Establishing an Undergraduate Research Program Some Problems and Suggested Solutions J a m e s F. Belliveau and Gerard P. O'Leary, Jr. Providence College, Providence. Ri 02918 There exists much uncertainty about the establishment of viable research programs a t small, liberal arts colleges.' A few reasons offered for the absence of this important educational resource a t these institutions are the heavy staff teaching loads, the lack of adequate laboratory spacelresearch instrumentation, the difficulty in securing suitahle funding and the necessity of using undergraduate research assistants. Ten vears of effort in a small northeast college has shown that most
Research Topics Screened at Providence College Using Underaraduate Research Assistants The Magnetic Susceptibility of Antiferromagnetic Nickel Shiff Base Complexes. 2. Encapsulated Microorganisms from the Rectum of Rana pipiens: isolation. Partial Identification, and Initial Chemistrv of Their Caosules. 3 tl'ects 01 a Fre3h~al:rEnr lronmenl on a M l r !?eM . IT. c .I AIICI,OIC ens, 5 IIV Ef1~c.j01 . !am n 8,. 3n 'be SI !.m Cno rs:e!a m a 1.
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gram, various problem areas had to be addressed and their discussion is organized below under four topic headings. Research Topics Research topics must he evaluated with respect to adaptability to undergraduate involvement2 and the availability of laboratory space, instrumentation, and funding. One approach is to survey various research problems on a one- or two-year basis to evaluate and generate viable long term projects. Table 1shows the projects screened within our laboratories over a ten-vear ueriod. These have been mainly in the health area themselves to new areas of expertise and accept an abnormal lag time to formal research presentations. This extended lag time is also due to the acquisition of suitahle laboratory facilities and the availability and training of suitable undergraduate research assistants. Research Supervisors Use of research supervisory teams rather than an individual research supervisor has been an effective mechanism a t our campus. A supervisory team with its different backgrounds gives a multidiscipline approach to the analysis of any specific problem and an ongoing peer review while the research is in progress. The ability to share duties a t critical times reduces the pressure on supervisors. This is especially true during the periods of student training and periods of preparation for student research presentations. A supervisory team is easy to form and maintain in this environment since the pressure from the "publish or perish" syndrome is usually minimized a t the small college scene. However, one must expect and accept that the effort level for research supervisors using undergraduates is much greater than that for supervisors of research activity a t the graduate or post-graduate level. Research Students The critical area, pivotal to the establishment of a viable research program, is a practical evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of undergraduate research students. One cannot depend on extended blocks of research time. One must rigidly schedule a student's time, trying to incorporate reasonable deadlines into this schedule. A workable guide to arranging undergraduate research is that 50-70% of a student's 670
Journal of Chemical Education
6. The Characterization of Smaii Molecule-Protein Bindings in SerumB 7. The Biochemistry of the Corticosteroids in the Rheumatoid Arthritic Condition* 8. The Trace Elements Profile in Blood for the Osteoarlhritic and Rheumatoid
Arthritic Conditions.' Serum and Synovial Fluid of Arthritic Patients Using lsoelectric Focusing and HPLC TechniquesS 10. The Trace Elements Profile in Carcinomas versus Normal Tissue.* 11. The Therapeutic Evaluation of Cis-platinumAdministration in Older Patients Versus Youna Adults.' 9. Protein Patterns of
These research projects have current undergraduate involvement.
effort will be w e n t in learning and only 30-50% spent in producing resufts. A reasonable effort must be spent overcoming the difficulty of getting undergraduates to understand research methodology. Monitoring a student's progress is vital. A small percentage of students will get "turned on" and will spend extended amounts of time doing research, a t the expense of other academic responsibilities. These students must he urged to establish a routine that adequately addresses all of their responsibilities. However, most students fall into the category of good starters but slow finishers. The less rigid and informal environment of research readily demonstrates this. These students must he prodded to adhere to research schedules and meet reasonahle deadlines. Establishment of suitable reward systems greatly aids student attitudes. The uresentation andlor ouhlication of results is a reasonahle goal and gives the student an invaluable sense of self satisfaction. Numerous forums are available for the Eastern Colleges science Conference, and periddically, an undergraduate research symposium a t the ACS National Meeting sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education. Experience has shown that exposure to these forums greatly enhances student attitude toward further research activity. After two of our students jointly presented their initial findings a t the 179th National ACS Meeting in Houston, Texas, they readily continued their research efforts and their results are now the object of an article in a refereed journal. The travel to conference cities becomes a reward in itself. When prePresented in part at the Two-year College Chemistry conference, Communitv Colleae of Rhode Island. Warick. RI. November 1960. I ~ a ~ s eC.. n . Eontent ano Context: Essays on Col ege EoLcat on. McGraw-rli I Book Company. Nen Yor*. 1973, p. 177- 178. Sanzone. G.. ". GEM EDJC 54,566 1977,
paring for a research presentation, a student's motivation can be aided by publicity of his upcoming presentation in local newspapers, school newspapers, etc. Establishment of an in-house research publication gives students exposure to formal writeups and is an alternate mechanism for disseminating student findings. Our publication, Providence College B~ologicalNotes, has been a successful venture for seven years. Research Support Outside support should be sought, but this type of funding is difficult to obtain for research at small colleges. The college itself may be the most probable source of funding, especially when research activities can be justified financially by giving academic credit for research courses. Therefore, an assignment of tuition income due to research credits can be used as the basis of requesting an adequate research budget. One must not overlook the use of neighboring facilities and resources and the inclusion of outside supervisors on the research teams. Our research projects have made use of local industry, state public health laboratories, local hospital laboratories, and even distant resources such as the Walter Reed
Army Institute of Research. The use of such outside resources not only minimizes financial outlays and gives access to an extended range of research instrumentation, but also this type of research cooperation gives students an invaluable exposure to nonacademic research environments. Conclusion An extended, organized effort toward incorporating a research program into the small college environment is a realistic goal with innumerable benefits for students, staff, and the college it~elf.3.~ This activity is an interesting refuge of staff bogged down with various administrative tasks and academic committee work. The . nuroase . of this article is not onlv u, offer discussion on various aspects of undergraduate research, but also to encouraee - further efforts to establish such viable research programs.
Trites, D. G., "Planning Vle Future of the Undergraduate College," Jossey-Bass, Inc., San Francisco, 1975, pp. 88-91. Powers, J. W., and Black, Jr., D. G., J. CHEM.EDUC., 54, 565 (1977).
Volume 60 Number 8
August 1983
671
