Undergraduate Research Center

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Innovating Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

CREATE AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CENTER

INITIATIVE: Create a Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity that will enhance the undergraduate experience through increased opportunities for experiential learning in the domains of research, scholarship and creative activities.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

OUTCOMES:

Increases in the number of undergraduate students receiving experiential opportunities in research, scholarship and creative activities.
Increases in external funding to support students engaged in these opportunities.
Increase in the number of GSU undergraduates who pursue advanced degrees.
Improvements in career placements tied to the students’ relevant work experience on faculty research teams.

PROGRESS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

UPDATED: Q1 2025

PROGRESS

Below you’ll find this initiative’s progress tracked by the status of the current phase. This approach shows where the initiative team is investing effort and driving progress to activate the initiative to contribute to our institutional goals.

PLANNING PHASE 100%

IMPLEMENTING PHASE 20%

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF OUR INITATIVES

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Established a steering committee.
Developed a blueprint for CURCI, including a vision statement, a list of strategic objectives, and core pillars with associated initiatives. Vetted the same with the Provost. Several pre-existing projects (CASA, EPIC, and GSURC) will be folded into the new center, while various new initiatives will be added. See the attached Call for Applications for a full description.
Developed a list of resources needed and a budget for CURCI to achieve its aims.
Developed a job profile for the senior director position and received approval to conduct an internal search.
Formed a search committee, posted the search, reviewed applications, developed a timeline for interviews, and undertook the logistics for the interviews and candidate presentations, with the goal of a final decision by the end of the spring 2025 semester. A new center director was appointed in April 2025.◦

UNIVERSITY-WIDE METRICS:

We measure progress and success through university-wide metrics that align with our strategic plan, BluePrint to 2033. Broadly, these metrics highlight our commitment to academic excellence, student success and community impact. The chart below shows how the initiative aligns with the university-wide metrics.

METRIC	SUCCESS	RESEARCH	PHILANTHROPY	CAREER	ENGAGEMENT	GROWTH
ALIGNMENT

PILLARS

The pillars of the strategic plan group our initiatives. Below are the goals within each pillar this initiative supports.

STUDENT SUCCESS 2.0

GOAL ONE: Build a flexible and interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum for the future that prepares every student to possess traits that serve as the foundation of academic and lifetime success, like critical thinking, adaptability, communication and evaluation skills, and emotional intelligence.

1.1 Engage creatively with curricula to equip students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to pursue their academic, professional and personal aspirations by developing degree completion programs, reimagining orientation and perspectives courses, and incorporating high-impact teaching practice into core courses.

1.3 Establish infrastructure to offer emerging undergraduate scholars and their faculty mentors opportunities in research, scholarship and creative activities.

BEYOND COLLEGE TO CAREER

GOAL TWO: Increase opportunities for experiential and service learning for every Georgia State student to help prepare society’s change-makers of the future.

2.1 Support faculty to increase the use of high-impact practices, such as experiential, project-based and service-learning opportunities across the curriculum that promote leadership, teamwork, civic engagement and problem-solving.