Maximizing Campus Impact

» Case Study 6

UT Austin's Center for Instructional Technologies Creates EUREKA! to Support Undergraduate Research
Looking to the explicit goals of the provost, the Center for Instructional Technologies (CIT) at University of Texas, Austin, was able to apply their expertise to address a campus-wide problem. The result was so successful that CIT has been asked to provide a similar solution for the UT system as a whole. Here is the story in their own words.

The Situation
At the University of Texas, Austin, it was perceived that research materials for undergraduate students were underused. Since one of the provost’s initiatives is to support undergraduate research, we perceived a need for a resource to help students learn about and find research opportunities.

The Action Taken
This was a collaborative effort with several colleges and the highest levels of administration. CIT worked with stakeholders, conducted a needs survey, and organized an advisory committee. This work informed a proposal for an Undergraduate Research Clearinghouse website that clearly identified the goal of the project, described the development and maintenance needs and timeline, identified the specific promotional activities needed to ensure use and success of the website, and listed the functions and features of the proposed site.

The Effect on Campus
EUREKA! features an online directory of faculty research interests for the more than 1800 faculty members and research scientists at UT Austin. Visitors to the site are able to search by keyword and find faculty from a wide range of fields working on a variety of topics. Students use EUREKA! to find tips on getting started in research, information on funding and publication, and postings by UT faculty for research positions on campus.

The system has had a very positive effect, especially on changing the culture of undergraduate research. Students now understand what undergraduate research is, have a vision of themselves as researchers, and understand that research occurs in areas outside the natural sciences and includes the humanities. Something we hadn't anticipated is that faculty are getting linked to each other and working collaboratively and across disciplines in research and in areas such as networking grant proposals. The University of Texas system has asked us to create a similar program system-wide.

Tips for Other Centers
It really helped to identify stakeholders from all around campus early on, so as to approach this problem using both grassroots and top-down efforts to generate interest and solicit input. We were fortunate that all stakeholders were keenly interested in the success of this project, and that it aligned with an important initiative of the provost's. Once we received initial input, the team worked with a smaller group of primary stakeholders. Like any website, this system requires frequent updating as faculty come and go, and the key to its success is advisors who match faculty research needs with students of appropriate backgrounds and interests.