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Research and Scholarship Committee

Year-End Report, 2002-2003

Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards

Oversaw competitive Harrison Award process, from announcement of competition to selection of award-winning projects. - awarded 42 student awards of up to $3000, with $1000 awarded to each student's faculty mentor.

This year, tried to change how award monies are paid, especially to faculty, in hopes of making awards less bureaucratically cumbersome, the money easier to access, and the mentoring opportunity more attractive to faculty - no luck this year.

Did make some changes in stated expectations for faculty mentors (faculty must write brief report at end of student's project), in order to foster better student/faculty collaboration and increase faculty awareness of and accountability for success of projects.

Proposed changes for next year and beyond:

Move administration of awards into Office of Undergraduate Excellence. This office now oversees other undergraduate research programs and scholarships; has staffing; can follow up as knowledgeable resource when student award winners and departments have questions or problems develop; this office also sponsors regular undergraduate research symposia at which Harrison Award students present their work; publishes student research journal, Oculus) (Faculty Senate name will stay on the awards; Faculty Senate Research & Scholarship Committee members will still make up the preponderance on Harrison Award selection committee. Important to ensure that this undergraduate research office, while situated in Arts & Sciences, honors the fact that Harrison Awards are university-wide.

Change ways Harrison Awards are paid. Collaborate with fiscal personnel in Provost's office and Arts & Sciences to revisit how these awards are treated (NOT as wages for work performed or as reimbursement accounts, but as fellowships paid up front, and, for faculty, as research accounts); consider making all student awards total $3000 · Increase student-faculty interaction on projects. Encourage students to invest faculty in their project, encourage faculty to be active advisers, including tying students in with existing projects in their area of interest, following up with students, writing brief final report.

Faculty involvement in university planning

As committee chair, helped to draft statement calling upon administration to include faculty in next stage of major institutional planning initiatives, following up on Virginia 2020 commissions, the Envision discussions, and preliminary planning for the next capital campaign. Statement was approved by Faculty Senate in March 2003. Rob Grainger has met with Gene Block re planning for sciences. I will be meeting with Gene to talk especially about arts and humanities planning.

On-line course evaluation system

When this matter surfaced again after lying dormant for nearly a year, Academic Affairs took it over.

Deep thanks to the committee members, most especially those who read and helped select Harrison Awards, and to Frances Peyton, for administrative support.