Involving All of the Students Some of the Time versus Involving Some of the Students All of the Time
Improving Academic Success Through Undergraduate Research:
The UROP Experience at the University of Michigan

Leaders: Sandra Gregerman, Director, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Michigan
Bruno Giordani, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Michigan

Recorder: Megan Christine Lambart, Social Sciences Peer Advisor and Summer Biomedical Research Fellowship Program Advisor, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, University of Michigan

This session described the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at the University of Michigan, a fourteen-year-old program originally developed to improve the retention of historically underrepresented minority students through the creation of faculty-student research partnerships for students in their first and second years. As members of research teams, students learn valuable skills, establish mentor relationships, and explore different disciplines. Evaluation indicates that participation in the program improves students' academic performance and persistence to graduation, gives them a greater sense of integration into the academic community, and raises the likelihood of enrollment in graduate and professional school. Faculty are also positive about their own participation in UROP, indicating that the experience of mentoring undergraduates helps them view their activities in a more student-centered way.

Session leaders discussed the evolution of the program from one in which 14 students worked with a select group of faculty to one in which 1000 students work on over 600 research projects, and from one open only to historically underrepresented students to its current model open to all incoming first and second year students, while still targeting diverse students. Their description emphasized ways in which the Michigan UROP can serve as a case study and how it might be adapted at other campuses.

A Case Study

The University of Michigan is a large, fairly diverse, highly selective public research university with 25,000 undergraduates, of whom 23% are students of color (9% African American, 4% Latina/o, 10% Asian American). Historically there had been a higher attrition rate for minority students than for white students, although retention rates are still quite high compared to minority retention rates around the country. Many factors contribute to the retention of diverse students on predominantly white campuses. Research has demonstrated that a combination of factors, including the need for faculty contact outside the classroom, opportunities to engage in an institution's core academic missions, and programs to address financial, cultural, and climate issues are critically important to retention. In an attempt to remedy this problem, the University established the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program as an innovative approach to student retention. The specific rationale for UROP stemmed from the observation that many students of color do not identify with the academic missions of the institutions they attend and do not feel welcome at those institutions. Close contact with faculty is the key to retaining these students; when institutions invite students to participate in faculty research, they send students the message that they are welcome at the university and belong in the field they have chosen. Working with diverse students in turn educates faculty members about the value of diversity in the academy and the barriers faced by underrepresented students. UROP has demonstrably improved underrepresented minority students' success and retention rates, and has now been extended to all incoming first- and second-year students.

Some unique features of Michigan's UROP include its focus on first- and second-year students (years in which the rate of attrition is highest), its design as an academic-year program with a range of supporting activities, the use of peer advisors, and the inclusion of all the schools and colleges on campus. A deliberate attempt was made to form multicultural research groups and emphasize the multicultural aspects of research.

The Program has four main components:

• Research Activities: Students spend approximately 6-12 hours per week engaged in research activities under faculty supervision. They can receive either work-study funding or academic credit, but not both. Students typically work on some portion of a faculty member's research that is accessible to undergraduates or on a project that the faculty member has created to introduce students to his or her research topic.
• Individual Peer Advising: Students meet monthly with peer advisors, who assist them in finding and being successful in their research positions, to report on the progress of their research projects and talk about academic issues.
• Research Peer Groups: Groups made up of approximately 30 students, led by peer advisors, meet twice monthly to hear research presentations, discuss research ethics, and participate in workshops on such topics as writing resumes, interviewing, conducting library and Web research, using research and database-related software, designing Web pages, using Power Point, and giving presentations.
• Research Symposia: Students are encouraged to present their work at a spring symposium and to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research Symposium in January, an event featuring speakers who conduct research on multicultural issues.

Students can choose from a wide variety of research projects from all academic disciplines. All available research opportunities are listed in the UROP Research Project Book; at the beginning of the fall semester, students select projects of interest and apply directly to the faculty sponsor. Students give oral presentations to their Peer Groups at the end of the fall semester, working with their faculty mentors to write abstracts, and they are strongly encouraged to present their work at the spring symposium.

The students' activities may include library research, book development, course development, laboratory research, community-based research, survey research, technology transfer, and performance art. Examples of specific projects include: Gene Therapy Development Using Transgenic Mouse Models; The Sources, Chemistry, Transport, and Deposition of Mercury in the Great Lakes; Visualization of Electronic Design Automation Algorithms; Neighborhood Effects on Children's Development; Creative Writing in Juvenile Detention Centers; A Centennial Retrospection: Documentation and Exhibit of Philippine Collections in the Museum of Anthropology; Reception and Interpretation of the Films of Akira Kurosawa; and Afro-Cuban Religions in Cuba since the Revolution.

Students reap a broad spectrum of benefits from their research experiences. Their academic coursework is made relevant and they develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills as well as the ability to work independently and the ability to work with others of different backgrounds. Depending on the project, they may also develop specific computer, library, statistical, or laboratory skills.

The faculty mentors help students develop confidence and independence as well as skills in communicating their findings and more generally navigating the University. The mentors themselves gain assistance with their research, add diversity to their research groups, and gain a sense of challenge and accomplishment from successfully introducing undergraduates to their research and scholarly endeavors and from serving as potential role models.

