Web
resource:
UWL
Highlights
of
Undergraduate
Research
and
Creativity
Background
UW‐L
has
a
tradition
of
encouraging
students
to
disseminate
the
results
of
their
independent
projects.
This
includes
presentations
at
local,
regional,
and
national
events
such
as
the
Celebration
of
Undergraduate
Research
and
Creativity,
UW‐System
Symposium,
NCUR,
and
discipline
specific
conferences.
Many
students
work
with
faculty
mentors
to
submit
scholarly
works
for
regional/national
publication
in
discipline
specific
journals
or
other
scholarly
outlets.
Since
1998,
the
resource
for
local
publication
has
been
the
UWL
Journal
of
Undergraduate
Research
(JUR),
which
follows
a
traditional
journal
format.
Students
wishing
to
have
their
work
appear
in
the
JUR
submit
their
manuscripts
to
the
JUR
editor
at
the
end
of
the
spring
semester.
Manuscripts
are
assessed
for
quality/rigor
by
a
paid
editor
during
the
summer
prior
to
publication
in
the
fall
semester.
The
typical
number
of
manuscripts
accepted
per
year
is
30‐40
which
originate
from
students
in
10‐20
departments.
Since
its
inception
the
journal
editor
has
been
a
science
faculty
member
since
the
majority
of
submissions
were
originally
from
the
sciences.
In
recent
years
the
format
of
the
journal
has
changed
from
paper,
to
CD,
to
an
online
resource.
Members
of
URCC
have
raised
some
concerns
about
the
sustainability
and
effectiveness
of
the
JUR.
Specifically,
it
has
become
increasingly
difficult
for
the
editor
to
do
more
than
copy
editing
given
the
increased
volume
in
submissions.
Thus,
there
is
a
concern
for
the
time
commitment
needed
for
reviewing
submissions
and
for
maintaining
the
quality
of
the
JUR.
Secondly,
given
the
diversity
of
disciplines
represented
in
the
submissions,
disciplinary
expertise
is
needed
to
insure
the
quality
of
accepted
manuscripts.
Furthermore,
the
URCC
commissioned
a
project
to
assess
undergraduate
research
on
campus.
This
assessment
found
that
81%
of
the
students
surveyed
did
not
know
the
JUR
existed.
Therefore,
URCC
considered
ways
in
which
local
dissemination
of
students’
scholarly
and
creative
work
could
be
improved.
UCRR
targeted
two
specific
areas
for
improvement:
1.
Increase
participation
across
disciplines,
while
maintaining
a
high
level
of
rigor.
2.
Promote
students’
involvement
in
research
and
creative
activities
and
improve
the
visibility
of
the
outstanding
work
of
students.
Proposal
The
URCC
suggests
a
selection
of
outstanding
student
work
be
highlighted
each
year,
and
be
made
available
as
a
web
resource
called,
UWL
Highlights
of
Undergraduate
Research
and
Creativity.
The
selection
of
work
included
each
year
would
represent
as
many
departments
or
programs
as
possible,
with
a
goal
of
100%
representation.
In
the
proposed
model,
individual
departments/programs*
would
solicit
and
review
contributions
from
their
own
students.
Each
department/program
would
post
acceptable
student
contributions
on
their
departmental
website.
Through
a
process
determined
by
and
using
criteria
established
by
each
department/program,
the
department/program
would
select
the
most
exceptional
student
contributions
to
feature
prominently
in
UWL
Highlights
of
Undergraduate
Research
and
Creativity.
This
resource
would
be
similar
in
many
respects
to
the
current
JUR.
The
differences
between
the
two
are
addressed
below.
Highlights:
The
term
Highlights,
in
place
of
Journal,
was
selected
as
a
way
to
increase
the
overall
number
of
students
submitting
a
contribution.
The
term
Highlights
reduces
the
implication
that
presenting
internally
and
publishing
externally
may
be
considered
double‐publishing.
Many
students
prefer
to
publish
in
discipline
specific
journals
with
their
faculty
mentors
instead
of
presenting
in
the
JUR.
