Resources for Faculty
Invitation
The Randall Research Scholars Program (RRSP) is focused on partnering a select group of undergraduate students with faculty members to engage in academic research projects. These intelligent, self-motivated students are associated with a wide range of academic disciplines and colleges across campus and are committed to excellence in their academic endeavors (e.g., RRSP students were recently awarded the Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater, Hollings, Boren, and other national academic honors). This highly recruited group of students have completed an intensive series of courses on the use of computational practices, information technology, problem-solving techniques, project management and research fundamentals. The application of their technical, problem-solving, analytic and project management skills would be of considerable value to the research efforts of any faculty member.
We invite UA faculty from all disciplines to submit project proposals.
Selection Process
After selecting a project submitted by a faculty member, an RRSP student works closely with that faculty member who serves as project director. The student works with the faculty member to develop a project contract specifying the work to be completed within a specified timeframe (most projects average over two years; some may have a shorter lifespan, and others may span most of an undergraduates career at UA). The student immerses themself into the research domain and participates in various stages of the research project depending upon the agreed-upon scope of work. The project director is responsible for supervision of the student throughout the project and evaluation of the student’s work. Students are required to formally present their work to their peers and project director at the end of the academic semester, and the project director must complete an evaluation of the student using the standard student evaluation form.
Expected Project Advising Roles
The role of an RRSP student is to serve as a research assistant to a faculty member in a related field of study. The students should participate in multiple stages of a research project and develop an understanding of the objectives and value of the research.
RRSP students receive three hours of Honors credit per semester, which includes research project work with their project director and participation in a one-hour weekly seminar session offered by the RRSP Director. Therefore, students should engage in an active learning experience at an accelerated pace. Students are expected to work 10 to 12 hours per week on the project objectives (some students may agree to additional hours if mutually agreed upon between student and project director). The students are not to be used as employees who only apply previously acquired knowledge to produce a product – RRSP students contribute in some contexts at the level of a graduate student and are often included on publications.
RRSP students are not to be used solely as data-entry personnel or library research assistants, although these activities may be a portion of their research project work.
At the beginning of the semester, RRSP students are expected to work with their project director to create and sign a project contract specifying the goals of the research project, activities and deliverables for which the student is responsible, and the learning outcomes for the student. The contract must also identify risks possibly compromising deadlines or deliverables.
RRSP students and project directors should develop a weekly standing meeting to keep the research project on track and ensure learning objectives are met. A preferred mechanism for communicating should be clearly established.
Project directors must complete an evaluation of the students at the end of each academic semester using a standard student evaluation form. The form should be received by the RRSP Director on the first business day following the student’s final examination.
Project Examples
Each December, the RRSP sophomores and juniors present their work at RRS Live. The RRS Live event provides an opportunity to showcase their research project and results from the Fall semester. The RRS Live project titles, student names, and project director names are available here . Several example videos of project presentations are also available on our youtube page .
Other example projects from the past are provided in Project-Examples.docx .
Submission Process
If you have a research project that you believe fits the RRSP scope and are willing to participate by working with an RRSP undergraduate student, then you are encouraged to submit a description of your project(s). You may submit your proposal at https://bit.ly/rrs-proposal-submission.
If a project is selected, the RSSP student will contact the project director directly for further information and begin filling out a project contract for the project director to review and approve.
We encourage submission of project proposals at any time of the year. Most students will select projects several months before the start of an upcoming semester. Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Jeff Gray, Randall Research Scholars Director, at gray@cs.ua.edu with any questions.