Placing Primacy on Research at the Undergraduate Level

The new liberal education is defined as a combination of knowledge, skills, and practical applications, regardless of the field. Many students learn better in an environment that is built around a tangible research, or “inquiry-based,” outcome, exposing them to problem solving, real-time experiences, and the benefits of contributing to knowledge. Equally important is the positive effect that has been documented on recruitment, retention rates, and more campus interconnectedness among students who were engaged in a research partnership or a substantial research project during their undergraduate career. There is perhaps no better way to begin building learning networks and bridges across Boston University than to catalyze the process with the creation of exciting environments for research at the undergraduate level.

Recommendations for Research Primacy

• Foreground research, wherever possible, during the first year, along with a significant research capstone during the final year, taking advantage of funding opportunities that are provided by two internal and enhanced funding envelopes, UROP and GUTS, as well as making more extensive use of the University’s vast primary-source collections, such as the materials housed in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.⁽¹²⁾
• Design a collection of research- and outcome-oriented group projects involving undergraduate students from different colleges across the University, ideally linked to co-curricular experiences. These students will receive credit in existing courses within their college that will count towards their degree; the projects will be jointly supervised by faculty members in their respective areas. They will be designed to attract students who want experiences in disciplines outside their majors, and who demonstrate the academic ability and creativity to support independent learning and intellectual discourse with diverse groups of individuals.⁽¹³⁾ In executing this design, it is imperative that colleges find ways to surmount the outdated and largely artificial barriers—philosophical and administrative—between the liberal arts and the professional schools, and embrace a concept of inclusion and collaboration. It will be challenging, but it is imperative.

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12. This particular point, in fact, brings together three of the ten recommendations made in the highly influential Boyer Commission Report: Reinventing Undergraduate Education (1998): I. Make Research-Based Learning the Standard; II. Construct an Inquiry-Based Freshman Year; and VII. Culminate with a Capstone Experience.

13. In order to provide a specific example of such a project, three members of the Committee (McDaniel, O’Donnell, Coelho) developed a project involving an art installation in the new Student Village that will combine the talents of art, engineering, and computer science students and faculty—to create a stunning interactive wave display. We are pleased to note that the project has been mostly funded through a large research grant to Margrit Betke, a professor in computer science who worked closely with the Committee in its formulation.