GREENEVILLE – The reality that a collection of higher education institutions can accomplish so much more together instead of each one always going it alone is the driving force behind a new collaborative in the region.
Dr. Susan Monteleone speaks with attendees at the Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance meeting at Tusculum University.
The Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance, with Tusculum University as one of its leaders, has formed and is moving forward with its goal of working together to enhance education and the quality of life in the region. Consisting of eight higher education institutions, the alliance recently met at Tusculum to further organize and build on the momentum that has been achieved so far.
With assistance from Dr. Don Turk, Tusculum’s director of grants and development, the group spent considerable time examining potential revenue sources to support the alliance’s activities. The Appalachian College Association provided a planning grant to support the early stages of the alliance.
“It is impressive to see so many individuals at these institutions working in partnership with each other,” said Dr. Chuck Pearson, Tusculum’s assistant dean for math and science. “We have strong leadership for this alliance and faculty members and administrators from multiple disciplines who are participating, all of whom are committed to a successful outcome. This collaborative will make a positive difference for students at all institutions and the communities we are privileged to serve.”
In addition to Tusculum, alliance members are Bryan College, Carson-Newman University, Ferrum College, Lee University, Lees-McRae College, Lincoln Memorial University and Milligan University, all of which are ACA institutions. All of them are private higher education institutions that are smaller in enrollment but share a commitment to providing students with an outstanding education.
The principal investigators of the initiative are:
- Dr. Susan Monteleone, professor of biology at Tusculum
- Dr. Shinjini Goswami, assistant dean of natural and health sciences at Lees-McRae, who serves as the lead principal investigator
- Dr. Adam Rollins, executive dean and chief academic officer of the College of Mathematics, Sciences and Health Professions at Lincoln Memorial
Initial discussions about a collaborative began in 2022 when nine institutions gathered at Lincoln Memorial to make it easier for faculty members to provide research experiences to undergraduate students.
A group within the alliance engages in discussion during the two-day conference at Tusculum.
Representatives of higher education institutions in the Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance gather for a photo during their recent meeting at Tusculum.
“The idea from the start was that we have a number of excellent, small, rural schools that do not have unlimited resources,” Dr. Rollins said. “We said, ‘Let’s get together and share. Let’s strengthen across the border.’ That’s really the impetus – we can share expertise, we can share equipment, we can share teaching methods. We’re trying to reduce barriers and build the best experience and engagement we can for meaningful scholarship.”
Dr. Monteleone played a major role in helping kick-start the project by approaching the ACA two years in a row about helping fund the initiative. Eventually, the ACA set aside the money in part due to success with earlier collaborative grants.
“The way the three of us have envisioned this is trying to share some of our individual institution-specific faculty strength, expertise and infrastructural capacities,” Dr. Goswami said. “A lot is happening individually at each of our institutions, but we each bring a unique strength to this interdisciplinary collaborative network. The basic purpose of this collaborative network is to strengthen undergraduate research.”
One potential opportunity for collaboration is for a college or university to collect samples of a substance and send it to one of the other institutions that has the necessary equipment to test it and provide the results. Another would be for a faculty member at one college or university with a knowledge base on a subject to help train another faculty member and/or student from another institution.
Additionally, faculty from different institutions and their respective students can collaborate on a research project or a research presentation.
Dr. Don Turk discusses potential grant sources with alliance members at their meeting.
One idea Dr. Monteleone and Dr. Goswami have discussed is for students from their institutions to have a chance to interact on an assignment or a course-based undergraduate research offering.
“Dr. Goswami is teaching field botany and I’m teaching plant biology, but I am orienting my course to taxonomy and field biology with a background on botany,” Dr. Monteleone said. “Because Lees-McRae has this incredible outdoor learning center and that college is just a few miles from Grandfather Mountain, I’m going to take my students over there and do some field botany there. We’re probably going to take our groups for a trip to Grandfather Mountain.”
Dr. Pearson said these types of interactions will prepare students for real-world research situations in which working with individuals from other institutions or companies can be common.
The alliance has developed a website through the work of Walter Wimberly, associate professor of computer science at Tusculum. That will enable each institution to highlight what resources it has that could possibly assist one of the other colleges or universities. Another idea is an undergraduate student research journal that would include representatives from all or some of the institutions. Other possibilities are an Appalachian archive collaboration, professional development opportunities and start-up guides.
Dr. Monteleone believes the alliance will assist in recruiting faculty members to the different colleges and universities because they will know they have opportunities to partner with colleagues in their profession.
Anyone who wants to learn more about the alliance can email Dr. Monteleone at smonteleone@tusculum.edu.