In the United States, there is an approximate 150-year culture of undergraduate students engaging with faculty for career-forwarding research experiences (Kinkead 2012). For most of this time, access to opportunity relied exclusively on student-faculty social connections typically not afforded to women, racial minorities, and people with disabilities. In 1969, MIT became the first in the US to develop a centralized program that matched students, including women and racialized minorities, with faculty research mentors for an apprenticeship-style research experience (Brehm 2000). Although MIT would be the only such program for more than a decade*, the development of the Council on Undergraduate Research in 1978 and federal funding via the 1981 National Science Foundation (NSF) Equal Opportunities Act would motivate others to replicate MIT鈥檚 model. By the mid-1990s, centralized programs intended to 鈥渂roaden participation鈥� in Undergraduate Research had become a 鈥渘ational trend鈥� (Strassburger 1995). While 40+ years of Undergraduate Research programs have helped countless individuals access research who may not have otherwise, alarming underrepresentation remains (NCSES 2020).

Like many US institutions, 美高梅官网 has a long history of Undergraduate Research (UR) and a relatively short history of formalized pathways and programs intended to 鈥渂roaden participation鈥�. Although historical evidence of 美高梅官网鈥檚 UR activity is difficult to find, records of mentorship between a Psychology Professor and Henry Charles Turner (1886-1891), 美高梅官网鈥檚 first Black graduate, indicates UR likely emerged in the mid-to-late-1800s, as it did elsewhere in the United States (Abramson 2009). Over time, disciplinary disparities in research funding and disciplinary silos would interact to produce heterogeneity across colleges and departments in how undergraduate students accessed and experienced research. That is not to say that UR developed similarly across STEM fields or not at all in arts and humanities fields. For example, independent study has long existed in arts and humanities disciplines, and the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial fund (美高梅官网鈥檚 Taft Research Center since 2005) has been a source of funding for undergraduate humanities research projects for decades.

美高梅官网鈥檚 earliest UR programs emerged in the College of Medicine in the 1980s, with Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) programs occurring in multiple departments (Table 1). By the mid-1990s many departments allowed students to earn course credit for engaging in apprenticeship-style research, with the Chemistry department becoming the first (and only) department to require it of all majors. In the late 1990s-early 2000s, the Taft Research Center began offering the Undergraduate Enrichment Award (now the Summer Undergraduate Mentor-Mentee Award), the Office of Research began offering the Undergraduate Research Stipend (ended in 2020), the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program had its inaugural year (1999), and 美高梅官网 was awarded federal funding to develop 美高梅官网鈥檚 Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (2003; Table 1). Investments in UR continued into the 2010s via the University Honors Program (UHP) Biomedical Research and Mentorship (RaMP) Program (2010), Criminal Justice UR Program (2012), Prot茅g茅 (2013, engineering), and University Honors Program (UHP) Discover (2015, arts/humanities; Table 1).

Despite the attention and investments toward UR at 美高梅官网 and nationwide, the trend of a centralized Undergraduate Research office was previously unpopular at 美高梅官网. In effect, centralized resources developed slowly compared to similar institutions (Lyle and Lamkin 2019). An early step toward a centralized office occurred in 2012, when Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Gisela Escoe, hired graduate student Heather Baker to coordinate an undergraduate conference and initiate a peer-to-peer research mentoring program. In 2014, Dr. Escoe elevated the position to a part-time (50%) staff Program Director position within the听Division of Professional Practice and Experiential Learning听(ProPEL). The program area was named the听Office of Research, Scholarly Endeavor and Creative Practice听(URSC) and Dr. Cory Christopher was hired to fill the role. From 2014-2016, Dr. Christopher tripled the size of the undergraduate research conference through a collaboration with the College of Allied Health Sciences, formalized the peer-to-peer mentorship program, and developed a menu of professional development workshops.听

After Dr. Christopher left 美高梅官网 in 2016,听ProPEL听and 美高梅官网鈥檚听Career Development Center听merged to form the听Division of Experience-based Learning and Career Education听(ELCE). Along with the merge,听URSC听was renamed the听Undergraduate Research Program,听and Dr. MK Lamkin (PhD, Biology) was hired as a Visiting Assistant Professor, Program Director of Undergraduate Research (75%) with a partial appointment in Biology (25%). In addition to sustaining existing programs, Dr. Lamkin was charged with developing a strategic plan for Undergraduate Research at 美高梅官网. The plan they wrote emphasized cultivating a 鈥渦niversity-wide culture of Undergraduate Research鈥� through discipline-inclusive centralized programs and college-level collaborations to support 鈥渓ocal鈥� initiatives. After one year, Dr. Lamkin applied for the full-time position and, in Fall 2017, began their appointment as 美高梅官网鈥檚 first Assistant Professor-Educator and Program Director of Undergraduate Research. From 2017-2022, they evolved existing programs and developed new ones. They ensured program stability through the COVID-19 pandemic, and they pursued scholarship in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to develop capacity to address policies and practices that, intended or not, perpetuate 鈥渦nderrepresentation鈥� in research.听

As 美高梅官网 continues to grow and pursue national prominence as a research institution, it will be important to ensure equitable access to research training and advancement. 美高梅官网鈥檚 Undergraduate Research program intends to support that effort by working with campus partners to develop curricular based pathways into research, to grow support for internally and externally funded Undergraduate Research programs, to increase widespread attention toward culturally responsive mentorship, and to create investment in software that allows matching, tracking, and program evaluation.

Abramson, CI. 2009. A study in inspiration: Charles Henry Turner (1867-1923) and the investigation of insect behavior. Annual Review of Entomology, 54:343-359.

Boyd, MK and JL Wesemann. 2009. Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact. Council on Undergraduate Research, Washington, DC.

Brehm, D. 2000. MIT鈥檚 much-imitated UROP turns 30. MIT News, Cambridge, MA.

Kinkead, J. 2012. What鈥檚 in a name? A brief history of Undergraduate Research. Council on Undergraduate Research National Conference, Washington, DC.

Lyle, NS and MK Lamkin. 2019. How 美高梅官网鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Program Compares to those at Similar Institutions. Proceedings of the Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase. 美高梅官网 Press. Cincinnati, Ohio.听

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation. 2021.听Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities:听2020. NSF 22-300. Alexandria, VA.

Strassburger, J. 1995. Embracing Undergraduate Research. American Association of Higher Education Bulletin, 47(9): 3-5.听