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In this Issue: *Please note: The CUR National Office has been having technical difficulties with our Association Management Software and the system used to send the CUR E-News. We apologize if you have received this E-News multiple times, if there have been errors in the text, or if you have received a blank email. We strive to keep our communications as professional as possible, and apologize for any inconvenience these messages may have caused you.*
National Office News:
CUR Institutes:
Ongoing CUR Offerings:
Advocacy:
Opportunities:
National Office News:
CUR 2008 National Conference: Frontiers and Challenges in Undergraduate Research:
Dr. Isiah M. Warner on Mentoring Diverse Students
Isiah M. Warner received his B.S. in chemistry from Southern
University of Washington (1977). He was assistant professor at
Texas a&M University (1977-82), promoted with tenure in 1982.
He joined Emory University (1982) as associate professor and named
Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in 1987. He joined LSU as Philip W.
West Professor of Chemistry in 1992. He has been actively involved
in the development of new educational strategies through grants from the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Science Foundation, and
the Research Corporation. The overall focus of these efforts are (1)
restructuring the way students learn science and (2) development of a
vehicle for extending educational/mentoring efforts such that the
overall impact of a single individual is magnified, i.e. a mentoring
ladder. His educational models are based on the effective
implementation of metacognitive and research strategies through the use
of this mentoring ladder.
Dr. Jennifer Blackmer on Undergraduate Research in the Humanities
Jennifer Blackmer is a freelance playwright and director, and an
Assistant Professor of Theatre at Ball State University. Her most
recent play, The Human Faustus Project, written with fifteen
undergraduates at the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry,
premiered at Ball State in November, and was also seen as the opening
session for the Council on Undergraduate Research Dialogues conference
in Washington, D.C. Her current projects include On Again with Fresh
Courage, a new play about Anne Frank that also premiered in November
at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, a new English translation of
Morimoto Kaoru's A Woman's Life (with Guohe Zheng), and Delicate
Particle Logic a play about physicist Lise Meitner, for which
Jennifer won a creative arts grant from Ball State University.
Dr. Paul Apostolidis on Community-Based Research and the Public Work
of Democracy
Paul Apostolidis, the Judge and Mrs. Timothy A. Paul Chair of
Political Science at Whitman College, conducts community-based
interdisciplinary research with undergraduates. He is a highly
regarded scholar whose most recent work has focused on the experiences
of Latinos in Washington State. One of his students was quoted at
Commencement as saying: "Professor Apostolidis' efforts at creating
a community-based learning environment at Whitman are unparalleled. His
courses over the past several years have integrated teaching and
scholarship in a manner that allows his students to enhance their
learning through meaningful practice." Apostolidis' class in
Latinos in Washington was cited for compliling "groundbreaking
research that academics and lawmakers throughout the state found to be
vital."
Please note: The deadline to enroll your Children in the CUR Kids program
is May 15, 2008. The deadline to add field trips to your
registration is June 1, 2008.
Registration is available by visiting
http://www.cur.org/register.html
For more information, please visit
http://www.cur.org/conferences/csb/cur08natconf.asp
The Draft Schedule is now available, please visit
http://www.cur.org/conferences/csb/nc08 - web schedule.pdf
CUR Upgrades to New Association Management System:
CUR Welcomes New Institutional Members:
CUR Institutes:
CUR Regional Workshop
Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research:
Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research:
This workshop will bring together teams of three to five faculty
members and administrators from institutions that are interested either
in initiating an undergraduate research program or in institutionalizing
existing research activities. The three days will consist of
plenary lectures presented by facilitators associated with CUR
interspersed with individual team meetings with CUR facilitators. The
teams will begin the workshop by meeting with their facilitator and
reflecting on the current status of undergraduate research on their
campuses. This inventory will include the examination of
institutional strengths, as well as the obstacles currently preventing
achievement of desired results. After this assessment, the teams
will begin formulating mission statements, goals, and action plans for
their own institutions. The event will conclude with the teams
discussing their plans with the entire community.
Application is now available by visiting:
http://www.cur.org/institutes/malaspina.html
.
