Fostering Student-Faculty Collaborative Research

Berea College students in all disciplines can take advantage of a number of on- and off-campus opportunities to engage in a mentor-apprentice summer undergraduate-research experience. Funding is available through Berea’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program (URCPP), and external sources (e.g. the Appalachian College Association).

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

1. enhancing student learning by providing opportunities for the engagement of challenging, collaborative, and directed projects in an apprentice-mentor relationship with faculty;
2. fostering student-faculty interaction in creative work;
3. helping students understand the critical interplay between collaboration and independent thought and action in any team effort to engage a complex, open-ended project;
4. enhancing students’ communication skills;
5. providing 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);
6. allowing students to build their self-confidence to pursue careers and further study beyond Berea; and
7. supplying experience that will help students make informed career and graduate school decisions.