The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Summer Community of Scholars (SCS) is a single group made up of the Research and Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU) and Honors Capstone Research (HCR) Summer Program. The Summer Community of Scholars Program provides a unique educational opportunity by supporting research or creative work experiences for undergraduate participants in all fields of study.
The goals of the Program are to
- engage undergraduate participants via hands-on, active participation in a research, creative, or scholarly project outside of their normal curricular program of study;
- foster one-on-one collaboration between undergraduate participants and a faculty or researcher staff mentor on the project;
- offer professional development workshops to help guide the participant in leveraging their research, creative or scholarly experience;
- expose undergraduate participants to academic scholarship and scholarly works that are associated with the project; and
- provide a platform for undergraduate participants to present the results of their research or creative work to the UAH community.
The overall vision of the Program is to sustain a vibrant culture of research and creative activities for undergraduates at UAH.
SCS Activities
Participants undertake activities within a project of research or creative works. A non-exclusive list of possible activities for the participants includes laboratory experiments, musical compositions, field studies, clinical projects, engineering experiments and projects, theoretical work, human behavior studies, writing projects, and visual art projects. The activities should involve an appropriate balance of scholarship and hands-on experience.
The activities must take place during ten weeks in the summer under the direct supervision of a UAH full-time faculty member or researcher, including tenure-earning and tenured faculty, lecturersclinical faculty, and full-time research staff with term faculty appointments.
Participants will be expected to participate to the extent needed to complete the project activities within the 10-week period. These project activities and time commitment are established by the faculty/research staff who will mentor the project.
The official dates of the program correspond to the 10-week Summer Semester starting and ending dates. However, the individual project starting and ending dates, as well as the contact hours, can be flexible and should be decided individually between the participant and mentor in advance of starting the project.
Participants are also expected to attend Professional Development Workshops throughout the Summer. If a student is unable to attend a Professional Development Workshop for unavoidable reasons, they must first consult the Director of Undergraduate Research.
Summer Scholars are expected to participate in the Outreach Program if their mentor signs up for the event. All required paperwork, pre- and post- assessment surveys, etc. should be completed and submitted in a timely manner.
To conclude the program, participants are expected to create a poster and present the results of their activities at a Poster Session held in the Fall semester.
