Partnerships for Emerging Research Institutions

Research experience is now known to be an extremely effective means for engaging students, especially in science and engineering, yet it is not used extensively to engage the most rapidly growing segment of the student population. The reasons for this phenomenon were examined in a September 13, 2007 National Academies workshop entitled, "Partnerships for Emerging Research Institutions" (ERIs). The workshop began by examining the impact of research experiences on students in ERIs. It then dissected the reasons why it is so difficult to cultivate a research climate in these institutions. The net result is that few ERI faculty pursue research, leaving most of our nation's students without access to the one experience that is the foundation of science and engineering disciplines. This book presents some creative solutions to both the teaching load and "administructural" problems that plague administrators and faculty dedicated to actively engaging their institutions in research. Many of these solutions involve partnerships with other institutions or organizations.The book encourages a serious re-examination of how to retool our institutions and the nation to provide one of the most powerful educational interventions to a large segment of the population.