Undergraduate Research

Berea College students can take advantage of a number of on- and off-campus opportunities to engage in a mentor-apprentice summer undergraduate research experience, including those funded by Berea’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program (URCPP), or by the Appalachian College Association (ACA) and other external sources.

The goals of the Berea-funded URCPP, similar to research projects funded from other resources, include:

1. to enhance student learning by providing opportunities for the engagement of challenging, collaborative, and directed projects in an apprentice-mentor relationship with faculty;
2. to foster student-faculty interaction in creative work;
3. to help students understand the critical interplay between collaboration and independent thought and action in any team effort to engage a complex, open-ended project;
4. to enhance students’ communication skills;
5. to provide experience that would be helpful to students who wish to pursue subsequent research and learning/creative opportunities (e.g., off-campus, summer research programs, or international learning opportunities); and
6. to allow students to build their self-confidence to pursue careers and further study beyond Berea; and
7. to supply experience that will help students make informed career and graduate school decisions.

In addition to the valuable research experience gained, students participating in a full-time (minimum of 8-10 weeks, 40 hours per week) URCPP or other department-approved summer undergraduate research project may request to be registered by the Office of Academic Services for UGR 010 (for URCPP-funded projects) or UGR 020 (for other department-approved projects), which will result in earning a grade of “S” or “U” and will appear on the student’s College transcript as “Undergraduate Research.” During that Summer Term, except for UGR 010, students participating in a URCPP-funded project are not permitted to enroll simultaneously in any other course either at Berea or elsewhere. In other words, students are not permitted to take any course other than UGR 010 AND participate in the URCPP-funded project during the same Summer Term. While no academic credit can be earned for this research experience, students who earn a grade of “S” in UGR 010 or UGR 020 can satisfy one of their three required Short Term credits for one such experience during their career at Berea College.