Undergraduate Research As Chemical Education A Symposium
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Factors Important to the Maintenance of Undergraduate Research Programs Jack R. Pladziewicz University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI 54701 The involvement of undergraduate science majors in putilishalilt. researrh is a vital asoect of their education. Such a research experience has the potential of being the most comolete fonn of education for these students since it calls on the skills and knowledge learned in formal coursework and hecause i t goes well beyond what is usually done in the classroom. The relationship between quality undergraduate research programs and science education has been addressed by the report of Spencer and Yoder ( I ) and elsewhere (24). Moreover, undergraduate research is a critical component in the profe&onalgrowth of undergraduate science faculty (68). It should he noted that these benefits accrue in addition to the intrinsic value of the research results obtained. The special problems confronted by faculty doing and directing research a t undergraduate institutions are formidable. This paper will outline some of these special prohlems and describe wavs of attackine them. Undereraduate research a t institutions with graduate programs represents a coniidernbly different situation and will not he addressed here. While all who endeavor to do research are constrained by limits on time and monev. nowhere are these limitations greater than they are a t unxergraduate institutions. Funding for undereraduate research has alwavs heen meaeer. - . and estimates are that less money, not more, will he spent on undereraduate research in the near future ( 5 ) .Moreover. the ravages of inflation, leveling or declining &rollments,'and recession-related budget prohlems have made it increasingly more difficult for undergraduate institutions, whose primary mission is instruction, to find capital equipment and supplies funds necessary to support modern research. Given these limits, it is not feasible for most undergraduate research programs to pursue prohlems requiring a large array of advanced research techniques, equipment, and manpower. However, significant work is done a; undergraduate instittttions and several avenues of support do exist. Research (:orporation (RC) and the l'etruleum Research Fund (PRF) have excellent programs designed to provide modest support for undergraduate research and have been the principal providers of support for many undergraduate research programs. NSF and NIH are good sources of support for projects requiring larger amounts of money and where especially promising preliminary results are available. The newly initiated NSF programs for Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) appear to he a very promising new source of support for undergraduate research. At some institutions, alumni organi-
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Born n Eau Claw Wlsconsm ,n 1945. Jack R. Pladzkvlcz was graduate0 from the Unlversoty ot W.sconsm-E~L Clare in 1967 He comp etea n s PhD in 197 1 at Iowa State w th J H Espenson After postdoctoral appointments at Stanford with H. Taube and E. E. van Tamelen, he was appointed to the faculty of his undergraduate alma mater where he is now Associate Professorof Chemistry. He has directed me research of 15 underoraduates in metal ion and metallmotein
The Paradox of Being Under Pressure In a Vacuum
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zations, in particular science alumni, have been very effective in raising money for undergraduate research with some chemical comoanies matchine the contrihutions of their employees. one successful stratew With reeard to research eauioment. .. -" is t o develop areas of specialization within a department and maintain these a t a competitive research level rather than attempt tn maintain discipline-wide research equipment. The 2-Year and +Year Colleees Research lnstrumrntation wrogram of NSF has been a wonderful means of acquiring needed equipment. This program has now heen incorporated into the new NSF-RUI program. Considering the relatively small amount of money involved in this program, this has been an especially helpful program in supporting science education and undergraduate research. I t is essential that programs of this type be continued. Other undergraduate researchen make arrangements to use instruments at nearby graduate research institutions or at national laboratories. Another solution is to identify w aspect of a larger research problem to which one can apply one's special skills and knowledge. Undergraduate researchers can make important contributions to larger research projects through collaborative arraneements with eraduate research centers. The well.edu. cated;research-oriented faculty in undergrduate science departments mav one of the most underused research . reoresent . resourcri in the scientific community. Several programs exist to s u ~ p o r these t endeavors. NSF and I'RF acceDr "add-on" propiRa~sfrom college science faculty to do research collaborativelv with a universitv-erant awardee. In addition, NSF and NIH research grants-can he written with ~ o - ~ r i n c i ~ a l investieators. This is an es~eciallyeffective approach when the cofiege researcher has-a speEid skill or technique not available to the graduate faculty researcher or when the ex-
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Volume 61 Number 6 June 1984
515
