Compendium of Faculty Mentor Advice from Summer Research Program 2010

• Partnering with outside groups (i.e. UMESC) is well worth the initial extra work.  It makes for a meaningful experience for both the faculty and students involved.
• When working with multiple research assistants on different projects, I found it helpful to hold weekly lab meetings.  This allows multiple perspectives on various issues and helps kepp everyone informed of what is going on in the lab.
• I started creating a website to house protocols, results, and news updates.  When complete, it should work well as a useful repository of information both internally for lab use and externally for sharing data with the scientific community.
• Plan ahead and be organized: there wasn’t a lot of time between the end of the semester and the start of research, so the sooner you can begin planning and order supplies, the better.
• Structure time for sharing data: I held two lab meetings for my students over the course of the summer research term so they could practice presenting their data and speaking about their projects.  They also wrote weekly reports on what they did, what worked, and what they were doing to solve the problems they encountered.  Not only does this provide some accountability, it also gets them to start thinking independently about their research.
• Expect a lot but don’t be surprised: I set high content goals for my students and we achieved only a fraction of what I had hoped.  I didn’t realize or budge t for how many mistakes they would make, how slow they would be in assimilating new techniques, and how poor their troubleshooting skills would be.  That said, while the results were slow to come, the experience and learning outcomes were huge for my students.
• In thinking about how to approach student research mentorship, two primary possibilities come to mind: 1) allow the student to complete a more independent research project based on an idea they originated.  2) Have the student assist the faculty/research mentor in the completion of a project that is based on an idea the mentor originated.  The latter approach seemed to work best with students who and limited research experience.  It allows the student to gain experience while benefitting from the mentor’s expertise and allows the mentor to engage in research that will likely have a greater impact on their own scholarship.   This approach can be used as a step toward the first approach, which is more appropriate for advanced students.
• I’m planning on having my student(s) keep a journal in which they record daily activities as well as any insights or questions they have about their research.
• Be sure to conduct interviews with students  who are interested in engaging in summer research with you.  Finding the right student-advisor match, establishing expectations, and verifying student(s)’ desire to commit to the research is important.
• It worked very well for me to hold a meeting immediately (or shortly following) the program’s  training during finals week.  At my meeting, I presented my research topic (e.g. any background info) as well as a brief overview of research methodologies and how to conduct a literature review.    We also used that meeting to create a project plan together and clarify expectations.
• In the past, I have scheduled meetings with the students on an as-needed basis (based on project milestones).  In the future, I will schedule a regular, recurring meeting.  I believe this is a best practice, especially for students who are not physically on campus.
• Allow time at the beginning of the project for the students to research the research process.  For example, I planned for the students to spend one full week on that, concluding with their recommendations, their choice of methodology, and an explanation of that choice.
• Work with students within your discipline/major, if possible.  The more the student knows coming in, the less training is required and the less time they need to spend at the beginning on remediation.
• Expect that undergraduate students will need a significant amount of help in working through the parts of the research process that require independent thought (e.g. interpreting data, determining the “next step”, and troubleshooting).  They can follow procedures and do repetitive tasks, but most of them don’t have the training or experiences to be independent researchers.
• Choose your collaborative projects carefully!  Chances are they will require more time and energy commitment than you anticipate. Only agree to work with students you know well already, those whose work ethic and abilities speak to the likelihood of their success in completing the project they propose. Encourage those students you identify who would benefit most from a summer research project.  Make yourself available on a regular basis, beyond the minimum requirements.
• Look at your coursework and think ahead so that any summer research project you agree to work with directly facilitates/benefits your own scholarly projects.
• A clear, detailed plan or student-advisor “contract” is helpful (beyond the contract students sign up front as a part of their fellowship application).  Agree up front what specific results and outcomes are expected.
• Have a discussion with at least one faculty member who has done undergraduate summer research projects with students before!
• Keep in contact with your student researcher(s) as much as possible.  I found it useful to insist upon regular contact (at least two emails per week and regular face-to-face meetings) to be sure everything was on track.