (UR contract courses) One-on-one learning (UR contract courses)  UR “counts” in evaluation processes (RTP and PTR)  Student grants – an extra source of research funds

What’s In It for the Administration?  An energized faculty!  More opportunities for students  More grant overhead funding  P.S. – this will cost money

What’s In It for Trustees and Friends?  More regional and national recognition  Stronger alumni commitment  Improved student recruitment possibilities  More interesting events on campus

Resources  National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)  Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)

NCUR

NCUR 2005   April 21-23, 2005: VMI and Washington and Lee, Virginia  

CUR

Student Stories

Robert

 Joann  Theatre students  Lydia  Paige

Conclusions  UR provides opportunities for a student to participate actively in his or her discipline  UR helps establish collegial relationships between faculty and students, one of the most important factors in student retention and satisfaction  UR helps keep faculty engaged and productive