Council for Undergraduate Research

Transforming Undergraduate Research Curriculum and Culture

June 12-14, 2018

Vancouver Island University

COUNCIL ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (CUR) INSTITUTE 

Undergraduate research has been recognized as an effective high impact practice that provides transformative learning experiences for students while enhancing retention rates in post-secondary institutions. This CUR institute will enable participating institutional teams to learn about promising practices in undergraduate research from others, reflect and evaluate their own initiatives, and formulate a plan of action to enhance undergraduate research opportunities. Teams will explore multiple ways to scale the benefits of undergraduate research to ensure its benefits are accessible to all students.

Vancouver Island University and Thompson Rivers University invite you to register a team of 3-5 faculty and administrators from your institution to participate in this exciting institute to be held at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo from June 12-14, 2018.

Coordinator:

Dr. Mitch Malachowski, University of San Diego

Facilitators:

Dr. Jenny Shanahan, Bridgewater State University

Dr. Laureen Styles, Vancouver Island University

About the Institute

The purpose of this workshop is to enable institutions that have been working at institutionalizing undergraduate research in a variety of ways to share their experiences and lessons learned with others and to work in small teams to build on their success. Participants will actively engage with members of their institutional team on a pre-identified plan of action that will enhance the culture of undergraduate research on their campus or embed undergraduate research into curriculum.

The traditional apprenticeship model of undergraduate research, where one or a small number of students work closely with a faculty member is powerful, but it is often difficult for institutions to scale in a way that enables all students to engage in these high impact experiences. At this CUR Institute, teams will explore multiple ways to expand access to undergraduate research so that institutions can promote multiple pathways and opportunities for their learners.

Outline of the program for the Institute

The workshop will consist of plenary lectures interspersed with individual team meetings facilitated by CUR mentors.  The teams will come prepared for the workshop with an understanding of the current opportunities for students on their campus to access undergraduate research. They will be asked to identify or inventory the institutional and program level opportunities that exist and to critically reflect on how to enhance access for their learners.

The workshop will begin with participants discussing the status of undergraduate research on their campuses reflecting on the question “how accessible are the opportunities to engage in undergraduate research for our student body”? This will enable an understanding of where there are strengths to build on an opportunities to address to enhance the research culture in their institution/program. After this assessment, the teams will begin formulating mission statements, goals, and action plans to create enhanced access at their institutions. Particular attention will be given to developing research rich curricula as these can create expanded opportunities for students across programs. The event will conclude with the teams presenting their plans to the other participants. Throughout this process, the facilitators will be engaged with the teams in order to assist them in discussions and to help identify examples.

Teams

Teams typically consist of at least one academic administrator, one or more department chairs, and several interested faculty members. By engaging as a team, participants are able to learn together and use the institute to collaborate on their own initiatives such that they can be implementation ready when they return home. 

Program ( Download PDF schedule here)