Promoting Undergraduate Research through Improved Tenure and Promotion Policies

Tenure and promotion policy is an important means of promoting undergraduate research as a vital component of both teaching and scholarship. Because mentoring undergraduate research intersects the boundaries of teaching and scholarship, improved tenure and promotion policies must specify how the various roles of the faculty mentor are accounted for in the tenure and promotion process. We discuss several strategies for ensuring proper valuation of undergraduate research that follow from a clearly defined faculty role including: 1) assessment of mentoring-related activities, 2) development of disciplinary standards, and 3) linking UR to other forms of pedagogy that foster strong student engagement