UROC’s John Banks co-authors how-to book on undergrad research

By Mark Muckenfuss

Cal State Monterey Bay was the first in the California State University system to open an undergraduate research opportunities center in 2009. With 15 years of experience, a team of faculty associated with UROC has just published a book on how to build such a program.

“Designing and Implementing a Successful Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Program” was published earlier this month. Co-author, and CSUMB’s UROC director, John “Buck” Banks said he hopes it answers questions he’s been fielding for years.

“Increasingly, our colleagues around the CSU were coming up and saying, "We’d love to have you come to our campus and tell us how to do this," Banks said. “We didn’t have the bandwidth to do that. We realized there was probably a need for a book on how to do this.”

That “we” includes co-authors Holly Unruh, executive director of the Arts Research Institute at UC Santa Cruz, Heather Haeger, an assistant professor with the University of Arizona, and Cal Poly Pomona professor Winny Dong.

Banks said the book doesn’t just draw from the experience of the four authors, but includes insights from undergraduate research administrators at institutions across the country. 

“We reached out to folks at all different levels,” he said. “I hope the impact will be that people can see that no matter where they are, no matter where their campus is, in terms of development, there are possibilities for developing these types of programs.”  

In the past couple of decades, there has been a marked shift at universities to engage undergraduate students in research, Banks said. At CSUMB, it’s increasingly becoming part of the curriculum.  

“In addition to more traditional pathways to research engagement, what we’ve done is try to build undergrad research into courses,” he said. 

It takes a lot of work and collaboration to make that happen, he added, which is something that is pointed out in the book. 

“You can try to create something like this, and if you don’t have full support from everyone, it’s a very difficult proposition,” Banks said. “It's an expensive and complex undertaking. We try to make the case that it's worth it.”

The ability to participate in research, he said, gives students a leg up academically and careerwise. They also gain confidence.

“Students see themselves as part of the academic enterprise,” he said. “They are actually active scholars and that really sets them up for success in grad school and in the workplace.”

An entire chapter of the book is devoted to making access to research easier. Banks said he and others recognize that many students don’t have the resources to spend a summer in the field or in a laboratory. 

“What we’ve done is try to build undergrad research into courses,” he said. Courses are altered or constructed to include lab sessions where there isn’t a predetermined outcome to an experiment. “The exercises are open-ended. The faculty themselves don’t know what the answer is. They invite the students to join them in the exploration of the subject. We’ve had thousands of students who have experienced that now.”

The benefits go well beyond the classroom and laboratory, he added.

“Having these opportunities for students also makes the campus attractive for diverse faculty who are looking for places where they can engage in things like this,” Banks said. “It creates a positive feedback loop and helps us recruit.”

And events, such as the recent Summer Research Symposium, move the impact beyond the university. 

“It brings in the community and lets it see that research is a way for the university to give back to the community,” he said. “It’s not just abstract ideas. The students are working on problems and challenges faced by the community.”

The book is available in paperback, hardback or e-book from Routledge publishing.