It
would
be
desirable
to
have
a
UWL
resource
where
students
are
comfortable
presenting
their
work
in
addition
to
publishing
externally.
The
term
Highlights
is
consistent
with
encouraging
the
broadest
range
of
student
activities
and
forms
of
communication/dissemination.
The
URCC
would
work
with
individual
campus
departments/programs
to
help
define
the
types
of
contributions
(e.g.
written,
visual,
audio)
that
would
be
acceptable,
in
order
to
achieve
the
goal
of
one
exceptional
student
contribution
per
department*
per
year.
We
acknowledge
that
departments
may
have
many
excellent
projects,
one
of
which
would
be
featured
in
the
Highlights.
Departments
would
be
encouraged
to
highlight
other
outstanding
projects
prominently
on
their
own
websites
and
these
would
be
linked
to/from
the
Highlights.
Review
Process:
The
URCC
suggests
a
review
process
that
involves
individual
departments
more
directly.
The
current
review
process
follows
the
path:
student
‐‐>
journal
editor
‐‐>
provost
office.
The
proposed
review
process
of
Highlights
follows
the
path:
student
‐‐>
department
‐‐>
department
website
or
provost
office
for
posting
in
Highlights.
The
distinction
is
that
review
would
be
handled
by
individual
departments
instead
of
a
centralized
journal
editor.
As
stated
above,
it
is
unrealistic
for
an
editor
from
a
single
department
to
maintain
a
level
of
quality
and
rigor
for
contributions
spanning
a
wide
range
of
disciplines.
The
individual
department
is
clearly
the
most
qualified
entity
for
maintaining
rigor
specific
to
its
own
discipline.
No
significant
increase
in
workload
for
departments
is
anticipated,
particularly
for
departments
that
have
a
history
of
students
actively
submitting
to
the
JUR
and
presenting
at
the
Celebration,
or
independent
study/research
students
whose
projects
are
already
reviewed
by
department
faculty.
Departments
would
use
their
own
method
of
reviewing
student
contributions
and
forward
selected
contributions
to
the
Provosts
Office
for
placement
on
the
Highlights
webpage.
Ultimately,
the
URCC
believes
this
process
will
lead
to
increases
in
efficiency,
participation,
and
quality.
Promotion
and
Visibility
:
The
second
area
of
improvement
is
to
promote
students’
engagement
in
scholarly
and
creative
endeavors
and
to
increase
the
visibility
of
these
activities
at
UWL.
Thus
Highlights
should
be
accessible,
both
in
terms
of
presentation
and
literal
accessibility.
Accessing
the
current
JUR
requires
foreknowledge
of
its
existence,
as
navigation
from
the
UWL
homepage
is
a
multiple
step
process.
As
indicated
above,
81%
of
students
surveyed
about
undergraduate
research
did
not
know
the
JUR
existed.
The
web
resource,
Highlights,
could
provide
a
more
direct
and
prominent
location
for
featuring
outstanding
student
projects.
Such
a
web
resource
could
also
make
our
students’
work
more
visible
to
broader
audiences,
including
prospective
students
and
community
members.
The
URCC
believes
that
the
combination
of
improved
promotion/visibility
and
high
quality
of
this
format
would
compel
greater
participation
of
students
and
departments.
All
changes
to
dissemination
procedures
would
be
clarified
on
the
Highlights
homepage
and
in
messages
to
faculty
and
students,
targeting
in
particular
those
students
participating
in
the
Celebration.
Assessment:
Simple
measures
that
may
be
used
to
assess
the
effectiveness
of
these
proposed
changes
are:
number
of
submitted
contributions,
number
of
participating
departments,
feedback
from
departments
regarding
workload,
documenting
number
of
webpage
visits.
*
The
term,
department,
is
used
to
represent
an
organizational
unit.
Some
departments
(e.g.
those
providing
different
degrees
or
very
large
departments)
may
choose
to
be
represented
by
subgroups.
Each
“subgroup”
would
be
listed
on
the
“Highlights”
website
each
year
and,
so
it
is
recommended
these
subgroups
are
large
enough
to
be
able
to
produce
at
least
one
project
each
year.