The College of New Jersey was recently recognized for a unique academic curriculum that puts a central focus on undergraduate research.
One alumna shares how she continues to reap the benefits of her experience at TCNJ.
Here’s a sneak peek at the article published by Inside Higher Education:
Lots of faculty members outside research universities say that teaching a full course load takes up most of their time, service obligations eat up the rest, and research is something they must pursue largely on their own. A preliminary study of how faculty members actually spent their working hours at Boise State University, for example, found just that.
Lots of faculty members also say that the system has to change – that it’s unsustainable and incentivizes the wrong things – but they aren’t sure how. Which duties to keep? Which to take away?
The College of New Jersey, a public liberal arts institution near Trenton, might provide some insight. Professors there say that a radical overhaul of the curriculum, centered on undergraduate research and the teacher-scholar model, has benefited both students and faculty members. The faculty members say that, unlike many of their peers elsewhere, they’re credited for how much work they do, and what kind. That, in turn, encourages them to take risks in their research and teaching in ways that help students.
The faculty and students of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences are proud of the recognition of our excellence in the area of undergraduate research. Within the larger TCNJ context, we are happy that so many faculty-student research partnerships have resulted in publications, both in TCNJ’s own Journal of Student Scholarship (
http://joss.tcnj.edu/) as well as in scholarly journals in a broad range of disciplines. We are proud of our many students who participate every year in our campus-wide and school-wide celebrations of student research. We celebrate the many faculty-student partners who have given presentations at scholarly conferences, in Psychology, Criminology, English, History, International Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Women’s & Gender Studies, and World Languages – in fact, in every single major in our School. And we are extremely proud of our faculty-student collaborative research seminar, sponsored in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences annually in the spring semester and focused on the annual campus theme. The 2013 FSCRS, led by Dr. Ellen Friedman, focused on tyranny and freedom; the 2014 FSCRS, led by Dr. Lisa Ortiz Vilarelle, focused on the reconstruction of the past. In the spring 2015 semester, the FSCRS will be led by Dr. Morton Winston, on the theme of justice. Indeed, the Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Seminar was the subject of the cover article of the CUR (Council on Undergraduate Research) Quarterly for the Spring 2014 issue (Vol. 34, No. 3). Our achievements in undergraduate research are possible not only because our faculty are innovative teacher scholars, but also because they are recognized and rewarded for working with their students, as described in the article in Inside Higher Education.
Indeed, in the School of Humanities and Social Science at TCNJ we are very proud to be leaders in higher education in the area of undergraduate research and to foster opportunities for our faculty and students to collaborate in extending our understanding of the world in a reflection of our mission statement:
Through the exercise of analytical rigor in the humanities and social sciences, our community: fosters disciplinary and interdisciplinary work to address significant social issues; develops knowledge and engages in creative activities; seeks to understand local, national, global, cultural, political, and historical perspectives; critically interprets language and symbols; thoroughly examines cultural artifacts and discourses; and promotes ethical reasoning and compassion. Working with our faculty, our students learn how to read and think analytically, solve problems creatively, work with diverse partners, communicate effectively in speech and writing, use technology wisely, and participate fully in civic life.