Faculty are recruited to the program through targeted mailings and presentations at faculty meetings, as well as through colleague recommendations and referrals, general word of mouth, articles in departmental and campus newspapers, and students in their courses who are participating in UROP. UROP awards mini-grants (of up to $10,000), on an annual competitive basis, to faculty to add research components to existing courses, develop new research-based courses, and/or to engage students in large-scale research projects.

Students are recruited through mailings to incoming first-and second-year students, presentations at high schools, on-campus presentations, and counselor referrals.

New Initiatives

Four new initiatives have broadened the focus of UROP to provide additional opportunities to UROP students and to accommodate students beyond their first and second years:

• The UROP in Residence Program (UIR) allows approximate 130 students who are enrolled in UROP to live together on a specially designated residence hall floor. UIR students enroll in a special Introduction to Research seminar in the fall term and can elect special sections of English composition, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering courses.
• The Junior/Senior Pipeline Program gives upper-division students who have not participated in UROP the opportunity to work with faculty or on independent research projects, and it provides funds to decrease financial barriers associated with conducting honors thesis research and enables students to travel to professional and academic meetings. The peer advising and peer group meetings for these students are geared toward discipline-specific topics, career selection, and the graduate school application process. Students in the Junior/Senior Pipeline Program present their research at the spring symposium.
• The Undergraduate Research Scholars Program permits sophomores who have already completed a full year of UROP to continue to work on their projects or to select new projects. Research Scholars showcase their achievements with poster presentations at a special symposium.
• Community-Based Summer Research Fellowships offer intensive summer research experiences to students interested in issues relevant to urban communities, communities of color, and/or diverse populations. The majority of students work off campus, in community-based organizations or with professors working on community-based research. Fifteen fellowships are offered; students receive stipend compensation for a full-time, ten-week commitment. Areas of study include needs assessment, program evaluation, and community mapping. Specific projects include a needs assessment for Latino Family Services regarding HIV prevention messages for the Latino population in southwest Detroit; mapping environmental triggers for asthma in east and southwest Detroit for the Community Action Against Asthma; and conducting a needs assessment for programming for the Arab population for International Family Housing.

Program Funding

The initial funds to establish UROP came from the Vice President of Student Services and the Vice President for Research; the Provost's Office now supplies funding, as does the University's capital campaign. Sources of outside funds have included grants from the State of Michigan's Office of Equity and the U.S. Department of Education, private foundations (e.g. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Coca Cola, DuPont), and a National Science Foundation Recognition Award for the Integration of Research and Teaching (NSF RAIRE).

Program Assessment and Evaluation

UROP has been engaged in a longitudinal, multi-method evaluation to measure the program's impact on student retention, academic performance, and entrance into graduate and professional school. These extensive evaluation efforts have been helpful in documenting the impact and efficacy of the program, obtaining internal and external funding, and influencing national policy directions. The underlying evaluation questions were: "To what degree does UROP enhance student retention, academic success, integration, and the pursuit of graduate education among all participants?" In answering the question, UROP staff employed a number of methods including quantitative surveys and retention studies, qualitative focus groups and individual interviews, and an Experiential Sampling Study. Funding for the evaluation activities comes from a FIPSE Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the NSF, and the Provost's Office.

The original Retention Study compared UROP participants to a control group of UROP applicants matched by entering GPA, test scores, high school profile, race, and gender. Pre- and post- surveys and data from the registrar's office found that UROP participation increased retention rates for some students. Retention effects were strongest for African American students, especially males, and for sophomore participants. African American students whose academic performance was below the median for their race/ethnic group benefited most.

A Focus Group Study then sought to answer the question, "Why is UROP positively impacting student retention?" The UROP staff conducted a series of group interviews with UROP students, non-UROP students, and students participating in another campus retention program. The students discussed their undergraduate experiences in ways that were seen to fall into three distinct categories: proactive, reactive, or inactive. UROP students made 58% of the proactive comments and were more likely to discuss anticipating future events such as graduate school or looking for a job, to initiate activity with people, and to see faculty and staff as positive influences.

The Alumni Survey compared experimental and control groups consisting of UROP students and non-UROP students matched based on high school GPA, test scores, intended major, race, and gender. The findings indicated that students who participated in undergraduate research -- whether through UROP or other means -- were significantly more likely than control students to pursue graduate and professional education and to utilize faculty for job recommendations. There were no differences in the responses according to students' race and ethnicity, indicating that participation in undergraduate research equalizes students' pursuit of graduate education.

The Experiential Sampling or "Beeper" Study was designed to assess "real-time" student behavior, using experimental and matched controls as in the other studies. Students wore watches that beeped and completed brief surveys each time the beeper went off. This study found that UROP students spent significantly more time talking with professors, participating in class discussions, working, and studying than did non-UROP students, while non-UROP students spent more time socializing, sleeping, and eating; and that African American UROP students and white non-UROP students spent more time in class than did white UROP students and African American non-UROP students.

Resources

Web site:
University of Michigan
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP): http://www.umich.edu/~urop/

Publications:
Hathaway, R.S. at al. (2002). "The Relationship of Undergraduate Research Participation to Graduate and Professional Education Pursuit: An Empirical Study." Journal of College Student Development, (43) 5, 614-631.

Nagda, B.A. et al. (1998). "Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research Partnerships Affect Student Retention." The Review of Higher Education, (22) 1, 55-72.