Chemical Education Today
Association Reports: CUR
On-Site Reviews and Institutes To Assess and Strengthen Undergraduate Departments and Programs by Kerry K. Karukstis and Roger S. Rowlett
Academic departments and institutions are increasingly seeking professional advice through external reviews to enhance their curriculum, assess programs, develop research initiatives, and establish strategic plans. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has recently expanded its consulting program (1) to provide a wider range of services that meet the complex needs of undergraduate institutions today.
On-Campus Institutes
Traditional Department Reviews Site visits of varying duration are the typical format for departmental reviews. While a paper review can be arranged (provided sufficient information is made available for evaluation by a consultant team), personal, on-campus visitations are strongly recommended and are generally more constructive for both the department and the institution. The composition of the consulting team (including the number of consultants) and the duration of the visit are at the discretion of the department. In order for CUR consultants to prepare most effectively for a review, specific material is requested 3–4 weeks in advance of the visit. Information supplied by the college or university administration (e.g., enrollment figures, sabbatical policies, AAUP faculty salary ranges, and starting salaries) and information from the department (personnel data, department and library budgets, course syllabi, assessment of critical needs, etc.) are both useful. A handy checklist is available on the CUR Web site (2) to assist in assembling the required information. CUR reviewers have substantial expertise in addressing the particular needs of primarily undergraduate institutions and are available to address specific problems. For example, these requests might focus on how to institute a formal undergraduate research program, how to integrate research into pre-professional programs, or how to set up collaborative community–campus research initiatives. With expertise in a wide range of undergraduate programs, CUR reviewers can complete an insightful, successful program review that will have a positive impact on an individual department. Interdisciplinary, Multi-Department Reviews CUR’s multidisciplinary structure enables the organization to offer its services for interdisciplinary, multi-department reviews. Both faculty and administrators are members, and members represent the fields of biology, chemistry, geosciences, mathematics and computer science, physics and astronomy, psychology, and the social sciences. Thus, CUR is
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uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive and instructive reviews of multiple departments and divisions. Evaluations and recommendations on faculty hiring and development, the design of research-supportive curricula, and planning for collaborative facilities are some of the areas in which CUR reviewer teams can provide guidance.
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For more than 10 years CUR has hosted annual or biannual two–four day cross-disciplinary faculty development workshops (called institutes) for 45–65 participants that focus on a single topic. For example the Proposal Writing Institute assists individual faculty and administrators in drafting proposals for submission to external funding agencies. Two other institutes focus on plans for institutional as well as individual change, and therefore require participants to attend the Institute in campus-based teams of 3–5 individuals. In the Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research Institute, teams of faculty members and administrators from several institutions design plans to initiate undergraduate research programs or institutionalize research activities. The participating institutional teams in the institute The Vital Faculty: Issues after Tenure seek to modify faculty development programs to include post-tenure faculty. The success of the CUR Institutes has led to the development of a new type of consulting service that brings facilitators from the CUR Institute series to an individual campus. These consultants are available to conduct a one- or two-day On-Campus Institute for a larger audience of faculty and administrators than can be accommodated in the typical team approach. Consultants are also able to help faculty who have attended a CUR Institute to implement the plans they made at that institute. For examples, attendees of a CUR Vital Faculty Institute may seek a facilitator for a faculty retreat to develop institutional action plans for new programs of faculty development. For those participants in an Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research Institute, CUR consultants might be invited to assess the progress in achieving the institution’s plans for enhancing the research culture on campus. Strategies for addressing unexpected challenges might also be sought. For Further Information The CUR Consulting Service is flexible to meet the wide-ranging needs of faculty and administrators at predominantly undergraduate institutions. Because the types of
Vol. 82 No. 4 April 2005
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Chemical Education Today edited by
Kerry Karukstis Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA 91711
consultancies and the amount of time involved can vary tremendously, those interested in having a CUR review or oncampus institute should contact the CUR National Office for further information about a consultant visit. Literature Cited 1. Council on Undergraduate Research Consulting Service and On-Campus Institutes, Washington, DC. http://www.cur.org/ consulting.html (accessed Dec 2004).
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2. Council on Undergraduate Research Consulting Service Application Checklist. http://www.cur.org/Consulting/ Checklist.PDF (accessed Dec 2004).
Kerry K. Karukstis is in the Department of Chemistr y, Har vey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711;
[email protected]; Roger S. Rowlett is in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY;
[email protected].
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