Dr. Laura Pawlow: lpawlow@siue.edu
Provost Office
Rendleman Hall 3115
Campus Box 1300
Q. What is the URCA Assistant program?
A. This program is designed to get more undergraduate students involved in research and creative activities by offering a central clearinghouse for research and creative activity experiences available to undergraduate students. In addition, URCA will fund up to 80 positions per semester that will include an award of $800 for that semester’s work. All positions also have the option of offering 3 hours of course credit per semester for participation – there is no limit to how many positions for course credit are offered. Positions can also be both paid and for course credit.
Q. What are the benefits for faculty?
A. Faculty will be able to get the word out about their research and creative activity programs and recruit undergraduate students to these opportunities in a more comprehensive way. In addition, the student application process will allow faculty to select the best applicants to collaborate with them on their research and creative activities. Finally, mentoring undergraduates outside of the classroom is an experience that benefits faculty in tenure and promotion papers and annual reviews.
Q. What are the benefits for students?
A. Students will have a central location in which to search for research and creative activity positions and the opportunity to get involved in collaborative work with their faculty. These experiences will benefit them as they apply to graduate schools or positions of employment, and will hopefully also create a more meaningful undergraduate experience for them. All students who participate can potentially earn 3 hours of course credit for their participation (this is up to the individual faculty member posting the position) and up to 80 students per semester will receive an award of $800 for their work.
Q. How will the award be dispersed?
A. At the end of a semester, students who successfully met the requirements of a funded position will have the $800 award applied to their current balance in the Bursar’s office. Students with a balance of less than $800 will be given a check for the remainder of the amount.
Q. Can a student earn course credit for participating?
A. Yes, as long as the department supports this and has a mechanism in place for it. The responsibility of informing the students about registering in the appropriate course for the department will fall to the faculty member. Since students are asked to work approximately 9 hours per week, all Assistants receiving course credit should sign up for 3 hours of credit.
Q. Which faculty can apply?
A. Any full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty member can apply.
Q. Which students can apply?
A. Any full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours) SIUE undergraduate student with a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or above can apply.
Q. What are faculty responsibilities?
A. The faculty application includes sections on student responsibilities and appropriate outcome goals (i.e., students shouldn’t spend this devoted research/creative activity time making photocopies or grading tests). The URCA board will review each faculty application to make sure an appropriate research/creative activity experience will be gained by the student. Once approved, faculty are responsible for ensuring that the actual experience matches the proposed experience. In addition, faculty members taking URCA Assistants for the first time will be required to attend a brief meeting at the beginning of the semester to ensure they understand what entails an appropriate research experience for the students.
Q. What are student responsibilities?
A. This will vary by position, but each position should require roughly 9 hours of appropriate research/creative activity work by the student per week. Students are responsible for meeting the goals set forth by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
Q. What if the faculty doesn’t meet his or her responsibilities?
A. The URCA board will briefly check in with all Assistants and their mentors roughly once per month. If it becomes apparent that the student is not receiving an appropriate experience, the position will be pulled. Faculty who have had positions pulled will be ineligible to reapply for URCA Assistant positions (paid or unpaid) for three years.
Q. What if the student doesn’t meet his or her responsibilities?
A. The URCA board will briefly check in with all Assistants and their mentors roughly once per month. If it becomes apparent that the student is not performing his or her duties appropriately, the position will be pulled. If it is a paid position, the student will not receive the financial award. If the student is receiving course credit, an appropriate grade will be assigned at the end of the semester. Students who have had positions pulled will be ineligible to reapply for future URCA Assistant positions.
Q. Can a faculty member apply for more than one position?
A. Yes! Faculty can apply for as many positions as they need. However, since there is limited funding (80 positions per semester can be funded), in order to “spread the wealth,” depending on how many applications for funding are received, applicants asking for more than one paid position may not be fully funded.
Q. What if I apply for 4 paid Assistants, but am only awarded funding for 2?
A. Faculty should apply for as many funded positions as they need, although as noted above, they may not all be funded. In that case, the faculty can still accept all 4 students, but can only give 2 students funding. (Although ALL students can receive course credit if approved by the faculty member.) It is suggested that the best applicants be awarded with funding; however, the choice of who should receive funding is ultimately up to the faculty member. Awards/funding cannot be split between multiple students.
Q. Can a faculty member apply for multiple semesters?
A. Yes, although a new application must be submitted each semester.
Q. How will students be selected?
A. All interested students must submit their applications by August 1 if applying for the fall semester and December 1 if applying for the spring semester. Applications will be routed directly to the e-mail address provided by the faculty member on the application. Faculty members will fill their approved positions based on the student applications by the means of their choice – they could simply select students based off their applications, they could require interviews, etc. This part of the process is up to the faculty member. All positions must be filled by the first day of class of the semester. It is the responsibility of the faculty to notify ALL applications (those accepted and those not) of their status by the first day of class of the semester.
Q. Is there travel funding available to URCA Assistants for presentation of their work?
A. Yes, a limited amount of money is available to fund travel. The "Travel Fund Application" is available in the URCA Assistant Information box at the left of this page. A student can only receive funding for a single trip, the maximum any student can receive is $200, and funds will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Students are eligible to apply for travel funding for projects completed while they were URCA Assistants as long as they are still full-time, undergraduate SIUE students. Students will not be eligible for Senior Assignment travel funding for the same project. Students should apply as soon as they have confirmation of acceptance, and applications must be received at least two weeks before the first date of travel.
Q. Will there be URCA Assistant positions during the summer?
A. No, URCA Assistant positions are only available during the fall and spring semesters.
Q. Can faculty members apply for an URCA Assistant if they are already receiving alternate funding for their projects?
A. Yes, but ONLY if the funding does not already pay undergraduate student researchers. For example, if your project has already been awarded grant money for supplies and a graduate assistant, then you could also apply for URCA Assistant funding. But if you are already receiving money from an alternate source to pay for your undergraduate researchers, then you cannot apply for URCA funding. (Although you can still post the position on the URCA website – is just won’t be listed as an URCA-funded position).
For more information on the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Program, contact Dr. Laura Pawlow at (618) 650-2608 or lpawlow@siue.edu.