Mentorship,
Collaboration and Undergraduate Research in the Social Sciences and
Humanities:
Please note: Extended Deadline to apply is June 1,
2008. Applicants accepted on a rolling basis.
This
CUR Institute will be held July 18-20, 2008 at Carthage College in
Kenosha, Wisconsin. The institute will bring together teams
of three to five faculty members and administrators engaged in enhancing
undergraduate research opportunities at their home institutions,
focusing on undergraduate research as faculty development, student-based
inquiry and institutional support structure. The three days will
consist of plenary lectures presented by facilitators associated with
CUR interspersed with individual team meetings with CUR mentors.
Faculty and administrators from disciplines throughout the social
sciences and humanities will spend the weekend discussing models of
undergraduate research, mentorship and collaboration; what
"research" and "mentorship" mean in different
disciplines in the social sciences and humanities; assessing the value
of undergraduate research; and means of augmenting funding for
undergraduate research internally and externally. Application is
available by visiting:
http://www.cur.org/institutes/socscihum.html
Proposal Writing Institute:
Please note: Extended Deadline to apply is
June 1, 2008. Applicants accepted on a rolling basis.
This CUR Institute will be held July
20-24, 2008 at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. The
institute will bring together faculty and administrators interested in
preparing proposals for submission to external funding agencies.
This four-day institute will consist of one-on-one work with a mentor,
small group discussions, writing and critiquing of proposals, and
plenary sessions. The institute has been developed to assist
novice to experienced proposal writers in drafting complete proposals
for submission.
Application is available by visiting:
http://www.cur.org/institutes/proposal.html
Initiating and Sustaining Undergraduate Research Programs:
This institute will be held October 2-4, 2008 at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro.
The purpose of the institute is to provide new directors of
undergraduate research programs the means to develop and effectively
administer their programs and to help seasoned directors disseminate
best practices and further build and improve their programs.
This institute has the following goals:
• To provide models of effective UR Programs Application is available by visiting:
http://www.cur.org/institutes/isurp.html
Ongoing CUR Offerings:
Undergraduate Researcher's Graduate School Registry:
Please encourage your students to sign up
for the Undergraduate Researcher's Graduate School Registry. The
purpose of this registry is to facilitate connections between
undergraduates and graduate schools seeking high quality students who
are well prepared for research. More information and the
submission form are available at:
http://www.cur.org/ugreg/
Graduate Schools that are interested in purchasing a subscription to
the registry should contact Robin Potochnik at
robin@cur.org
Developing and Sustaining a Research - Supportive Curriculum: A Compendium of Successful Practices:
This publication is available for
purchase via the
order form
. The cost is $45.00 plus shipping costs, and individual
members are eligible for a reduced rate of $35.00, plus shipping costs.
Newswise Press Release
Subscription Service:
Newswise
is an academic news distribution service that provides media with news
leads from our member institutions.
Journalists receive this news by subscribing to an emailed Daily
Wire.
From the wire, they review news releases and decide whether or not
to follow up on any leads and contacts.
CUR
Institutional Members may submit releases to Nancy Hensel at
nancy@cur.org
.
For more information, please refer to the following document:
http://www.cur.org/pdf/newswise%20flyer.pdf
Advocacy:
Washington Partners News May 6, 2008 Column
Budget and Appropriations Update While the Congress has been debating the appropriate level of federal
spending for the next fiscal year for months, work on the FY 2009 budget
resolution and the emergency war supplemental spending bill are
currently stalled. Last week, tensions were running so high on the House
floor that Republicans refused a request that the Higher Education Act (HEA)-also
stalled in a conference committee-be extended for another 30 days by
objecting to the consideration of an "extender" on the House's
suspension calendar. Periodically during the week, it appeared that budget resolution
differences between the two chambers would be resolved. Senate Budget
Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) convinced the House Blue Dog
Coalition to back off on insisting that "reconciliation
instructions" (or measures that require reductions in entitlement
spending) be included in the final bill. House Budget Committee Chairman
John Spratt (D-SC) repeated all week that he thought "splitting the
difference" between House- and Senate-proposed spending levels for
the year ($3.5 billion is at stake) was a reasonable solution.
Congressional leadership still hopes for a vote during the week of May
12, allowing just enough time to meet a Memorial Day deadline. Similar yo-yo like conversations and reports emerged from talks about
how the Congress would address the President's request for $108 billion
to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and certain domestic
priorities. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV)
slowed the cogs that were slowly at work by announcing intentions to
complete a full Committee mark-up of a supplemental spending bill.
