Undergraduate research is more than just a box to check on DegreeWorks or another line on your resume or CV. If you are going on to more study in academia—whether that’s medical or law school or graduate school—it’s an introduction to the special set of skills you will need to succeed, a set of skills that graduates of many other institutions, especially large public institutions, are unlikely to have. Even employers are wising up. According to a poll conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, 79% of employers look for new hires who can “complete a project prior to graduation that demonstrates their acquired knowledge and skills” (“It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success,” Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2013).
A few years ago, the Honors Program at SNC decided to incentivize its students to engage in collaborative research with faculty by allowing any transcriptable research project to substitute for an Honors requirement. While the number of Honors students doing research was already impressive, coming in well above the College average, the numbers since have mushroomed. Given the success of that change, we feel ready to take the next step. As soon as next year, but at least by AY 2025-26, we hope to institute a formal research requirement for students in the Program. Such requirements are common among elite honors programs and colleges across the country, and it is time for SNC to join their ranks.
Like the current system, students would receive research credit for any transcriptable research projects, including work done through SURF, the Collaborative, and special research courses or opportunities, such as off-campus summer research programs or capstone projects for major programs. Any students who do not find their paths intersecting with one of these opportunities would enroll in a special Honors course that would guide them in developing a research idea and connecting to available faculty. In addition, all Honors students would be required to disseminate their research in some way, either by publication or by presentation at conferences, including the National Collegiate Honors Council, the Upper Midwest Honors Council, and SNC’s own Forum for Undergraduate Research.
If you’re worried about how this might affect your plans…don’t! These new requirements would be restricted to incoming classes. However, while we are not requiring it, we enthusiastically encourage you to get involved in research. It’s one of the many high-impact practices on offer at SNC that will ensure that you get not just a degree but an education.
