How do colleges build a culture that supports research projects between undergraduates and professors? One way is by offering public recognition for standout work. Awards and other acknowledgments of the effort and time behind these efforts can go a long way toward making strong undergraduate research a reality. Here are some ways, large and small, to do that.
Awards
George Mason University each year honors five to seven faculty members who support undergraduate research. The competitive awards, which include $3,000, serve as external recognition of the time and effort they have put in.
Presentations
How to give more students opportunities in the lab or in the field — without breaking the bank.
Giving students ways to publicly share their work helps supports undergraduate research. The College of New Jersey holds two such events: one in the summer, at the end of a special session for research projects, and one in the spring, called the Celebration of Student Achievement, at which up to 500 students present research posters or other projects.
Each year the celebration needs to be held in a bigger room, says Jacqueline Taylor, the provost. “It’s an event. People show up for it.” She enjoys wandering the aisles listening to students talk about their research — some of which she might not understand herself — in such passionate ways. “I literally get goose bumps,” she says.
Publicity
An institution’s public-relations department can promote students’ part in faculty research. Bethany M. Usher, associate provost for undergraduate education at George Mason, asked for undergraduates’ names to be included in stories about faculty research if they were involved.
Branding
Another way to increase visibility is to give shirts and other tokens to recognize work on undergraduate research. At George Mason, mugs from the Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research that read “Students as Scholars” have become coveted items. They are given only to faculty members who work on committees for the office. When Ms. Usher has been asked how faculty members can get one, she invites them to sign up.
Polo shirts with the office’s logo are given to undergraduate research fellows, who wear them when they speak to introductory classes about their own projects and how those students can get involved. The shirts make the fellows recognizable and mark them as students who have done top-level work. Students wear them with a sense of pride, Ms. Usher says.