perimental work done by the college researcher is done independently. The constraint on time a t undereraduate institutions is probably a greater obstacle to research than is the shortage of fund~ng.Heavy teaching loads usually preclude the open blocks of time important to pursuing a research problem, and it is rare (perhaps once in 1-10 years) that n full semester is availahle for research. Creative scheduling by department c-hair3 and load sharmg from semester to semester with rolleaeues can maximize the effirient use of time availahle for r e s k c h . Moreover, summer is the mmt productive period for undergraduate research and is an absolute requirement for a productive undergraduate program. Programs that provide even modest summer support for undergraduate research, such as the RC, PRF, and NSF programs mentioned earlier, are especially effective a t encouraging and maintaining undergraduate-research programs a s are programs that fund release time for undergraduate faculty during the academic year. New programs, especially of the later type, are needed. Such programs should have the quality of the science pro~med as the p&cipal funding criterion. crediting researchtime against a teacher's contact load as suggested by Powers and .. Rlack (3) is also an appealing possibility. While time and money for research are important, two additional fartors that greatly affect research productivity, and vary greatly from institution to institution, are collegial interaction and institutional support. In graduate resea-rch institutions one has postdoctoral research asnoriates, visiting scientists, graduate students, visiting lecturers, and colleagues within the discipline with whom to discuss research ideas and ~rohlems.while at an undereraduute institution these discussions are limited to colleagues who may have quite different research interests. The pressures to do productive research a t undergraduate institutions are largely self-imposed and derive from one's commitment to undergraduate research as good education and the need to continue one's professional growth. This circumstance coupled with the context at many schools is illustrated in the figure. The vacuum is the intellectual vacuum that results from not having colleagues in the same research area with whom to share results, ideas, and problems. Those who are often the moat productive undergraduate researchers are fresh from research training, i.e., new faculty or faculty returning from sabbatical; have extensive research contacts a t other institutions; or are especially adept a t keeping current through - . . the chemical literature. In part these individuals are successful for the same reason: they are not operating in an intellectual vacuum so far as their research is concerned. They know experts within their field of snecialization with whom thev can discuss research and from whom they can get the critical analysis necessary to advance their ideas. Moreover, they know how to use the literature to evaluate their ideas. This is not to say that undergraduate researchers are dependent on research "higgies" for approval hut rather that all researchers rely on the scientific communitv for review and that undermaduate researchers are more remote from informal review t i a n are others. For individuals interested in starting a research Droaram from scratch or renewing a research program gone col& establishing these professional contads is an important early step. One can contact former graduate research directors or graduate school colleagues. A summer appointment, either t o teach or to do research., a t an institution with a -maduate - - ~ ~ ~ program or a t a national laboratory is an excellent way to make research contacts. NSF Industrial Research Particination Program and industry-sponsored research programs are excellent opportunities for research renewal. Also, sabbatical
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Checklist of lnstitvtional Support for Research 1. Accepts research use as a valid justification for requests for capital equipment dollars 2. Supports research-reiated faculty bavei 3. Emphasizes research in hiring, salary, and promotion decisions 4. Recognizes research revitalization as a valid sabbatical or retraining request 5. Provides programs which place faculty outside of the institution for the purpose of professional development 6. Provides internal grant suppan f a research 7. Considen research activity in determining teaching loads 8. Publicizes research by students and faculty through its own public relations office 9. Providesadequate general library and labaatory facilities
and other faculty leave programs are helpful in this regard 16-8). . . In short. anvthine that eets one off the home camous and into a more research intensive setting-industrial or academic-will he helpful in estahlishing and maintaining the collegial interaction necessary for most productive research nroerams. I t will also Drovide the on~ortunitvto undate one's knokedge of the liteiature in the&ea of s&dy. ' For individuals with established research programs the presentation of results at national ACS meetings and attendance a t subject matter conferences, such as Gordon Conferences, provide excellent opportunities for establishing professional contacts as can seminar programs at ACS section meetings and at research institutions in the geographic area. The support an institution shows for research through its ~oliciesand ~racticesfor research-related activities can he critical in maintaining strong undergraduate research programs ( 1 ). It is virtually impossible for an individual to remain productive in research~whenit is not valued by the institution. If the institution does hot value research and the individual does, the individual usually either leaves the institution or (worse) begins to value research less. To put the matter bluntly, an institutionvalues research with money, money in the form of salary rewards for published research and support for research oersonnel and eouioment. I t also values research .. by recognizing it as an important form of instruction. This is done bv includine research activitv when determinine teaching loads and i&tructional budge&. Support for researci is also shown by actively recruiting financial support for it publicly through alumni and other fund drives and by puhlicizing the research accomdishments of students and facultv. ~ h e s announcements e serve to emphasize the institution's value for research, to provide encouragement to the individuals involved, and to encourage others to he productive in this wav. A checklist of ways institutions demonstrate sumort for .. research is given in the table. The cornerstones of undergraduate research are originality, ingenuity, hard work, and, especially, persistence. There are no substitutes for good ideas and invariably good ideas seem to come, not at all magically, to thme who spend the most time in the library and the laboratory. Institutions and funding agencies can help provide the time and atmosphere necessary for this work if they deem it important enough.
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Literature Clted 121 Xl\rarrh and l'carning m the Lnhrrsl AIlr (:nlhc." e mnhmrr sponmred by rho
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