Dramatic changes are occurring in higher education. Instead of simply memorizing copious pages of lecture notes, today's undergraduates are being challenged to become active contributors to the development of new knowledge. Murray State University (MSU) is working to become one of Kentucky's institutions of choice for students who want to perform significant research and do real scholarly or creative work as undergraduates.
At Murray State, we also understand that student retention is an important University concern. We know that students leave college for a wide variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they have not “connected” with the university community. Providing undergraduates with an opportunity to build close working relationships with faculty and peers is an important component of any university’s retention strategy. At Murray State, we have embarked on a program that engages undergraduates in faculty-guided research and scholarly work that begins when the students arrive at Murray State as freshman and continues until they receive their degrees.
To encourage and facilitate this important new teaching and learning paradigm, Murray State University, with generous help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has created the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA). The office has developed a number of initiatives to support faculty-mentored scholarly, creative, and research opportunities for undergraduates in all disciplines across the university.
The kinds of undergraduate projects we envision often require some financial support. The URSA Grants program has been created to address this need. These awards will provide up to $500 to support faculty-student collaborations for supplies, literature searches, equipment, travel to field sites, and other costs associated with approved projects.
We have also organized an annual campus-wide celebration of undergraduate and graduate student scholarship to be held in April. Called Scholars Week, this event enables students to present the results of their work to the campus and local community in a variety of formats, including oral presentations, poster displays, performances, and exhibits.
Another important initiative developed by the office is Posters-at-the-Capitol. In 2009, over 220 students from Kentucky's eight public universities and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System presented 119 posters at the Capitol Building in Frankfort. These students helped carry the message to those who fund higher education in Kentucky that involving undergraduates in the scholarly pursuits of the faculty is an extremely important and effective teaching and learning methodology.
Our journal, Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research, provides the forum for undergraduates to publish the results of their research, scholarly and creative endeavors. We encourage all undergraduates to submit their best work for publication in the new Journal.
The office is working closely with MSU faculty to ensure programs are developed that meet the needs of the faculty, our students and the University. Key to the success of the office is the URSA Faculty Advisory Board. With two representatives from each of the five Colleges and the School of Agriculture, the Advisory Board has played an important role in shaping and developing the programs of the office. A member of the University Libraries is also on the Advisory Board.
We encourage both the students and faculty of Murray State University to take advantage of the programs that have been created and to work with the office in helping create an even more effective teaching and learning environment at Murray State.