Leadership in both houses had hoped to control the debate on the
supplemental by writing a bill themselves and then taking it to first
the House and then the Senate floors, bypassing appropriators all
around. Senator Byrd would have none of that. Ranking Republican on the
House Appropriations Committee, Jerry Lewis (R-CA), endorsed Byrd's
action. Confused yet? You've got plenty of company. To add to the confusion,
after insisting that adding any money above $108 billion to the
supplemental (Democrats and Republicans alike believe there are domestic
emergencies, including increased investments in science and math
education and research, that compel immediate consideration) would
result in a veto, the President himself asked that $750 million be added
for emergency international food aid. Leadership has grown tired of
predicting when these issues might be resolved and is no longer pointing
to the Memorial Day Recess as a definitive deadline for action. What does this all mean for research funding for next year? It means
that appropriators are a long way from hashing out real numbers for real
programs while they wait for the political theater to play out.
Observers could get a sense of some of these numbers at the end of May,
but if the partisan arguments grow louder, that timeline could
slip. NAS Hosts Second Competitiveness Convocation In October, 2005, the National Academies issued a report that had
been requested by a number of Members of Congress titled, "Rising
Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a
Brighter Economic Future" (RAGS). The report's assertions and
recommendations were often cited by business and education leaders, as
well as policymakers, as the justification and guidance for efforts to
stem the loss of the country's economic leadership and prevent what many
saw as the inevitable inability to compete in the global marketplace of
the 21st Century. Last week, the National Academy of Engineering and the
National Academies organized a national convocation, with support from
the National Math and Science Initiative, to take stock of what has
happened since October 2005. The day-long event drew participation from a number of distinguished
and well-known figures from the education, business and policy arenas.
Secretaries of Education, Energy and Commerce addressed the
standing-room only crowd, as did renowned competitiveness advocates Norm
Augustine (former CEO of Lockheed Martin and chair of the panel that
authored the Rising Above the Gathering Storm report) and Craig Barrett,
Chairman of the Board of Intel. Former astronaut Sally K. Ride and Chief
Washington and Capitol Hill Correspondent for CBS News Bob Schieffer
participated, as did seven Members of Congress. The day was packed with
insights and comments from over thirty representatives of industry,
education and policy. In September, 2006, the National Academies hosted a similar event. At
that event, many participants lamented the lack of action from the
federal government since the release of the RAGS report, almost one year
earlier. However, since that gathering, major accomplishments to address
the issues identified include the August 2007 passage and enactment of
the bipartisan America COMPETES Act, as well as the implementation of a
number of state initiatives and private sector efforts. In addition, the
issues of competitiveness and science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) education and research have been discussed on Capitol
Hill, at the White House and in federal and state agencies. A number of
participants pointed out that the general public is still not wholly
engaged in the debate or issue. Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) said
that stakeholders have to "help [the public] feel it at their
kitchen table", noting that a sea change "has to come from
outside" Washington and the realm of federal policy. This frustration led many panelists to call on the audience to urge
federal lawmakers to fund the many programs authorized by the America
COMPETES Act. Many speakers noted that while enactment of the law was
encouraging, the absence of funding for most of the programs is
disappointing. Members of the audience were repeatedly urged to contact
Congress and the White House to voice strong support for investing in
these programs, and House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart
Gordon (D-TN) pointed to the pending emergency supplemental funding bill
as an opportunity to push for such money. Representative Frank Wolf
(R-VA) spoke to the importance of balancing the nation's books, noting
that the amount of US debt held by China and Saudi Arabia is cause for
alarm at a time when the federal government is, in his opinion, unable
to manage its spending on entitlement programs. Admitting that,
"Everything's been said, but not everyone has said it," he
said that he has "never been more worried for our
country." Early in the day, Craig Barrett suggested that the energy crisis is a
"softball" issue that is "all teed up" relative to
creating this generation's "Sputnik moment." Senator Lamar
Alexander (R-TN) built on this suggestion and shared his intentions to
unveil a new effort May 9th at Oak Ridge in Tennessee-a national
laboratory that was one of the first involved in the Manhattan Project.
