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R-designation

faculty flyer2Faculty can request the addition of a Research (R) designation to a new or existing course that meets a defined criteria for research inclusion. The R designation will appear on the student’s transcript allowing confirmation of participation by graduate schools and employers.

Defining Research Intensive Courses

For a course to be designated as “Undergraduate Research Intensive”, it must meet all of the following criteria. Criteria for undergraduate research courses are based on research, best practices, and the CAS Standards for Undergraduate Research (2009).

  1. The field research course engages students in an original research* project (not a simulation), either contributing to a faculty research project or engaging in an independent research project with a mentor
  2. Students conduct research on an ongoing basis, working an average of 5 – 10 hours/week.
  3. Students gain knowledge of or experience in discipline-specific language, research ethics, skills in research methodologies, and important scholarship.
  4. The learning objectives related to the research experience are clearly articulated related to their field of study, educational goals and/or career and vocational aspirations.
  5. There is supervision and feedback by a mentor who has expertise related to their field of study, educational goals and/or career and vocational aspirations.
  6. The syllabus assignments include reflection assignments and a final synthesis project integrated into the course.
  7. There is an outlet to disseminate the original research (e.g., symposium, conference, scholarly article) integrated into the course.

*At UT, research is defined as an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.

Course Review and Approval Process

DEADLINE for proposals is October 15, 2022.

Here is the proposal application form. This should first be sent to your department curriculum committee, then to your college, and then it will be forwarded to the R Designation Committee.

Proposals for the R-Designation must be submitted through the host college’s standard curricular approval process. The designated college representative then submits any proposals that have received college-level approval to Molly Sullivan, Coordinator III, Curriculum and Catalog, no later than the deadline noted above.

Please consider decisions such as repeatability when submitting the course for approval. Over of the course of their academic career, can a student take the original course and the R-designated course? And how many times can they take each course?

The attached rubric would be used to determine if courses met the seven criteria for consideration. A score of ten or greater would be required to receive the designation, with no entries in the (0) ‘Does Not Demonstrate’ column.

Faculty teaching a new R-designation course are eligible to apply for OURF funding to help defray research costs associated with the course.

Courses will be reviewed every 5-years for continued adherence to the R-designation rubric.