2009-2010 Assessment Plan
OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (OUR)

Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs (DUAP)

(Last update: 08/20/09)

 

Mission:

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) contributes to undergraduate success by providing research experiences (discovery-, inquiry-, and creativity-based learning) gained from hands-on mentorship with nationally and internationally recognized NC State faculty and with local and distant scholars.

 

What are the Undergraduate Research Rubrics?  Undergraduates have opportunities to conduct mentored independent or group research on or off campus; it may occur for credit (as in Honors or 400-level special topics/independent study/senior project courses, etc.) or for pure hands-on experience.  Indeed, it is likely that a strong percentage of campus researchers are part of special programs like University Honors, University Scholars, Park Scholars, Caldwell Scholars, Dual Degree Scholars, WISE Program and Departmental Honors Programs.  Historically, most NC State University undergraduate researchers have been juniors or seniors.  Nationally and at NC State we see increasing interest in starting early, even in the first semester of the freshman year.  More faculty wish to train students and keep them for four years of research rather than constantly recruiting and training students each year.  Student researchers may receive competitive stipends from the Office of Undergraduate Research or from campus grants awarded to faculty, however, most students receive no funding while conducting mentored research.  The typical workload during semesters is 6-12 hours per week; during the summer months when students are on stipends (such as NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates-REUs or other funding) the workload is usually 40 hours per week.  While on these full-time summer stipends the student typically is not to enroll in classes.  Students not on summer stipends may also do summer research and some may work long hours each week, however, most take at least one class and conduct research for varying numbers of hours each week.  Students with completed work should be expected to present their findings at campus, regional or national symposia; when possible, they should publish their work in a disciplinary journal or the campus URJ-NCSU.  Creating knowledge within the discipline and sharing that knowledge with others is important in developing future scholars. Mentors can be tenure track faculty, non-tenure track faculty/instructors, postdoctoral candidates, Ph.D. and MS/MA candidates and, to some extent, even well trained undergraduates.  This systemic chain of mentoring from professors down to students is desirable because it instills the importance of teamwork and mentorship of the inexperienced in all campus citizens, i.e. it teaches early-on the art of mentorship.  It appears to be the national trend that admission to graduate and professional schools and acquisition to the best employment following graduation is linked to completion of a significant (one or more years) undergraduate research experience.  Also, some studies show that student researchers are better retained (do not drop out), have a GPA that increases once research is begun, and are more likely to graduate sooner than non-researchers.  It is hypothesized that students from strong urban high schools with advanced placement course opportunities and well funded classrooms/labs are most likely to enter into undergraduate research…indeed they may have begun as high school students.

 

Objective I:  To encourage and facilitate participation of undergraduates in research or creative projects and in presenting their scholarly work

 

Outcome 1:  A growing percentage of undergraduates will become aware of research opportunities, participate in research, and acknowledge the importance of creating knowledge within their discipline.

 

Measures:

• Each May, OUR will compare previous years’ data with current year’s data on the following:

Awareness

a.       Tabulation of presentations given by OUR staff to campus classes, clubs and organizations and the number of students present at these information sessions

b.      Tracking the monthly and annual number of website “hits” using http://www.itd.ncsu.edu/about/metrics/web/server-stats/

Participation

c.       Tabulation of the growth in the numbers of students applying for OUR research grants and their quality as rated by the OUR Symposium and Grant Awards Committee

d.      Tracking the growth in the number of undergraduate researchers who apply for national fellowships and who are successful; this done via partnership with the Fellowships Advising Office

e.       Tracking the number of undergraduate students who state that they have conducted research with faculty or off campus professionals as provided from the Sophomore Survey, Graduating Senior Survey and the Alumni Survey (via University Planning and Analysis-UPA).

Importance Acknowledgement

f.       Tracking students using the Senior Survey and the Alumni Survey to determine satisfaction with the experience in positioning them for admission to graduate or professional school, or for excellent employment

g.      Using OUR questionnaires to determine if students who received funding gained confidence, learned about or strengthened their career options, and who believed that their oral, written and critical thinking and reading skills had improved because of the research experience

h.      Using OUR questionnaires given to the mentors to evaluate the student’s experience and growth while engaged in the research project.

 

Outcome 2:  Student researchers will present their work at campus and state symposia, and at national disciplinary conferences, this being a reflection of high quality work, completed work, and mentors’ satisfaction.