He said that he and Chairman Gordon would announce a five-year project
that intends to move the country toward clean energy independence. The
effort will ideally engage all of the country's national laboratories,
and engage the best and brightest scientists and researchers. It will
also follow the model of the Manhattan Project, which encouraged
multiple approaches to a solution, pursued simultaneously, to yield
expedient success. When Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Energy
Samuel Bodman and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez took the stage,
Secretary Spellings referred to the trio as "The Three
Musketeers" on competitiveness issues. She also pointed to the No
Child Left Behind Act as a civil rights law, noting its success in
increasing achievement among students since its passage. She praised the
work of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, and its recent report,
and said that the findings support the funding of "Math Now"
and urged attendees to "talk it up" in the hope of securing
the $95 million President Bush requested for the program in his FY 2009
budget request. She emphasized the importance of investments in teachers
as well, noting, "teachers without a solid foundation cannot
engender the love of math in their students." In his remarks,
Secretary Bodman called for more federal investments in research in the
physical sciences, and said that while America COMPETES calls for
doubling the budget of the Department of Energy's Office of Science,
Congress is not responding to the call with increased funding. Secretary
Gutierrez's remarks touched on trade and commerce issues, and he was
critical of the recent political maneuverings that resulted in
Congressional rejection of a free trade agreement with Colombia, noting
that the US cannot "adopt a policy of economic isolationism."
He also called for increased investments at the National Institute for
Standards and Technology, reforms in intellectual property policies and
an immigration policy that contributes positively to the economic future
of the country. The day's discussions and speakers touched on myriad issues and ideas
that have already provoked new policies and investments. Industry and
philanthropy are large players in these issues and the significant
investments of ExxonMobil and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation won
praise throughout the day. In addition, the National Math and Science
Initiative's current investments in replicating the well-regarded UTEACH
STEM teacher preparation program and increasing access to AP and IB
programs in a number of states was acknowledged and complimented. The event's organizers intended to give attendees an update on
progress and to send them back to work invigorated in the charge to
contribute to efforts to improve the country's position in the global
competition for economic prosperity. Clearly, the audience was asked to
urge Congress to fund the programs authorized by the America COMPETES
Act, but they were also encouraged to partner at the local, state and
federal levels to effect change and strengthen the country's economic
prospects. Opportunities:
NCMHD Research Infrastructure in
Minority Institutions:
National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities
Application Receipt Date(s): June 10, 2008
The NCMHD Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI)
Program focuses on building research capacity in predominantly
minority-serving academic institutions that offer one or more associates,
baccalaureate and/or master's degrees in the life sciences, behavioral
sciences and/or other health related areas. The RIMI program seeks to
strengthen the integration of teaching and research at predominantly
minority-serving academic institutions.
· Purpose. The NCMHD Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions
(RIMI) is a P-20 funding opportunity issued by the National Center on
Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health,
solicits grant applications from minority-serving institutions that
propose to build, improve, strengthen and/or enhance the research
infrastructure and research training capacity of minority-serving
institutions. These RIMI grant applications must have a plan that is
designed to establish a research capacity-building infrastructure program,
with benchmarks, for training students and developing a cadre of clinical,
biomedical and behavioral research scientists who possess the skills,
knowledge and abilities to engage in leading edge research and innovative
research training that ultimately will contribute to reducing and
eliminating health disparities in the United States. For more
information, please contact: Krishan K. Arora, Ph.D. National Council on Teacher Quality Call for Proposals for Research
Competition: The National Council on Teacher Quality is calling for proposals for
our research competition, Help or Hindrance? What is the impact of
teacher rules, roles, and rights on teacher quality? The competition
is an opportunity to explore NCTQ's groundbreaking database, TR3, which
posts the content of collective bargaining agreements, school board
policies, and state laws for 100 schools districts and all 50
states. The deadline for proposals is May 30, 2008. Apply
yourself, or spread the word--but act quickly. NCTQ is
particularly interested in attracting new scholars from all fields to
education policy research. A jury of top educational scholars will select
12 authors as semi-finalists that will receive $5,000 to conduct research
and write a formal research paper. In December, eight finalists will be
selected to present their papers at a national conference to be held in
winter '09 in Washington, D.C.. At the conference, prizes of $15,000 and
$5,000 will be awarded to the top two papers. For details, please
see the attached flyer or visit our website. For questions, contact Trish
