Strategy: Expand research, internship and international experiences for undergraduates.

Point People: Patricia Turner and Winston Ko

Narrative Summary of First Year Implementation Efforts:

In both the areas of internships and international experiences, UC Davis has dedicated offices with staff and faculty resources in place to serve students. Our Internship and Career Center (ICC) is already considered one of the strongest in the nation. Nonetheless, the visibility the strategic plan gave to it this year was quite welcome. The Education Abroad Center (EAC) continues to grow and increase the opportunities it can provide to students. More so than in the past, the two offices collaborated this year to increase the number of international internships. Although disparate offices across campus are available to connect undergraduates to research experiences, there is no specific unit for that purpose. Given the WASC recommendations as well as the campus commitment to undergraduate researchers, it makes sense to pursue the development of such an office.

At least two key issues have surfaced repeatedly as we have endeavored to implement this strategy. Visibility is very important. Students and faculty need to be aware of the opportunities we provide and the educational benefits they will receive from them. Financial resources are also an impediment to further student participation. Studying abroad obviously requires a financial commitment. Internships and undergraduate research commitments are almost always unpaid. Consequently, students who must work to underwrite their educations are less likely to pursue these opportunities. We were pleased that the preliminary planning for the comprehensive campaign includes the solicitation of external resources to help our working class students afford to participate in these programs.

Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent With Strategy:

Undergraduate Research

• Appointment of Gail Martinez as Assistant Vice Provost—Undergraduate Studies with responsibility for undergraduate research
• Increase from 150 to 182 participants in annual undergraduate research conference
• Pursued grant for Undergraduate Research Center in Physical Sciences (unsuccessful)
• UC Davis representatives attended state and national conferences on undergraduate research
• Launched pilot program, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF).

  International Opportunities

• Increase from 339 to 429 students participating in Education Abroad
• Increase in advertising; bus posters particularly effective
• Extensive advertising and articles in AGGIE and DATELINE
• Improved Web page
  
  Internships
  
• Approximately 275-300 students in international internships
• Number of internships in 2002-2003 was 6,343; in 2003-2004 number is 6,410
• Sponsored workshops on international internships and international training grants
• Incorporated international opportunities in the 400 existing workshops
• Offered increased internship sessions at the Colleges at La Rue

Short Statement of Plans for 2004-2005:

• Extensive publicity for research, internship and international experiences.
• Outreach to humanities and arts faculty to increase the number of students pursuing creative work.
• Encourage faculty with NSF grants to request additional dollars to support undergraduate researchers.
• Expect an increase of 50 or so students in international internships

Evaluation of Metrics:

Both the ICC and the EAC maintain careful records of their participation, making it relatively easy to determine how many students are engaged in their activities. It is much more difficult to isolate the numbers of undergraduate student researchers. One might count the number of independent study courses students enroll in but we have learned that not all of these are research-related. On the other hand, many students, particularly in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts don't self-identify undergraduate research experiences. This will be a key component of our activity for next year.