WHILE most are aware of the University's spotless academic record and chart-topping college ranking, few realize that it is one of the nation's best research institutions. For instance, the University holds the prestigious record of being the only institution in the United States that is part of Universitas 21, a global network of research-intensive universities headquartered in Singapore. The great headway made by the Undergraduate Research Network since its founding in 2001 and the library's parallel expansion since that period also seem to leave little room for criticism of the University's undergraduate research record. However, with a feverishly increasing demand for research, the University should step up its efforts to expand research opportunities for its students and improve access to related research resources.
The first focus should obviously be on increasing the number of grants available for undergraduate research to accommodate growing student needs. According to Nicole Hurd, former director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, over half of all University students are performing some kind of research -- suggesting a large demand for research opportunities that needs to be met. The University already offers a promising array of research opportunities, the two most popular being the Harrison and Center for Global Health grants which offer up to $3,000. In addition to this, there are several other more specific grants, such as the William R. Kenan Fellowship for research that pertains to the Academic Village, the Double Hoo grant which pairs an undergraduate and graduate researcher, and the Summer Science grant.
However, the University must set its sights on expanding its research opportunities even further to accommodate rising demand. According to Juliana Schroeder, chair of the Undergraduate Research Network, the best way to accomplish this would be for more student organizations to step in and contribute their own grants or fellowships to add to the pool of research opportunities. Organizations such as the Raven Society and the Jefferson Society already offer grants, but others must follow in their footsteps to ensure that research remains an important priority at the University.
In addition to adding to increasing the availability of opportunities, student organization initiatives would also help offset years when funding problems result in some temporary grant suspensions. For instance, due to funding problems, the Harrison and CGH grants were combined this year and made mutually exclusive to students, while the Double Hoo grant was suspended. The University's Office of Sponsored Programs also released statistics showing that the amount of research funding received by the University from the US government dropped 13 percent. While Schroeder emphasized that these were only temporary setbacks, there is no doubt that an expansion in research opportunities by student organizations would provide a good fallback during years of funding shortfalls.
Besides expanding the availability of research opportunities, the University must redouble its efforts at enhancing research resources for students to formulate their ideas and publish them. The University Library has made commendable advances since its funding problems in 2000 to emerge as a reliable and useful resource for undergraduate research. According to Charlotte Morford, Director of Communications and Publications at the University Library, budget allocations earmarked for research and money spent on digital materials have actually increased over the past few years, while print material spending has remained relatively constant.
However, if the University aims to pit its research record against the likes of other top notch public schools, it has a lot of catching up to do. A relative comparison of library collections serves as an eye opener -- the University of California-Berkeley's collections exceed over 10 million volumes, while the University of Michigan has 8.1 million volumes. The University to date has only over 5 million volumes.
Also, while Munford correctly pointed out by email that the library does have significant symbolic ties to research -- such as its housing of the CUE -- joint student-library research programs are only in their nascent stages. One positive sign this year was a service offered to Harrison Grant recipients, wherein a librarian of a matching field would be paired with each willing recipient to help accommodate research needs. The initiative, however, is only in its "pilot-program" stage, and more initiatives of its kind are needed to make the University live up to its reputation as a top-notch research institution.
With regard to publishing, the University has done a good job in publishing research opportunities and events -- in particular its once-a-semester research symposiums and UVA Research Week held in late April. However, the URN currently only advertises one Undergraduate Research Journal for all research publications -- the Oculus. This narrow publicizing ignores the Wilson Journal for International Affairs, the other equally commendable journal that publishes undergraduate research. Efforts must also be made to establish research journals such as the Wilson Journal for other subjects such as science and engineering in order to give students more room to publish their hard work.
In order to preserve its place as a world-renowned research institution, the University must continue to expand its research opportunities and resources. Without increasing avenues for research, the University will be unable to attract and retain good faculty and students. Similarly, purely relying on research opportunities while leaving the resource foundation unimproved will be analogous to building castles in the air.
Prashanth Parameswaran's column usually appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at pparameswaran@cavalierdaily.com.
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