Madden at tmadden@nctq.org, 202-393-0020 x32. Inclusive Science: Articulating Theory, Practice, and Action:
Online Registration is now
Available! visit: www.stkate.edu/inclusive_science During the summer of
2008, the College of St. Catherine, the nation’s largest college for
women, will be hosting a national conference in St. Paul, Minnesota on
feminism and science. “Inclusive Science: Articulating Theory, Practice,
and Action” will focus on three intersections of science and feminism:
1) Multiple Frameworks: critiques of science from multiple perspectives
including gender, race and ethnicity, and class; 2) Pedagogies that engage
women, students of color, and students from a variety of social classes in
the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); 3)
Transformation: putting theory into action; changing the way we do, learn,
and teach about science. This conference is designed to help scholars in
and of the sciences share knowledge and ideas; develop strategies for
disseminating their theory, pedagogies, and activism; and discuss ways to
go forward. We plan to include ample opportunity for dialog through
innovative participatory sessions and intentionally scheduled time for
informal conversations. For more information please contact: Dr. Cynthia G. Norton The Summer Institute Program to Increase Diversity:
The Summer Institute Program to Increase Diversity (SIPID) is an
all-expense-paid research opportunity sponsored by the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). This mentored research program will
address the difficulties experienced by junior investigators in
establishing independent research programs and negotiating through the
academic ranks. The desired outcome is to improve the recruitment and
retention of faculty from disabled and underrepresented minority groups in
the study of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.
The all-expense-paid program brings participants to the University for
3-week sessions during two consecutive summers, with a short mid-year
visit. The SIPID program provides mentor-mentee partnerships with matching
based on common research interests. The mentors will be experienced in
research and grant writing and will offer long-term collaborations. The
didactic curriculums involve faculty and mentors from multiple disciplines
with various levels of hands-on training. Special emphasis is placed on
developing grantsmanship skills, with mentors assisting mentees one-on-one
to develop specific research projects and improve long-term fundability.
NHLBI scientific program staff will provide a grants workshop to assist
mentees with project focus and to identify viable funding sources to
promote a sustainable independent research program for career
advancement.
For additional details about the SIPID Program:
http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/sipid/index.html
For the admissions requirements and the application for the SIPID-GE
Program:
http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/sipid/docs/General%20Admissions.pdf
Washington University Division of Biostatistics also offers a Genetic
Epidemiology Master's of Science program and a Certificate Program.
For information on these Programs visit our website at:
http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/gems/
.
2009 HHMI Early Career Scientist Competition:
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is announcing a major new
program that will provide much-needed support to some of the nation's best
early career faculty at a time when they most need the help. The new
program is aimed at researchers who have run their own labs for two to six
years and are now at a critical point in establishing their own vibrant,
independent research programs.
Through a national competition that opens on March 10, 2008, HHMI plans
to select as many as 70 early career scientists from a wide range of
scientific disciplines relevant to biological and medical inquiry. These
scientists, most of whom will be assistant professors at the time of the
award, will receive six-year, non-renewable appointments to HHMI and
receive the substantial research support necessary to move their research
in creative, new directions. HHMI will invest more than $300 million in
this first group of scientists and plans a second competition in 2011.
For the full story, please visit:
http://www.hhmi.org//news/earlycareer20080310.html
NASA-Langley-VSGC Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Internship
Program:
This is a great opportunity for any student majoring in civil
engineering, technology, geography or other major and interested in
developing and improving their skills and experience in GIS. Prior
experience in GIS is not required as training will be provided. Students
will work 20 hours per week and be paid a stipend based on their academic
level. Deadline for
fall internships is July 1. Please visit
http://www.vsgc.odu.edu/gisintern/
for more information and to apply. The NASA Langley GIS team site can be
viewed at http://gis.larc.nasa.gov/.
Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology:
This annual international research prize recognizes accomplishments in
neurobiology research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. The
winner and finalists are selected by a committee of independent
scientists, chaired by the Editor-in-Chief of Science. Past winners
include postdoctoral scholars and assistant professors. To be eligible,
you must be 35 years of age or younger. If you're selected as this year's
winner, you will receive $25,000, have your work published in the
prestigious journal Science and be invited to visit Eppendorf in Hamburg,
Germany. Deadline for entries is June 15, 2008. For more information, please visit:
http://www.eppendorf.com/prize
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