Useful Resources

Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact

Eds. Mary K. Boyd and Jodi L. Wesemann, Council on Undergraduate Research (Washington DC) 2009, ISBN 978-0-615-27585-7, Council on Undergraduate Research, 734 15th Street, N. W. Suite 550, Washington, D. C. 20005, www.cur.org

The Leadership Group (LG) identifies the above book as work of immediate interest to the REU community.  This book is the first to our knowledge that constructs a contemporary and realistic picture of the challenges facing the community in implementing effective and efficient undergraduate research programs.  The book is unique in that it addresses specific and separate issues of program development and evolution. It also addresses a diverse readership, ranging from university administrators, departmental chairs, program directors of undergraduate research, and the undergraduate mentors. As such, the book contains important content for a wide audience of readers, specifically for the REU community.  The editors are highly visible leaders and national advocates of undergraduate research. It is in our opinion that their book serves as an inspiration, motivation, and guide for all involved in undergraduate research from a diversity of institutional sizes, expectations, and commitment.

The book captures the stories and suggestions of those who attended the “Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research” symposium organized by Dr. Boyd at the 233rd ACS national spring meeting in 2007. It is believed that the strategies and lessons shared are transferrable and can be adapted to different institutions, programs, and participants. The editors have spent endless hours planning, constructing and editing the book to help convey strategies and resources for establishing cultures of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity within institutional contexts.

The book starts by posing a present-day framework of substantial change in the intellectual, political, economical, and demographic landscape of higher education. These challenges motivate new programs, policies, and practices. The book is organized based upon the stages of program development. They identify three principal stages of program evolution (1) developing and initiating, (2) strengthening and expanding, and (3) sustaining and evolving.  The book uses the Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) design principles throughout the different sections to give a cohesive and overarching message. A few readers will find specific sections of particular utility, but the power of the book is that it paints the entire landscape starting from the initiation to the sustainment of successful undergraduate research programs.

The LG highly supports this book to better understand the multitude of program pathways, changing assumptions, behaviors, and structures across the entire spectrum of factors that influence student and program success, and that engage institutional leaders and partners. Importantly, interested parties can learn from valuable lessons learned the hard way, and save precious time and money!

Enhancing Research in the Chemical Sciences at Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions
http://www.bates.edu/x50817.xml

A report that resulted from the Undergraduate Research Summit meeting held at Bates College in 2003. The report contains sections on the goals of undergraduate research, outcomes of assessment of undergraduate research, diversifying the chemical sciences, developing a research-supportive curriculum, the value of partnerships and collaborations, and items that individuals, departments, and institutions can do to promote undergraduate research. The report contains many recommendations aimed at enhancing both the quality and quantity of research that occurs at predominantly undergraduate institutions, many of which only involve changes in practices without incurring additional financial costs.

Research Responsibility: A Theme for Mentoring Undergraduates. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly. December 2001 issue.

http://www.cur.org/Publications/Quarterlies.html

The CUR Quarterly serves as the official public “voice” of Council on Undergraduate Research to both its members and to a broader community.  Its purpose is to provide useful and inspiring information about student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship from all types of institutions.  The goal and function is to advance the mission of CUR.

Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, June 2003 Issue
Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, September 2003 Issue

These two issues contain a series of eight articles that are focused on strategies for writing more competitive proposals to the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. One of the articles is a contribution from several NMR program officers who were responsible for administering REU proposals at the time. Another is from someone who served as a reviewer on one of the panels. The remaining articles provide a diversity of perspectives from program directors who were successful in securing support for an REU site.

"How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers" Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Carolyn Ash Merkel, California Institute of Technology and Shenda M. Baker, Harvey Mudd College, http://www.cur.org/Publications/Howtoseries.html#4

How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers is written for faculty members and other researchers who mentor undergraduates. It provides a concise description of the mentoring process, including the opportunities and rewards that a mentoring experience provides to both students and mentors. Expectations of mentors are contrasted with those of students. While written primarily with summer research experiences in mind, the booklet contrasts those intensive experiences with day-to-day mentoring of undergraduate research during the academic year including senior theses. Advice is valid for both on- and off-campus research experiences and most academic disciplines.

How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers may be ordered for $12.00 plus handling and postage ($4.00). It may be ordered by mail, fax, or on the CUR website.

Making the Right Moves A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, Chapter 5 Mentoring and Being Mentoredhttp://www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/mtrmoves_download.html

Burroughs Wellcome Fund Howard Hughes Medical Institute

This manual is intended for laboratory-based biomedical scientists just starting out—advanced postdoctoral fellows ready to enter the academic job market and new faculty members in research universities and medical schools. Much of the material, however, is also relevant to scientists pursuing nonacademic career paths. The purpose of the manual is to alert beginning scientists to the importance of the managerial aspects of their new (or soon-to-be-acquired) jobs and to give them practical information that will help them succeed as planners and managers of research programs.

Entering Mentoring. A Seminar to Train a New Generation of Scientists. http://www.hhmi.org/grants/pdf/labmanagment/entering_mentoring.pdf

Jo Handelsman, Christine Pfund, Sarah Miller Lauffer, Christine Maidl Pribbenow. The Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching, 2005.

The goal of the seminar outlined in this manual is to accelerate the process of learning to be a mentor. The seminar provides mentors with an intellectual framework to guide them, an opportunity to experiment with various methods, and a forum in which to solve mentoring dilemmas with the help of their peers. Discussing mentoring issues during the seminar provides every mentor with experience—direct or indirect—working with diverse students, tackling a range of mentoring challenges, and considering a myriad of possible solutions. Members of the seminar may hear about, and discuss, as many mentoring experiences as most of us handle in a decade, thereby benefiting from secondhand experience to learn more quickly.