Studies have demonstrated that involving undergraduate STEM majors in research increases the probability that they will be retained within their majors and graduate on time. Providing opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research aligns with institutional goals of improving student retention and the quality of graduating students, increasing student diversity, and enhancing student recruitment. At our institution, focused efforts to promote undergraduate research through NSF and state-funded summer undergraduate research experience sites were initiated by chemistry faculty members. These efforts have now expanded to include faculty members in other disciplines (e.g., English and immunology) with a concomitant increase in the number and disciplines of students served. Opportunities for undergraduates to engage in academic year research opportunities have also expanded as has duplication of faculty efforts in administering these programs. Thus, our institution established a centralized Office of Undergraduate Research with a chemistry faculty member as Director. Best practices for setting up and administering a centralized Office of Undergraduate Research as well as evaluative summary data of our undergraduate research programs, specifically focused on outcomes of chemistry and biochemistry majors, will be presented.<br/>

From chemistry specific to institution wide: Establishing an Office of Undergraduate Research

255th National Meeting (2018)

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