Our Journey Towards Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research

How do you move from a set of disjointed undergraduate research activities to a fulltime undergraduate research director with a budget of $100,000? How do you move the needle of undergraduate research in less than two years at a predominantly undergraduate institution that has experienced budget cuts for five consecutive years? Since 2010, Georgia College has realized a significant return on a modest investment since it launched a vigorous initiative towards institutionalizing and sustaining a culture of student-faculty collaboration and meaningful student engagement through undergraduate research. This paper is a brief reflection of that process achieved through the non-deliberative application of classic group theory. We believe that our experiences may prove useful to faculty at institutions facing similar challenges.