The University of Portland is an enhanced institutional member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), according to Ami Ahern-Rindell, biology. One benefit of membership is that all members of the campus community are eligible to become members of CUR and take advantage of reduced rates for upcoming workshops, which include Proposal Writing Institute, Beginning a Research Program in the Natural Sciences at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution, and Creative Inquiry in the Arts and Humanities (details below).
Registration for the upcoming CUR Conference 2014, “Creating the Citizens of Tomorrow: Undergraduate Research for All,” is currently underway. The conference will be held June 28-July 1, 2014, in Washington, D.C., and will highlight cross-disciplinary connections and collaborations among higher education, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. The overall goals of the conference are to encourage broad participation in undergraduate research and to make visible its benefits to students, faculty, colleges and universities, and communities. To register and for more information go to http://www.cur.org/events/2014_cur_conference/.
Upcoming CUR workshops include:
- Proposal Writing Institute, July 17-21, 2014, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala. Application Deadline: Wednesday, May 21, 2014. This Institute will bring together faculty and administrators interested in preparing proposals for submission to external funding agencies. The four-day institute will consist of one-on-one work with a mentor, writing, small group discussions, and critiquing of proposals.
- Creative Inquiry in the Arts and Humanities Institute, November 7-9, 2014, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Application Deadline: September 19, 2014. The Institute will assist teams of 3-5 faculty and administrators in developing transformative opportunities for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creativity (URSC) in the arts and humanities. Participants will create customized plans for their own institutions to enhance URSC in the arts and humanities; learn about successful models of URSC developed by and for scholars in the arts and humanities; address challenges to student engagement in URSC, such as the need for language skills or other specialized training before beginning scholarly work; and much more.
- Beginning a Research Program in the Natural Sciences at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution Institute, November 2014. Starting a successful research program and doing scholarly work at a predominantly undergraduate institution pose unique challenges for a beginning faculty member. A goal of the institute is to give individual pre-tenured faculty members the opportunity to learn from and discuss with experienced faculty how to establish and manage a research program with undergraduates. While at the institute, participants will also prepare plans for starting and/or advancing their individual research programs at their respective campuses.
For more information, contact MeLisa Zackery at mzackery@cur.org. Those who are interested in signing up to be a member of CUR through UP’s enhanced institutional membership can contact Lindsay Currie at lcurrie@cur.org.