Undergraduate Research—A UNK Distinctive

The Undergraduate Research Fellows (URF) program of the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is one of a very few undergraduate research programs in the nation funded entirely by student fees.
This comprehensive and experiential learning opportunity is a reality at UNK, largely because students last year were willing to add $1.50 per credit hour in student fees to fund URF. Last school year, 75 sophomores, juniors and seniors, collectively, were awarded fellowships. Provided that the student makes appropriate progress, fellowships are renewed annually. In a given year, conceivably, up to 100 Research Fellows may be supported.
By the time they are juniors, Research Fellows will be able to develop and conduct their own original research or creative projects. Each Fellow receives a $1,000 stipend each year. Students can apply for grants to support their projects, participate in a multi-disciplinary summer research program; apply for support to present their work at conferences; and have their findings published in journals.
Though the URF program is new, undergraduate research has been a distinctive mark of student experience at UNK for many years and has brought national recognition to the campus. For instance, UNK’s strong presence at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) has helped gain national attention for UNK as a premier undergraduate research university because UNK student researchers are usually amongst the top five school delegations in attendance, with 50 or more students presenting their research each year.
Over time, several other student research programs have contributed to the establishment of the URF program. Some examples: the Summer Student Research program; the annual publication of UNK’s Undergraduate Research Journal, the Mentoring Award program, and the burgeoning Student Research Day.
Undergraduate research at UNK was noted recently by Governor Dave Heineman in an op-ed piece published in newspapers across the state. Heineman stated, “During the past five years, UNK student-scholars have participated in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in greater numbers than any other Nebraska college or university. The 13th edition of UNK’s Undergraduate Research Journal shows the wide range of student scholarship, with articles ranging from an in-depth market feasibility study for a proposed retail business to a detailed analysis of two Beethoven piano sonatas.”
Through the URF program, and only because of the student-supported fee, faculty mentors receive a $500 stipend each year for materials that are supportive of their mentoring effort. A dynamic potential in the faculty mentoring role in the URF program is that a faculty mentor can formally support up to three fellows per year. At UNK, faculty are particularly inspired about the kind of collaborative groups and learning these relationships will cultivate.
According to the URF program design, to be a faculty mentor, one must have been an active scholar—for instance, published a national article or activity—in the last two years. The program not only demonstrates that UNK faculty are engaged in their own discipline so that they can optimally model scholarship for their student-mentees, it supports and enhances the legendary strength of faculty-student relationships at UNK.