Application to Attend CUR Advanced Topical Workshop:

Integrating Undergraduate Research into Faculty Workload and Tenure and Promotion Guidelines

1) Demographic Information

a) Name of the institution and affiliation:

University of Wisconsin – Superior; System/Consortium affiliation: COPLAC

b) Institutional units that will be represented at the workshop:

1. Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (administration); 2. Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (URSCA) Program Manager (1 of 6 high impact practices at UW-Superior; academic staff); 3.Tenured faculty member who is on the Faculty Senate Personnel Council; 4.Untenured faculty member, co-chair of the URSCA Committee, involved in promoting and implementing URSCA on campus.

c) Undergraduate and total student enrollment: 2522 Undergraduate and 2656 total student (FTE) enrollment

2) Team Composition

a)Name and professional title of the institutional-level administrator who will lead the team and attend the workshop.

Dr. Suzanne C Griffith - Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (ADAA)(tenured full professor on 50% administrative reassigned time) and department chair (50%).

b)List of the programs, projects, and initiatives that the institutional-level administrator/team leader oversees, as well as a description about why this individual is the right person to lead the team.

As ADAA,Suzanne Griffith oversees the six Liberal Arts High Impact Practices (HIPs) and their integration across the curriculum; provides leadership in transfer/articulation agreements, Credit for Prior Learning, Faculty Development and Sabbatical Committee, and assists the Dean of Faculties with duties as assigned. Since assuming the ADAA position in January 2013, Suzanne works with the URSCA Committee, oversees the implementation of the three yearstate grant funding the startup and integration of the URSCA Center, programs, and positions; and works with the new URSCA Program Director to build support for and inclusion of URSCA on campus. This includes advising on collaborative approaches and activities with departments and serving as a liaison with governance on curriculum and personnel changes.

Suzanne has been an active participantin both COPLAC and UW System meetings on undergraduate research and has participated fully in the NSF funded CUR workshops and meetings on institutionalizing undergraduateresearch.

Suzanne is the right person to lead this team both because the responsibility is consistent with her position and because she is committed to the success of URSCA on the campus, which will require integrating it into faculty workload and tenure and promotion guidelines. As a 23 year veteran at the UW-Superior she has earned the respect of her colleagues and is known as someone able to get projects up and running on campus.

c)Names and professional titles of the three other team members who will attend the workshop, as well as a description about why these individuals were selected.

  1. Julie O’Leary - Program Manager, URSCA Center ; charged with implementing the UW System Growth Agenda grant for the URSCA Center, building support for URSCA and achieving program sustainability.
  2. Marshall Johnson – tenured full professor, member of Personnel Council; a strong proponent of the liberal arts and the HIPs.(Council’s charge: The Personnel Council is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on personnel matters, including personnel rules, salary guidelines, promotion/tenure/post-tenure review guidelines, workload, Affirmative Action and Diversity policies, and faculty/staff development. The Council forwards its recommendations to the Faculty Senate)
  3. Kristin Riker-Coleman or Michelle Arnhold-Davies – both untenured assistant professor and co-chairs of the URSCA Committee; participants in earlier COPLAC sponsored meetings as part of the CUR-NSF grant to institutionalize undergraduate research; led two campus surveys that examined the practice of UR on campus.(Depending on schedules one will attend.)

These three positions are keys to moving integration and personnel changes because of their roles on campus. Julie O’Leary has the ‘carrots’ to help faculty make curriculum changes and provide activities that can build integration of URSCA in the form of funding provided through the Growth Agenda grant. However,systemic change will require changes in governance, especially in Personnel policy, across departments rather than in pockets. Progress will require senior and junior faculty working together. This team combines leaders who can work with administration to achievethis, with Dr. Johnson providing the perspective of both senior faculty and governance, and Dr. Riker-Coleman or Dr. Arnhold-Davies representing junior faculty

3) Narrative Statements

a) Describe the current state of undergraduate research at the institution, as well as what progress has been made as a result of your involvement in CUR’s system/consortium project.

Five years ago undergraduate research at UW-Superiorhappened in a few departments,in small numbers,and rarely outside of senior capstone projects. A few students were hired by the campus research institutes and might get to assist with research. When COPLAC signed on to the CUR-NSF grant to institutionalize undergraduate research UW Superior became an active participant. In spring 2011 a Faculty Committee was established, a broad definition of URSCAwas approved, and relatedactivities promoted. In fall 2011 URSCA was named the 6thHIP which allowed it to build connections and gain broader support. In the last two years we have boosted student involvement in campus programs highlighting URSCAandinitiatedSummer Undergraduate Research Fellowships. In summer 2013 the campus received a three year Growth Agenda Grant from the UW System to develop an URSCA Center, to coordinate URSCA programs, and to build and integrate curriculum supportive of undergraduate research as broadly defined. The URSCA Director began in January 2014 and is focused on moving the campus forward to meet the goals of the grant.

UW-Superior is unique in that it is part of COPLAC and is part of the UW System and has been able to benefit from CUR’s involvement in the state. UW-Superior’s representatives have attended most of the CUR meetings in Wisconsin and Superior is active in the development of WiS-CUR.

b) Describe how your institution is ready for the topical workshop, and what outcomes the institution hopes to realize through participation in the topical workshop.

Given the progress to date, those involved in URSCA and the HIPs realize that building these into workload and policy will be crucial for program sustainability. The campus has just gone through two processes that make this workshop timely: Program Prioritization and Strategic Planning. Prioritization is going to affect staffing – some programs may shrink or disappear and others may grow; some staff will be reassigned and some will be let go. The Personnel Council will need to reexamine workload, retention, tenure and annual review policies. At the same time the new strategic plan,The Superior Plan, specifically mentions URSCA (see d. below) and promotes experiential learning.

This workshop will provide us with tools and strategies that are necessary and timely. By taking part in this workshop we will be able to enhance the campus conversation on faculty workload and retention guidelines. In the last five years UW Superior has seem a demographic change in its faculty. In 2008 45% were full professors and 28% assistant professors; today 30% are full professors and 49% are assistant professors. The untenured faculty is eager to include students in their research and to include undergraduate research in their courses but they also want it to be reflected in workload and to count towards promotion and tenure. Responses to a 2012 campus-wide URSCA survey of faculty and staff specifically noted this as an important issue needing attention. This team can play an important role in the changes that are needed to integrate and sustain URSCA at UW-Superior This workshop will provide strategies, an action plan, and a support network to move those changes forward.

d)Describe the commitment of the institution to facilitate and sustain the institutionalization of undergraduate research overall, as well as efforts related to the topical focus of the workshop.

As mentioned above the new strategic plan,The Superior Plan, specifically references undergraduate research as a crucial aspect of its new commitment to student-centered and experiential learning:

Goal 4: Support regional needs through applied research

ACTION STEPS:

  • Institutionalize support and incentives for grant making related to place-based research
  • Champion faculty and student research through heightened visibility across the campus, community, region, and state
  • Increase financial support for undergraduate research

The metrics behind the Plan specify a resource increase of 15% by 2017 and the involvement of the ADAA and URSCA in making this happens. The goal is to have URSCA institutionalized by 2017. Concurrently, the Plan also includes Action Steps 1) to move to a 12/9 (credit) faculty teaching load in order to allow faculty the time to promote engaged learning and 2) to clarify personnel standards and processes to ensure alignment with the Strategic Plan. While this new Plan is still in a draft form, it has just been sent to Faculty Senate so the intentions of the administration are clear.