The Committee is pleased to announce the call for projects under the Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantships (UTRA) Program. This program is intended to support the identification and encouragement of undergraduates whose creativity, curiosity, and intellectual spark suggest their promise as future teachers and scholars (even though the thought may never have crossed their minds). The program provides opportunities for coll aborative work between students and faculty members and allows students to gain insights into the structure of academic work in a particular field. It enables them also as future citizens to understand through experience and involvement the essential work of faculty in a university/college. Positions should be designed to introduce students to methods of scholarly research, development of a course curriculum, and/or the nature of college teaching.

Students who collaborate with a faculty member to revise a course will be designated Odyssey Fellows. This may include broadening introductory science courses, with special attention to new pedagogical approaches and the role of women and people of color in the sciences, reconstructing existing courses in any field, or specifically including material on the diverse populations in the United States historically excluded from the curriculum. There are two fellowships specifically set as ide for faculty and students to integrate public service perspectives into existing courses.

The intent of the UTRA is to support the collaboration of the particular faculty member and student who apply for the grant, rather than to provide a means of funding a project. The student position may be held only by the original applicant.

We are particularly interested in helping departments develop a sequence of opportunities that allow students to work with faculty progressively. For example, a promising student in one of the sciences might work as an Odyssey Fellow in the summer following the sophomore year, as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant in his or her junior year, spend the following summer working with a professor as a Research Assistant, and continue with a senior research project. In the humanities, a student might work as a CAP Fellow in his or her sophomore year, work as an Odyssey/UTRA with a professor during the summer, and serve as the Teaching Assistant for the revised course in the following year. The Undergraduate Research and Teaching Assistantships are limited in number and can thus be used to augment existing opportunities for collaborative work between students and faculty, such as the Curricular Advising Program, the Rose Writing Fellows Program, the WISE Mentors Program, and departmental esearch and teaching assistantships.

Aided UTRA/ODyssey

This year with support of the Flora Family Foundation, we will be able to offer 15 aided UTRAs for students on Brown financial aid. Receipt of the Aided UTRA will mean a significant portion of the expected summer earnings will be waived. A student currently supported with Brown financial aid should be sure to indicate an interest in being considered for an aided fellowship.

General Information

The Karen T. ROmer UTRA/Odyssey Program is competitive and separate from the regular complement of undergraduate teaching and research assistants funded through departmental or research budgets. Awards are for one semester, the full academic year, or the summer. The awards carry a stipend of $1,000 for the semester or $3,000 for the summer. Partial grants are possible. Students awarded research grants may not register simultaneously for independent study for credit.

Summer awards are normally augmented by departmental resources, see below. Odyssey Fellowships focused on material about the diverse populations in the United States historically excluded from the curriculum and the two fellowships for public service perspectives are exempt from the department contribution. Please indicate on your application form whether this contribution will come from the departmental budget or a non-departmental source (e.g., a grant). Faculty may wish to check on their department research reserve as an additional source for the department contribution. Department chairpersons who feel they cannot meet this requirement should discuss a waiver with Margaret Klawunn. Waivers may be awarded on an exceptional basis to small departments, especially when they support multiple applications. Stipends for academic year awards are supported in full by the UTRA program. Both Teaching and Research Assistants are expected to work an average of 12 hours a week during the academic year, or 35 hours a week for ten weeks during the summer.

Faculty members wishing additional information are encouraged to call Margaret Klawunn (x 3-2411), or David Targan (x 3-2314). For particular information on the Hughes Fellowships which use this same application form, call Marjorie Thompson (x 3-3814).

Applications are available online or fromUniversity Hall Room 207. We will attempt to identify student for faculty members who have a project in mind but have not identified a student to serve as research or teaching assistants. We welcome suggestions of promising students to fill these positions.

Nominations should be submitted by faculty members to the Committee on Undergraduate Assistantships, Box 1840, no later than February 11, 2002. The Committee expects to announce the fellowship recipients by April 1.

The guidelines listed below will be followed in selecting undergraduate assistants.

The following description of the three categories of assistantships is provided for your information; note that some summer Karen T. Romer UTRAs may combine the first two categories:

The RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM provides members of the faculty with research assistants to help them in research projects not necessarily connected with the operation of instructional courses. These projects should introduce qualified undergraduates to the methods and rewards of scholarly work and provide a form of student employment that is of intellectual as well as financial benefit to students. In making these appointments, preference will be given to students who have demonstrated a high level of motivation and interest in the field(s) represented in the project and who bring ideas and background that strengthen the probability of a collaborative partnership. Hence, merely slotting a student into a project is not suff icient.

The ODYSSEY FELLOWSHIP provides members of the faculty with research assistants for research that precedes the creation or restructuring of a course. Faculty have often found that undergraduates who have taken a particular cours e with them are especially pro-active and valuable in the revision or recasting of a course. In making these appointments, preference will be given to projects that clearly acknowledge and set forth the perspectives and contributions of both student and faculty in the process of curricular revision.

The TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM seeks ways to use undergraduate assistants so that promising students will be given the opportunity to obtain some insight into the tasks and rewards of teaching. Students who work with a facul ty member on course development during the summer may serve as teaching assistants for the revised course in the following academic year. The primary criteria for appointment are the student�s intellectual qualifications, interest in and suitability for assisting a faculty member with a particular course.