UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement

Goldwater Scholarships: Nominees Needed

Faculty are requested to nominate students for Goldwater Scholarships. The awards, up to $7,500 per year, provide scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students who plan to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The awards are based on merit and made to students who will be juniors or seniors during the following academic year. Experience in research is an important criterion in the evaluation process.

An institutional endorsement is required for students to apply for this award and nominations are due as soon as possible. To submit a nomination or for more information contact the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement at scholars@up.edu.

10 UP Students Named Fulbright Finalists

John Orr of the undergraduate scholarly engagement office is pleased to report that 10 UP students from the Class of 2020 were named as Fulbright U.S. Student Program Finalists and offered awards to teach English abroad. It is hoped that Fulbright recipients will be able to travel to their programs in fall 2020; the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has instituted a temporary pause of all Bureau of ECA-funded international exchange programs, including Fulbright.

UP finalists include:

  • Erick Berrelleza, Mexico
  • Travis Bigelow, Mexico
  • Joshua Bode, Mexico
  • Isabel Cortens, Argentina
  • Autumn Fluetsch, Luxembourg
  • Athena Hills, Germany
  • Surabhi Joglekar, Taiwan
  • Preston Korst, Bulgaria
  • Amanda Mosler, Colombia
  • Joanne Tran, Taiwan

The United States Fulbright program began in 1946 after World War II to “assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations between the United States and other countries of the world” through the exchange of students, scholars and professionals. The program operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.

For more information contact Orr at orr@up.edu.

 

Rhodes & Marshall Scholarship Nominations Needed

Faculty members are encouraged to send the names of academically and experientially exceptional, ambitious rising seniors who would benefit from attending graduate school at Cambridge, Oxford, or one of the other premier UK institutions, to the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, according to John Orr, assistant to the provost.

Students applying for these awards must have a University endorsement and formally express their intent to apply by early April. Students will be contacted and given assistance in starting the application process, will participate in campus interviews in late April, and will continue to receive support over the summer so their files can be finalized at the start of the fall semester.

For more information or to pass along names, send an e-mail to scholars@up.edu or call x7857.

For more information use these links:

Spring 2020 Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research Recipients: Summer Applications Due Feb. 15

The provost’s office is pleased to announce recipients of the Spring 2020 Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research awards. These faculty members have been selected to collaborate with and mentor an undergraduate on a co-designed research experience during the 2020 spring semester:

  • Martin Cenek, computer science: “Data science for modeling athletic performance: from theory to practice” with Braeden Lane
  • Nelson Coates, physics: “Exploring Charge Transport in Solution-Processed Composites to Create New Energy Storage Materials” with Brynn Harrington and Jake Uyechi
  • Erin Currie, psychological sciences: “Celebrating Women of Color in Psychology” with Elisha Faagai
  • Deirdre Katz, education: “A mixed method exploration of the implementation of a school-wide social and emotional learning approach at an alternative high school” with Camille Tudury
  • Katie O’Reilly, biology: “Foraging behavior of jays” with Connor Vinyard
  • Ian Parkman, marketing: “How do Gender Non-Conforming (GNC) Users Perceive and Adapt Heteronormative Product Design Language?” with Remi Ziems
  • Cara Poor, civil engineering: “Evaluation of a design retrofit for reducing phosphorus export from green roofs” with Taylor Marumoto and Nick Kanno.

A reminder to faculty: applications for Summer 2020 Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research awards are available now in the Undergraduate Research section here. Applications for Summer 2020 are due February 15, 2020.

Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research: Apply Now

Since its inauguration in 2015, the Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research has provided support for faculty members from across the University who collaborate with undergraduates on a semester-long research project. The provost’s office is committed to increasing opportunities for student experiential learning, and this initiative represents a key element in achieving that goal.

Faculty members are invited to apply on behalf of themselves and an undergraduate student researcher for stipend support for an intensive undergraduate research experience during the summer. Students are expected to work full-time (35 hours/week) for 6 weeks on the project or the equivalent of 6 weeks over the course of one or both summer sessions. Faculty members are expected to work with and mentor the students in a co-designed research project.  Students will be paid $2,500 for their work on the project. Faculty will be compensated $1,500 for mentoring the student in research.

