Scaling Up: Providing Paid Research Opportunities for Students

Faculty-led research experiences can be a cornerstone of an undergraduate degree program, providing students with hands-on experience and research training that can propel their future career ambitions.

Participating in faculty-led research, however, is not an experience every student knows how to navigate or has the resources to take on, particularly unpaid or low-paid roles.

To reduce equity gaps in who participates in research on campus, the University of Dayton provides stipends for undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences who participate in summer research projects alongside faculty. The Dean’s Summer Fellowship has supported hundreds of students over the past seven years, each thoughtfully constructed to provide students with distinct learning opportunities that can impact the wider community.

“Mentored undergraduate research experiences provide phenomenal opportunities for students to pursue new knowledge and work closely with a faculty member in a setting beyond the classroom,” says Dean Ericksen, curriculum coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences. “Time and time again, it can be a game changer for students.”

What’s the need: Previous studies show undergraduate research is a high-impact practice that can increase historically marginalized students’ odds of graduation, making it critical to equity work. Students who work for pay during college are one population least likely to participate in experiential learning because of their competing responsibilities and the need to earn income.

“Often, our students want to participate in mentored research experiences and spend a significant portion of their week devoted to the pursuit of research, but economic realities are a barrier,” Ericksen says.

To mitigate this disparity and ensure students participated in meaningful research projects, leaders at the University of Dayton established the Dean’s Summer Fellowship program.

How it works: Students receive up to $3,000 for participating in research for the whole summer term, or $1,500 if they participate for half of the summer term. To be eligible, students must belong to an academic program in the College of Arts and Sciences and be in good academic standing.

Applications are completed in collaboration with the faculty mentor, because instructors receive a $500 honorarium for serving as a mentor. Each project promotes four key factors: transformative learning, critical thinking and engagement, contributing to larger community efforts outside the university, and engaging with diverse perspectives and disciplines.

While working as fellows, students commit to working a minimum of 20 hours per week and completing a final report. Students working for two terms in the summer complete a midsummer progress report, as well. After finishing their research, students present their findings in some public forum, as related to the topic.

The program is donor-funded, pulling dollars from the Dean’s Fund for Excellence to fund students experiences.

What’s different: Applications for the fellowship have grown, with the College receiving 40 percent more applications in 2023 compared to the year prior.

“To support students while acknowledging limited faculty and staff resources and tighter budgets, we developed a new framework for the program,” Ericksen says. “Our goal was to create a fair and principled process for vetting applications without adding unnecessary committees.”

All applications are reviewed by the college’s departments and programs, which ensures assistance throughout and engages leadership in a thoughtful way.

“These students are engaging in meaningful, impactful research and project work across the disciplines that exemplify the values of the college and university and the promise of experiential learning in the liberal arts tradition,” Ericksen says.

Recently, the college created a new intranet page that outlines the application review process and timeline, which has improved buy-in, communication and transparency.

“We also engaged department chairs through leadership meetings and regular emails, emphasizing the importance of their expertise and feedback in selecting fellowship projects,” Ericksen says.

The changes were generally well received, and departments are active contributors in the vetting process.

The impact: Since the fellowships launched, over 430 students have participated in the program, with an average of 60 per cohort. In summer 2024, 58 participated in the program, a 74 percent acceptance rate.

“Because of the popularity of the Dean’s Summer Fellowship program, it has been a welcome challenge to find ways to support as many students as possible who want to do experiential learning over the summer while also keeping the program fiscally sustainable,” Ericksen says.

In the future, the college hopes to scale the opportunities further with additional donor aid and resources.

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