Donations support student-faculty partnerships in all fields of study.
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Donations support student-faculty partnerships in all fields of study.
CU Boulder has an expansive history of undergraduate research dating to the creation of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in 1986.
A significant body of scholarship has emerged since and continues to demonstrate the value of broadening participation and involving students early.
The funding provided by UROP is critical to ensuring equitable access by eliminating one of the most significant barriers to participation—resources and flexibility.
With well-documented benefits from persistence and resilience to belonging and graduation, engagement can be transformative.
The Council on Undergraduate Research notes how engagement prepares students to meet the needs of employers in the changing future of work.
Students will need critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and communication—all learning outcomes from research.
The university’s commitment to anti-racism cornerstones our programming, and we are well-positioned to contribute to long-term goals of diversity, equity and inclusion.
With continued efforts to diversify our programs and student participants, we provide essential experiential learning.
We also help ensure their identities are reflected in the academic community by providing pathways for historically minoritized students to enter faculty ranks.
UROP represents an opportunity to support student-centered education that makes the most of CU Boulder’s global leadership in research and creative production.
The Academic Futures report recommends that “colleges should make available research experiences...and students should be strongly encouraged to take advantage.”
The IDEA Plan calls on the university “to increase the accessibility of high-impact programming (study abroad, internships, undergraduate research).”
Following the Academic Futures recommendation to develop a common curriculum for undergraduates, a committee was formed to develop learning goals spanning the entire student journey. In April 2022, the committee submitted the following objectives for the campus to consider.
Prepare students to take part in creating sustainable futures for themselves, society and the world.
UROP created the Pathways Initiative in 2017 to broaden undergraduate participation in research and creative work on the CU Boulder campus–engaging students from historically minoritized populations and cultivating opportunities in under-represented fields.
Efforts continue in new directions, and we remain committed to
We redesigned the Team Grant as a faculty-driven process and eliminated the requirement to identify participants when applying. UROP now promotes most Team Grants as open opportunities among LEAD Alliance communities to provide funded entry-points to research and creative work in a wide range of fields.
We provided faculty grants to departments and programs with low UROP participation to develop cultures supportive of undergraduate engagement. UROP supported programming in more than a dozen departments from 2017 to 2020—focused on the arts, humanities and creative fields.
We reestablished the UROP Faculty Advisory Board in 2016 to support the revision of policies and procedures as well as develop stronger relationships among the faculty. UROP reconfigured the board as a campus working group in 2020 and continues working with faculty and partner programs to develop opportunities.
We joined CUR as an institutional member in 2017 and remain active in the professional community with many CU Boulder staff and faculty presenting and publishing in CUR venues. UROP provides the funding for membership and serves as the campus liaison.
We supported CU Boulder’s successful application for a five-year grant in 2017 to reestablish the McNair Scholars Program, led and hosted by the Student Academic Success Center (SASC). UROP provides programming and ongoing support to the program.
We supported CU Boulder’s successful application for a multi-year Workforce Development Grant in 2020 from COSI in partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement. UROP provides regular programming for participants in the Build Your Path Program.
We developed the Savit Scholars Program with support provided in part by the Savit Family Endowment to highlight innovative work and inspire the community. Savit Scholars are recognized for work that promises to push disciplinary boundaries and create new space for creativity, expression and connection.
We partnered with the graduate student-led organization STEM Routes and supported the development of the Uplift Research Program in 2020, which creates pathways for low-income, first-generation, and other underrepresented minorities in STEM. We continue to collaborate and regularly co-facilitate workshops with STEM Routes partners.
We created workshop materials (handouts, guides, web resources, etc.) to support outreach efforts and unit-level programming for students, staff and faculty. These materials have expanded into UROP’s Mentoring Guide and the Curiosity Lab as well as the student and faculty grant guides and additional resources.
We developed new assessment instruments to evaluate learning outcomes across disciplines and guide program operations. UROP adapted components of the AAC&U’s VALUE Rubrics and leveraged emerging scholarship on experiential learning to design tools to measure project-oriented outcomes and student self-efficacy.
We established a new Publications Grant to support the production of undergraduate publications featuring student work and provide greater visibility to established venues, such as The Honors Journal, Walkabout and Journal 2020—now Hindsight. UROP continues to provide direct support to these and other publications.
We designed new events to demystify academic research and creative work and connect students to the academic and creative life of the university. The UROP Symposium (now Zoom into Research and Creative Work), Sidewalk Symposium and Curiosity Lab workshops give students the chance to reflect, connect and engage.
We posted a directory of recently-funded projects to improve transparency and provide the campus community with comprehensive data about UROP-funded projects. Students now use the directory to identify potential mentors and generate ideas about projects, while departments use the information for tracking and faculty recognition.
We created a new accessible website to support outreach efforts and help manage program operations, providing greater access and transparency. The website also hosts student and faculty resources and serves as a common location to explore undergraduate research and creative work.
We implemented a double-blind review process for all student and faculty grant applications to ensure that all proposals receive fair evaluations and UROP can make informed, equitable funding decisions. The review process also engages faculty in the operation of the program, expanding on the role of the Advisory Board.
We reclassified UROP funding to pay stipends, expanding access to international students with visa work restrictions and enabling greater flexibility in the use of funds. The “UROP stipend” has been adopted by other campus programs to provide funding to students with minimal impact on financial aid.
We established a regular annual application deadline for student and faculty grants that allows the program to make fair and equitable funding decisions. The timing of the deadline allows UROP to leverage funds in two fiscal years and balance budgets annually.