Applications are available at this link and are due February 15, 2020. Email ur@up.edu with questions or call John Orr, assistant provost, at x7286.

 

Undergraduate Research Protocol Reminder

The provost’s office would like to remind all faculty members who will be conducting collaborative research with undergraduates this semester that the Deans Council has approved a uniform, University-wide protocol for all undergraduate research projects. A list of the items required each semester as part of the protocol can always be found in the Undergraduate Research section of the PilotsUP Forms page by following this link. The same information is listed below. Any student receiving a stipend or credit for an undergraduate research project at UP is expected to complete the protocol and faculty members are responsible for informing students of this expectation.

  • Learning Agreement: This form is completed by both the faculty member and student and needs to be completed only once for each project. The faculty member must complete their portion of this online form first and the student will be sent an email notifying them to complete their portion.
  • Responsible Conduct in Research Training: New users will need to create a CITI account and affiliate with University of Portland during the registration process to access the course. After creating an account the user must select the appropriate Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) course from the UP course selection menu. Both faculty members and students must complete CITIs RCR course, if they have not done so at a previous time.
  • Pre-Experience Survey: To be completed by the student during the first week of the project. Only one Pre-Experience Survey is needed for the duration of the project, even if it spans multiple semesters.
  • Post-Experience Survey: To be completed by the student during the last week of the project each semester.
  • Post-Experience Evaluation: To be completed by the faculty member at the conclusion of the project each semester.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact John Orr (orr@up.edu) in the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement.

Undergraduate Research Awards: Nominate Now

The provost’s office and the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement are requesting nominations for two awards to be given on Founders’ Day: the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor Award and Outstanding Graduating Senior in Undergraduate Research Award. Faculty members can be nominated by other faculty members, administrators, students, or by self-nomination. Students can be nominated by faculty members or by self-nomination. Both nominations are due by December 15; send your nomination to ur@up.edu. For more information about the criteria for the awards click on these links:

Summer Provost’s Initiative for Undergrad Research Awards

The Summer Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research has been awarded to the following faculty members and their student collaborators:

  • Martin Cenek, computer science
  • Laurie Dizney, biology
  • Andrew Eshleman, philosophy
  • Nicole Ralston, education
  • Giannina Reyes-Giardiello, Spanish
  • Sarina Saturn, psychological sciences

For more information about future Provost Initiative applications, please contact John Orr at orr@up.edu.

Fulbright Grant Candidates Wanted

Now is the time to start sending the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (OUSE) the names of current juniors who would be strong candidates to apply for Fulbright Grants. Fulbright offers grants to countries around the world, and in many cases, the applicant is not expected to have studied the language of the host country. Likewise, Fulbright has no minimum GPA requirement, but they are looking for people who will be good ambassadors for the U.S. Fulbright is particularly interested in getting applications from underrepresented groups. Students from all disciplines and schools are encouraged to apply, but OUSE needs faculty to identify them. Send names to scholars@up.edu and we will contact the student and invite them to meet.

Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research: Apply Now

Since its inauguration in 2015, the Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research has provided support for faculty members from across the University who collaborate with undergraduates on a semester-long research project. The provost’s office is committed to increasing opportunities for student experiential learning, and this initiative represents a key element in achieving that goal.

Faculty members are invited to apply on behalf of themselves and an undergraduate student researcher for stipend support for an intensive undergraduate research experience during the summer. Students are expected to work full-time (35 hours/week) for 6 weeks on the project or the equivalent of 6 weeks over the course of one or both summer sessions. Faculty members are expected to work with and mentor the students in a co-designed research project.  Students will be paid $2,500 for their work on the project. Faculty will be compensated $1,500 for mentoring the student in research.

Applications are available here and are due February 15, 2019. Email ur@up.edu with questions or call John Orr, assistant provost, at x7857.