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Contact:
Rafael Alvarez, Title V Director
#619.388.3202,
ralvarez@sdccd.edu
www.sdcity.edu/support/urc
Research Honor:
2008 CUR Program
San Diego City
College was recently honored to be selected by the national
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to participate in its
Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research. This
National Science Foundation supported program is designed to
assist campuses in making institution-level changes to
strengthen and expand undergraduate research opportunities.
City College is
one of only 64 schools selected nationally – and the only
community college participating from the West Region. Other
West Region schools include Point Loma Nazarene University, CSU
San Marcos, Vanguard University, Whittier College, California
Lutheran University, CSU Chico and the University of San
Francisco
Current Research
at City College
Participation in
the CUR program enables City College to build on existing
research activities as it broadens the institutional culture of
research. In addition to classroom-based research activities,
several current programs also promote student research,
including the annual Student Project and Research Symposium, the
Math, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) Program, the
Honors Program and the Bridges to the Future Program.
Research
Expansion at City College
City College is
now poised to increase opportunities for engagement in regional
and national discussions of trends in higher education and new
research directions, including partnering with other
institutions and pursuing external funding. A four-member City
College team attended the CUR West Region workshop at Cal-State
Northridge in February. Next is the development of a
campus-based Undergraduate Research Collaborative (URC) that
reaches across all disciplines, interacts with all faculty and
inspires students to conduct quality research in their field of
interest. Ultimately, the goal is to have City College become a
community college model for undergraduate research.
Undergraduate
Research Collaborative (URC) Mission
The URC mission at
San Diego City College is to encourage, facilitate and promote a
culture of undergraduate research. At City College, “undergraduate
research” is defined as an inquiry or investigation
conducted by a student in collaboration with a faculty mentor.
Undergraduate research provides opportunity for the intellectual
growth of students via exploration and application of existing
knowledge that may also lead to an intellectual or creative
contribution to the discipline.
The URC goal is to
promote undergraduate research awareness and interest among
students, faculty and administrators. Through research projects
faculty and students formulate questions and develop ideas and
systematic approaches to finding answers and solving problems,
and consequently sharing research findings with others.
The URC believes
that undergraduate research is vital to enhancing student
learning, vital to improving our teaching pedagogy and
fundamental to professional development.
For more information or to get involved with
City College’s Undergraduate Research Collaborative:
www.sdcity.edu/support/urc
For more information on the national Council on Undergraduate
Research:
www.cur.org |
