Support undergraduate participation in teaching and research
Action Taken
- Expanded the Group Research Project, an undergraduate research initiative
- Created faculty workshops to encourage undergraduate research in the humanities and social sciences
- Established data collection procedures to measure expansion of research opportunities
- Developed new publication, Undergraduate Research at Brown, to provide better information about research opportunities to all rising sophomores and juniors
- Undertook comprehensive outreach program to NSF and NIH principal investigators to increase funding of undergraduates on grants
- Created undergraduate research page on the research Web site for undergraduates interested in working on faculty research projects
- Completed survey of departmental “capstone” experiences, showing 75 percent of 2005 graduates had a capstone experience, and repeated survey for class of 2006
- Increased the number of students supported by UTRAs, REUs, Royce, and other grants between 2004 and 2005
- Began dialogue with seniors about their intellectual engagement in their final year in order to better promote “capstone” projects
- Reorganized to establish new position in Office of the Dean of the College to coordinate undergraduate teaching and research
- Received $3 million grant from NSF to coordinate faculty and student outreach to K-12 science teachers; this was a joint effort of the Dean of the College, the Vice President for Research, and the departments of physics, geology, and engineering
- Reopened conversation about “capstone” projects with department chairs, spring 07
- Received recommendation from Task Force on Undergraduate Education supporting enhanced research opportunities for undergraduates and requiring concentrations to provide some kind of capstone experiences for all concentrators
- Organized junior class reception to alert rising seniors to opportunities for fellowships, capstone experiences, and post-baccalaureate experiences in graduate and professional schools and business
See Phase II for other recent actions taken that support this objective
Action Needed
Responsible
- Dean of the College
- Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences
- Vice President for Research
- Provost