Presentation:

Research universities are distinguished from liberal arts colleges in two important ways. One is their emphases on research and graduate education, and the other is the existence of professional schools (both graduate and undergraduate) as integral components of the institution. One challenge facing research universities is to explore ways in which their professional schools can contribute to this central university mission of educating undergraduates, especially those enrolled in the arts and sciences.

Session leader Professor Santirocco began by observing the national trend toward decreasing enrollment in liberal arts programs. As Breneman observed several years ago, even stand-alone liberal arts colleges are offering fewer liberal arts degrees and focusing increasingly on pre-professional programs. This trend has important implications both for arts and sciences and professional schools.

In looking at ways to enhance partnerships between professional schools and undergraduate liberal arts programs, it is important to identify and exploit the natural opportunities that could form a basis for such partnership. If liberal arts colleges supply their graduates to professional schools, can the faculty of professional schools somehow reciprocate and “give back” to the undergraduate colleges? What are the disincentives that have hindered the formation of partnerships between professional and undergraduate programs? What appropriate partnerships could be created and what incentives can be put in place to promote these? Professor Santirocco posed these questions, opening a conversation about participants’ experiences at their own universities, their reactions to others’ experiences, and their questions.

Discussion:

Many professional schools have faculty whose training is in liberal arts disciplines. Although the presence of these faculty creates a range of opportunities for partnering with undergraduate programs, there are numerous barriers that prevent this from occurring. The main one is the prevailing perception within professional schools that a partnership with their university’s college of arts and sciences is a one-way relationship. In order for this perception to change, there needs to be a major effort to promote a more holistic view of the university, with undergraduates as full members with appropriate access to all the university’s assets, including the opportunity to participate in its research mission.

A second barrier to the development of meaningful partnerships results from the often physical and ideological separation of departments and colleges within a university. Because of such separation, faculty and administrators may identify more with their school than with the university of which the school is a part. Here, again, a change in perception is required. Rather than conceiving of the research university as an aggregate of professional schools and undergraduate programs, faculty and administrators across all schools need to understand their essential connections and promote both levels of education as part of a university, participating in a common enterprise.

Session participants described current programs on their campuses, many of which involve collaboration between undergraduate departments and professional schools in related fields. The most common interactions, not surprisingly, are between biology departments and medical and dental schools since it is relatively easy to place undergraduate biology students in labs in those schools. Yet, while such placements are frequent, it is often difficult to ensure that undergraduates’ research experiences in these labs are meaningfully connected to their studies. Some professional school faculty do not understand how to include undergraduates in a research project, except to use them for data input or to serve as technicians. They do not necessarily involve students in the actual research process, in part because they have never been asked to do so, nor have they been given any guidance. If biology and medical school faculty worked together to clarify the goals and desired outcomes of a research experience for undergraduates, both the professional school faculty who supervise undergraduates and the undergraduates themselves would benefit.

Creating partnerships is most difficult in fields, such as the arts and humanities, where the relationship to a professional school on campus is not readily apparent, as it is for example between undergraduate biology and the medical school. Faculty are tenured on the basis of research output, yet undergraduates in the arts and humanities often have the erroneous perception that their own work (e.g., in dance or film) is not research based. There needs to be more exploration of what research means in non-lab settings that allow students in the arts to take advantage of the resources of a research university. It would be advantageous to begin a dialog about cross-disciplinary programs for undergraduates in Honors programs and inter-disciplinary settings.

Some universities are working to change the campus culture to encourage greater involvement of professional schools in undergraduate education. The greatest activity appears to be at the curricular level. At NYU, for example, one strategy of the College of Arts and Science has been to involve senior professional school faculty in teaching Freshman Honors Seminars and newly-created Collegiate Seminars (small classes modeled on Freshman Seminars but open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors). Financial "balance of trade" is less crucial in recruiting faculty into this activity than are two other factors: first, these courses enable faculty to teach their areas of interest; and second, high-level administrators lead by example, since they teach in these programs and persuade other faculty members (and their deans) to participate. When faculty from professional schools teach undergraduates, the undergraduates benefit not only from the expertise and different perspectives these faculty offer, but they also benefit from the opportunity to develop a relationship with an individual who may be able to mentor them later in a research experience.

