With an extensive history of encouraging undergraduates to explore their scholarly, creative, and research interests, Utah State University is celebrating the remarkable success of the URCO program. Since its inception in 1975, more than 500 students have conducted research supported by the program. From metal sculpture to chokecherry seed propagation and whirling disease in trout, real-life problems have been explored and solved by USU undergraduates.  Today, the results of these URCO projects are generating national recognition for USU’s student researchers.

EXPERIENCE SPEAKS
URCO grants explained and the value of undergraduate research

“URCO grants are designed to give students a chance to do independent research on a project of their own design,” said Joyce Kinkead, USU’s associate vice president for research. “Research is broadly defined; it encompasses creating a sculpture, composing a piece of music, doing archival scholarly work, and working at the laboratory bench.”

The grants, given by the Vice President for Research Office, award up to $500 for students’ funded proposals.  The students’ sponsoring academic department also matches the award, for a possible total of $1,000 per grant.

By providing financial support to undergraduates for research or creative projects that are not routine requirements for a course or degree program, URCO encourages students to engage in independent projects.  Studies have shown that students who conduct research have improved analytical skills, teamwork, time management, leadership, writing skills, troubleshooting ability, understanding of ethics, business relationships, communication, and self-confidence.

“Honing these skills as an undergraduate makes students more marketable when applying to graduate schools,” said Kinkead. “Just getting a good GPA is not enough anymore.”

“I soon discovered that my undergraduate research experience paid dividends I was not expecting,” said Kyle Tubbs, a former URCO grant recipient. “My URCO grant helped springboard me into an exciting part of my life.  I believe the research background I gained at USU was the key factor in my acceptance to medical school at the University of Washington.”

Students applying for URCO grants are required to complete a formal research proposal, which teaches them the process of seeking funding, a vital part of graduate research. Many URCO alumni credit their undergraduate research experience for helping them get further funding for their projects, as well as prestigious scholarships.

“The URCO grant program taught me how to apply for funding and convey technical material to a varied audience,” said Stephanie Chambers, a former URCO grant recipient. “Because of the USU faculty providing me fantastic research and training opportunities, I received the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship, which also led to my acceptance at the University of Utah School of Medicine.” Chambers also recently received a NIH medical student fellowship to study the genetic causes of infertility.

“Undergraduate research is an integral part of research here at Utah State,” said Kinkead. “As our efforts in promoting its importance pays off, we strive to facilitate the growing demand for URCO grants.”

PAST TELLS
URCO’s beginnings as a novel experiment

USU was ahead of its time in implementing URCO in 1975, when few institutions had organized student-faculty cooperative research activities on a university-wide basis.  John McClusky, program executive of the Danforth Foundation, envisioned how USU could serve as a model for  institutions that wanted to implement a student-centered research program.

Capturing the vision of URCO, McClusky imagined a program at USU with an emphasis on “helping students learn how to engage in a certain form of inquiry, discovery, or creativity.”

In the summer of 1974, a team of USU faculty attended a Danforth Foundation workshop and returned with a plan to encourage and systemize collaboration between faculty and undergraduates. In the spring of 1975, USU launched an URCO experiment with 60 student participants through the College of Agriculture and the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

The experiment elicited such positive responses that a plan was made to launch URCO on a university-wide basis during 1975-76.  In the months that followed, USU worked out the nuts and bolts of URCO through collaboration within USU and input from professor Margaret MacVicar, director of undergraduate research at MIT. By fall of 1975, the USU Office of the Vice President of Research had allocated a small sum of money to support student projects, and URCO was officially made available to all undergraduate students at USU. It has continued to grow ever since.

TIME IMPROVES
Partnership with Honors program expands reach of URCO

“Historically there was a disconnect between URCO recipients and Honors students,” said David Lancy, director emeritud of the Honors program at USU. “They were two different groups of people; those involved in URCO weren’t aware of the Honors program and vice versa. Now, there seems to be a connection.”

“In my time with Honors, major changes were made to URCO: the increase in funding and participation, the introduction of two rounds of competition per year, the transfer of the program from Honors to the Research Office, and the change in the review process,” said Lancy.

When Lancy became Honors director in 1997, the budget for URCO was $5,000. In 2000 the budget doubled to $10,000. Increased funding also means more students receiving URCO grants. During 2001-2002, 16 to 20 projects were approved and funded by USU. This year, 54 students were awarded $22,000 in URCO grants.

IMPACT CONFIRMS
Former students reflect on their URCO grants

URCO encourages students to engage in a process of discovery, investigation, inquiry, and creativity by conducting undergraduate research. Each URCO experience helps students learn how to learn, develop critical skills, create important one-on-one connections with professors and get an academic step ahead of the competition. Additionally, projects often result in a professional conference presentation, a scholarly journal publication, or an award.

“Not only did I learn a tremendous amount of chemistry during those years, I also gained a profound appreciation for the scientific method,” said Tubbs. “I saw firsthand how literature review, hypothesis testing, and data analysis all work together to advance knowledge.”

“The URCO grant made it possible for me to conduct my senior honors thesis,” said Robert Wright, a former grant recipient. “In large part, due to my senior paper, I was accepted into Portland State University’s Applied Social Psychology doctoral program.” Wright also presented his senior thesis at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Conference, where he was informed that his paper was accepted for publication by the editor of the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research.

Faculty also benefit from mentoring undergraduates in the research process. “Few undergraduate researchers realize the stimulating effect they have on the faculty they work with,” said Bruce Bugbee, professor of crop physiology. “Science relies on fresh approaches and new ways of seeing the world. I have always preferred the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.”

“For twenty-six years, my URCO student researchers have kept me at the lab into the evening hours,” said Bugbee.  “I am gratified to know that they will carry on an inquisitive, impassioned approach long after I am retired.”

“As a landgrant university and a research university, USU takes pride in the fact that students learn science by doing science, learn art by producing art, and learn scholarship by writing history,” said Kinkead. “Hands-on inquiry and study builds on classroom knowledge and goes beyond what can be accomplished through lecture. The application of knowledge is a hallmark of a land-grant university. URCO is a critical component of that mission.”