Part I.  Establishing the program

These guidelines are based on programs to support undergraduates in the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).  They may also be applicable in the humanities, but the experience recounted here is with STEM.

a.  Goals of REUs:  (See also the “Campus Statement” by Mike Wright 12/07.)  All programs aim at increasing participation of undergraduates in laboratory settings doing guided, independent research.  In addition, centers and institutes are encouraged to formalize a program to recruit students from other universities to achieve goals of diversity and inter-institution collaboration. Their ultimate goal is to recruit students to graduate work in the sciences and to recruit them to UMass in particular.  Therefore, attention is paid to their whole experience during their time in Amherst.  Some programs are residential; others expect students to pay for their housing from their larger stipends. All students—UMass and “recruits”--potentially profit from the efforts to create a community of REUs on campus.

We also recognize (and must communicate to the faculty and campus) that there are clear benefits to the institution of well-run programs:  REUs enhance the students’ educational experience and contribute to undergraduate retention.  When other institutions send repeat applicants, it develops the university’s reputation and strengthens its networks.  It also helps provide full use of campus academic learning and research resources during the summer.

b.  Institutional Presence:  We hope programs will join the Council of Coordinators coordinated by the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OURS, http://www.umass.edu/lrc/OURS.htm, sbronstein@acad.umass.edu) and tell others of the network.  As of 2007, the university, through OURS is keeping a database of student and faculty participants.  Several programs have publicized their activities through the UMass News Office (In the Loop, etc.).  In general, coordinators benefit from the mutual aid, and as a bloc, the unified REUs can gain status as a “priority group” when negotiating services from around campus. New groups in particular can call on the Academic Liaison in RL&D (bpearson@research.umass.edu) to help get oriented to the myriad details involved in running a high-quality program.

“Sites versus supplements”

Adopting the distinction made at NSF, faculty can either make an organized program, or simply add funding for individual students to existing projects.  The NSF facilitates the application for supplements for any faculty with NSF grants.  www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/reu/ (gives information for professors and students).

c.  In 2007, UMass had 6 NSF “sites” (in Engineering, materials science (MRSEC), chemistry (CREST), chemical engineering (ICE), nanotechnology (SURE), and the NEAGEP (SPUR).  Within the College of Engineering, several more students were supported by CASA.  Other programs were supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the 5 college Astronomy departments (with Mass Space Grant), a private donation bridging the School of Nursing and Engineering, and the Center for the Study of African American Language (CSAAL).  Most of the programs also “shepherded” individual students from individual professors.

In 2008, the existing programs will continue (except perhaps the privately funded ones).  In addition, there is a new program in Computer Science and another in Food Science, run in collaboration with an established program at Cornell.

RET, or Research Experiences for Teachers, like the one run by the MRSEC, follow many of the guidelines that REUs do.

See the Directory of Programs for coordinators and contact people.  (One of the programs also made a brochure for several REU sites for fall recruiting.)

d.  Record Keeping:

From the point of view of the university, there are no formal requirements to establish REU programs beyond the cooperation of your chair and your dean (and a helpful departmental bookkeeper).  There is no one to monitor whether your students are doing the necessary trainings and have the proper paperwork, etc. but you are still responsible for making sure they do.

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (and the Academic Liaison of RL&D) is instituting a policy of voluntary reporting of the following information:

For the program:

Title:

Affiliation:

Coordinator (phone, email, campus address)

Program “headquarters”

Dates:

Funding source:

Number of students involved:

Number of faculty involved:

Other personnel:

Date established:

Census (by year): 

Umass students

non-Umass students

5-college students

females/ males

ethnicity

special requirements/ eligibility

expected “product” or project of student

Residential details

Application deadline

Stipend

For the students:

Names

Home School

Year in school (anticipated date of graduation)

Date of Birth

Contact info (email, phone numbers)

Associated faculty and mentors

Project titles (when available)

Ethnicity

Gender

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