Faculty FAQs
Mentoring undergraduates certainly takes time and energy; however, LASURI research partnerships are structured and supported in ways that help students and faculty reach their broader professional and academic goals.
Faculty FAQs Heading link
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Am I eligible to participate in the program?
Faculty Mentors may have clinical, emeritus or research associate appointments. Although mentors from all colleges are welcome, preference may be given to faculty having an affiliation with LAS.
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Do I have to have to post a research profile on the Undergraduate Research Experience website?
No, but you are welcome to do so in order to attract qualified students for your project. You are welcome to reach out to individual students on your own.
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What kinds of expenses are appropriate uses of the project research funds?
Any expenses related to the research project are acceptable. This includes: laboratory reagents, equipment, study participant compensation, student conference travel funds, books, etc. Contact us if you have questions about a specific purchase, and ask your departmental administrator about how to procure items using university funds (see below). As always, materials purchased with LASURI funds remain state property.
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How do I gain access to, and use, the project research budget funds?
The research funds are released to the faculty mentor’s department to place in your research account after the second week of the first term of the LASURI award period. You will use the same procurement processes as when purchasing any other university property or equipment, or traveling on any other university business. As with any other purchases, items purchased with LASURI funds remain University property. Check with your departmental administrator for more specific information. We ask that you acknowledge the funding source in the presentations of the research.
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Can I apply to work with multiple LASURI students, either on the same project or on multiple projects?
LASURI funds are limited and we try to include as many faculty as possible, which generally means that an individual faculty mentor is unlikely to receive multiple students at the same time. Faculty with multiple students under consideration are asked to rank the student projects in order of preference, and in most cases the top ranked project is the most likely to receive funding. When the applications are all exceptionally strong, the selection committee may fund a second student or recommend that a student be named an alternate. In a typical year, alternates end up receiving funding, even if only for one semester. Additionally, we select students for some other undergraduate awards, such as the Howard L. Kaufman Undergraduate Student Research Award, from the same pool, so a faculty member might have multiple student research assistants for this reason.
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What does it mean that my student has been named as an alternate?
LASURI funds are limited and we aren’t able to fund every deserving applicant. However, a certain amount of flux creeps into our students’ lives, for any number of reasons — including graduating earlier than planned. Thus, funding may become available to support worthy applications that were not funded during the initial application review. The selection committee identifies and ranks alternates to be funded if another participant withdraws from LASURI. There is no guarantee that an alternate will be offered funding, but it remains a possibility, and being named an alternate should be seen as an acknowledgement of the research proposal’s strength.