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

Point People: Fred Wood and Winston Ko

Narrative Summary of Second 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. However, a downturn in economic times has led to a slight decrease (3%) in domestic internships while at the same time international internships increased by 25% due to the outreach efforts UC Davis staff conducted while abroad during the summer of 2004. The Education Abroad Center (EAC) continues to grow and increase the opportunities it can provide to students, both through its own programs and in its collaborations with other campus units and associations outside the university. Overall, students’ participation in international educational experiences increased by 10%. Responding to “time-to-degree” issues on campus, efforts are being made to integrate EAP courses into the majors and other degree requirements. In an effort to consolidate like efforts and outcomes, the Summer Abroad program now works in close collaboration with the Education Abroad Center.

Aligned with the strategic plan and consistent with the WASC recommendations, as well as the campus commitment to undergraduate researchers, analysis was undertaken this year to inform the planning process around the implementation of a centralized Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. Although disparate offices across campus are available to connect undergraduates to research experiences, at present there is no specific unit for that purpose. The development of a central office will serve a wider campus base and in collaboration with the Office of Research, the undergraduate colleges, Graduate Studies, and Student Affairs. Funding for this Center is identified as a high priority for the comprehensive campaign, along with scholarships to assist students who endeavor to participate in undergraduate research, internships and education abroad.

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 student participation. Studying abroad obviously requires a financial commitment. Internships and undergraduate research commitments are often unpaid. Consequently, students who must work to underwrite their educations are less likely to pursue these opportunities. We were pleased that the 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

• Analysis of comparable institutional models of Undergraduate Research Centers.
• Consolidated administrative oversight of two campus-wide undergraduate research initiatives (President’s Undergraduate Fellows – PUF, and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows – SURF) under the leadership of the Assistant Vice Provost-Undergraduate Studies
• Renaming of the annual Undergraduate Research Conference to “Conference on Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity” to encourage more participation in the non-science areas, especially from the arts
• Inclusion of faculty “artist in residence” on Conference planning committee
• 14% overall increase from 179 to 204 participants in the annual conference
• VPUS sponsorship of the President’s Chair for Undergraduate Education which extended to support of the successful Undergraduate Fashion Research Conference which brought together faculty and industrial researchers
• VPUS collaboration and support of department/college research initiatives that include a significant undergraduate research component
• UC Davis representatives attended state and national conferences and roundtables on undergraduate research
• Washington Center added an undergraduate research seminar to their program which included a special on-site Spring Research Conference for the UC Davis and UCLA participants.

International Opportunities

• A 5% increase among student participation from 841 in 2003-04, to 884 in 2004-05 across all study abroad programs under the oversight of, or in coordination with the Education Abroad Center
• Substantial increase in number of courses offered in Summer Sessions Abroad. Twenty-five courses were offered in 2004 whereas 44 courses are planned across 35 programs in 26 countries in 2005
• Senate Task Force established on Internationalizing the Curriculum to include discussions on incorporating this dimension into the GE program; adding courses to the curriculum; encouraging an international component in the faculty reward system
• New optional track in the International Relations major – Peoples and Nationalities, which among other aspects requires one quarter abroad
• New interdisciplinary Minor in Middle East and South Asia studies
• Expansion of less commonly taught languages in cooperation with Sacramento City College (i.e., Korean, Cantonese, Tagalog, Farsi, and Vietnamese)
• The Global Learning and Foreign Language Community at The Colleges at LaRue Living and Learning Community, in collaboration with Outreach and International Program, brings two Humphrey’s Fellows in residence to The Colleges to the mutual benefit of the fellows and the student residents.

Internships and Career Placements

• Conducted face-to-face outreach abroad resulting in 30 additional international internship sites; new internship sites included Spain, Korea, China and Denmark;
• Sponsored workshops on international internships and international training grants
• Worked collaboratively with the United States Commercial Service and the Sacramento Regional Center for International Trade and Development to create international internship
• Worked very closed with the Education Abroad Center to create internships to match the location and duration of the EAP opportunities
• Student participation in international internships for 2004-05 was 155; example companies included
  • China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan: Nutrition Intern
  • Child & Family Health International in Ecuador: Reproductive Health Intern
  • Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba: Art Studio Intern
  • U. S. Commercial Service in Spain: International Trade Intern
  • Wah Fung Trading Company in Hong Kong; Marketing Intern
    
• Total number of (domestic & international) internships in 2003-2004 number was 6,154; in 2004-05 the number is 6,232.
• Substantial increase (22%) in the number of workshops, symposia, and presentations; 452 programs this year relative to 368 the year before
• Advising contacts increased by 15% to over 47,000 last year
• Participation in career fairs is on the increase after two years of decline with a 44% increase in participation among organizations compared to the previous year
• Increased activity in recruitment resulted in a 60% increase in career vacancies posted for students’ consideration
• Modest increase (8%) in campus interviews
• Beta tested Elevations, a program to help students assess their own values, interests, personality and career goals, as an avenue to finding appropriate careers and internships
• Human Corps continues to flourish with over 55,000 hours of service recorded, and many are classified as internships
• Banner year for UC Davis students’ participation in the UC Washington Center with a total of 163 placed in internships from 38 different majors, including an increase among science and engineering majors.
• The UCD program is currently the largest program among the other UCs at the Washington Center
• UC Center Sacramento, now in its second year included 5 UC Davis students from among the 25 students system wide

Short Statement of Plans for 2005-06:

• Extensive publicity for research, internship and international experiences
• Continue with development and planning for a Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
• Continued 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
• Arabic and Punjabi languages are in the pipeline as future course offerings in cooperation with Sacramento City College
• Continue to look for additional travel funds to maintain the momentum for continued growth in international internships via face-to-face contact abroad
• Pursue the inclusion of an ICC representative to accompany the Chancellor and others when they go abroad.

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 determine 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, and conversely students aren’t always enrolled in courses while engaged in research. Also, many students, particularly in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts don't self-identify undergraduate research experiences. In addition to this being a system wide concern, this will also be a key component of our activity for next year as we continue planning for the Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.