To take another example, the University of Texas at Austin has been developing an interdisciplinary approach to the undergraduate curriculum. Students can participate in seminars that are team taught by three faculty members from different departments, who discuss a particular topic from their varying disciplinary and professional perspectives. Faculty from professional schools are encouraged to participate.

Clemson University has also begun to make sweeping curricular changes, but its efforts have been directed at increasing undergraduate participation in research. Administrators and faculty have been working to define what “research” means within individual disciplines and fields. The University plans to use these definitions as the basis for a new initiative in which all students will propose and complete a three-year research project (broadly defined) in order to graduate. Though faculty will be encouraged to participate in this effort, their participation is not mandatory. The hope is that once faculty members realize the increasing range of research activities in which students can become productively involved, they will see connections to their own work and interest in participating in the program will become “contagious.” It is also hoped that they will see the benefits they themselves will derive from supervising students.

The formation of meaningful partnerships between professional schools and colleges of arts and sciences will not happen without encouragement and support from a university’s upper administration. The administration should set the tone and provide guidelines to support cross-school interactions, but it should not issue specific directives. Faculty members need to have the freedom to establish and pursue connections in ways that are relevant to their own academic interests. One way to encourage professional school participation in liberal arts education is by mentoring new, younger faculty members. At the same time, non-tenured faculty may be reluctant to expend time on activities that are not specifically required for tenure. While there might be initial enthusiasm among some faculty, once they realize the time and commitment teaching undergraduates entails, intrinsic rewards may not be enough to mitigate “burnout.”

Concern was expressed about the high cost of sustained involvement of professional school faculty in undergraduate research and whether universities can (or do) provide sufficient financial support. How can a university’s resource base be budgeted to create incentives for long-term faculty participation? Clemson University was able to use a university-wide audit to reallocate $22 million, taken from inefficient applications in non-academic programs. External grants offer another means for gaining revenue, and grant applications can actually be enhanced by undergraduate participation in a project. Other revenue might come from endowments, the military, or private companies. The marketing of scholarship is a major underlying problem, along with changing expectations on the part of faculty members. Ultimately, meaningful participation in undergraduate education by professional schools will occur only when a university’s leadership articulates and demonstrates by actions and budgetary allocations that undergraduate research is a valued activity and a responsibility that is to be shared by all units within the university.

Recommendations:

Session participants offered several recommendations for building partnerships between undergraduate programs and professional schools. They also provided several suggestions for strategies the Reinvention Center can employ to assist in the process of change.

For Individual Campuses
Promoting partnership among professional schools and undergraduate liberal arts programs:

Leadership:

• University leadership must provide strong support for change in the university. While they supply the direction for change, they must not issue specific directives.

Strategies:

• Promote conversations among faculty from different schools and departments, with the goal of developing interdisciplinary collaboration on research projects.
• Exploit existing centers, interdisciplinary programs, and honors programs as sites for further conversation and planning.
• Recruit “fellow travelers” in the professional schools, who share a passion for their field and are already interested in involving undergraduates in research.
• Recruit students as ambassadors who will challenge faculty to involve them in research.

For The Reinvention Center

• Develop and promulgate an inclusive definition of research that will take into account a full range of scholarly and creative work.
• Broaden the participation in the Reinvention Center conference by
  • Including undergraduates in oral presentations or poster sessions that describe how undergraduate research has affected their education.
  • Including organizations and publishers who produce resource materials for educators, so that they may develop a better understanding of faculty needs and ultimately provide stronger support for faculty. (Possibly investigate the chance that publishers or organizations might underwrite the conference.)
• Assist in compiling information on funding and resources.
• Convene mini-workshops or interventions between the larger conferences, to continue problem solving on specific issues. Use video-conferencing for those who cannot be physically present.

Resources/References:

Websites

1. http://www.utexas.edu/student/connexus/bdp/index.htm. This address is to the Bridging Disciplines Program at University of Texas at Austin, an interdisciplinary program that provides flexibility in choosing undergraduate coursework and research opportunities for attainment of the baccalaureate degree.

2. http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/SCLife/HHMI%20UR/undergraduate.htm. This site is through Clemson University and represents an undergraduate, multi-university research colloquium designed to support undergraduate research projects in the natural/life sciences.