Students who seek this designation must be able to demonstrate that they have been deeply engaged in the processes of research, scholarly and artistic production, from the inception of an initial question or line of inquiry through the selection of appropriate research and scholarly methods or artistic processes, the execution of the project and the circulation of the final product to a wide audience through publication, presentation or performances.
Students may apply for this designation at any point in their undergraduate career, but most typically students apply in the final semesters of their baccalaureate program. The Undergraduate Research Advisory Board can only consider activities that the student has completed by the application deadline. Plans for presentations, publications or other activities that occur after the application deadline cannot be used to establish that a student has met the criteria for the transcript designation.
Receiving a SEARCH or SUROP grant does not necessarily make a student eligible for the honorary designation of Undergraduate Research Fellow.
Students interested in pursuing the transcript designation must complete the application, including the faculty mentor’s endorsement. All completed applications must be emailed to Audrey Lester, assistant director of undergraduate research.
All applications are reviewed by the Advisory Board, which forwards its recommendations to the director, who is responsible for awarding the designation.
All students applying for the Undergraduate Research Fellow Transcript Designation are invited to make an appointment to discuss their application. The assistant director of undergraduate research can answer questions about the qualifying criteria and how to best represent your experiences in the application. To schedule an appointment, send your availability and your preference for Zoom/in-person to Audrey Lester (lesterak@umkc.edu).