 

Measures:

• Each May, OUR will compare previous years’ data with current year’s data on the following:

 

a.       Tracking Faculty Mentor Surveys to track mentored student participation at campus and off-campus symposia, conferences and disciplinary events.  These data will include students mentored by NCSU faculty.

b.      Tracking Graduating Senior Survey data to assist in showing growth in student participation and satisfaction with having done research or a special project.

c.       Tracking student reports of presentations on the final report required by the grant award

d.      Tracking Alumni Surveys to further enhance data obtain in Measure b.

 

Outcome 3:  The quality of student manuscripts submitted for publication in the Undergraduate Research Journal- NC State University will improve each year.

 

Measures:

a.       Tabulate the number of manuscripts submitted to the student editor-in-chief for the fall and spring issues; do this by home college and department

b.      Members of the Symposium and Grant Awards Committee will rate the quality of papers submitted

 

Objective II:  To Encourage Undergraduates to Apply for OUR Research Grants

 

Outcome 1.  Students will exhibit an awareness of the Research Grant Awards provided by the OUR and will apply for funding

 

Measures:

a.       Monitor the numbers of students attending information session on the Undergraduate Research Grants.

b.      Tracking the number of applications filed by college/department

c.       Tracking student satisfaction using pre- and post-award questionnaires that are required in order for students to receive the grant.

d.      To determine if applicants for student grants have common demographics and high school performance and college admissions criteria, data using University Planning and Analysis data bases of each applicant’s high school size, weighted and unweighted GPA, SAT or ACT score, advanced placement scores, in-state or out-of-state origin, ethnicity, race and gender will be determined.

e.       To determine if applicants for student grants have a more acceptable  pre- and post-award GPA, time to graduation, retention rate, and course loads taken, University Planning and Analysis will compare these students with a matched cohort that did not apply for a grant.

 

Outcome 2:  Faculty mentors will enjoy and benefit from mentoring undergraduate researchers by noting an increased and quality output of research findings and improved grantsmanship because undergraduates were included in grant proposals

 

Measures:

a.       Using the Post-Award questionnaire to gauge mentor satisfaction that involves a check-off of likely benefits

b.      Using Faculty Mentor Surveys to track growth in participation by department and college

c.       Tracking the publication of the student’s work with the mentor as co-author through Faculty Mentor Survey

d.      Tracking presentation of the research by the student at the mentor’s disciplinary conference through Faculty Mentor Survey

e.       Tracking the return of faculty to mentor more students

f.       Tracking the requests by faculty for students recommended by the OUR

g.      Tracking the faculty’s grant-earning success when undergraduates are included or not included in matched grant submissions (i.e., two grants submitted to NSF but one with and one without a request for undergraduate researcher support of involvement); this would be done with data provided by SPARCS

 

 

Objective III:  To Gather and Report to Colleges and Departments the Learning Outcomes and Performance Expectation from Having Had Undergraduate Research Experience

 

Outcome 1:  Students who have an undergraduate research experience will continue with their education and not drop out (student retention refers to the expectation of having a higher likelihood to graduate than non-researching students within a common cohort)

 

Measures:

a.       Tracking University Planning and Analysis data of retention rates associated with undergraduate researchers with the total population and by underrepresented student populations

b.      Comparison of underrepresented student populations of undergraduate researchers with total populations on time to degree and affect of research on time to degree

 

Outcome 2:  Student researchers will apply to graduate and professional schools or obtain employment following graduation

 

Measures:

a.       Comparing those students who say they have worked with faculty on research with their plans following graduation on graduating senior surveys and alumni surveys; includes totals, underrepresented status, gender and age at graduation

b.      Tracking data from a follow-up questionnaire sent to mentors who are identified on Faculty Activity Reports

 

Outcome 3:  Student researchers will be able to:

·         Think critically

·         Demonstrate written and verbal skills

·         Demonstrate self confidence

·         Identify multiple career options

·         Value teamwork and partnerships

·         Have working knowledge of how to publish and write grants

             

Measures:

a.       Evaluation by mentors using Post-Surveys associated with Research Grant Awards contracts and mentors

b.      Student self ratings of a subpopulation using a pre- and post-survey instrument

 

Outcome 4:  Mentors will be impressed with their students’ future research promise

 

Measures:

 

a.       Tracking the mentors’ Post-Questionnaires associated with Research Grant Awards contracts to determine how many mentors accepted their own student researchers into their graduate degree programs or recommended the students for graduate degree programs