Dear Students and Colleagues:
GW is a university where students learn actively and make their own contributions to scholarship and knowledge through their research. Undergraduate students across all disciplines have valuable opportunities to work with world-renowned GW faculty experts on a wide range of research projects and experiences, allowing them to better learn their field, gain practical skills, and be challenged under the guidance of a mentor. These students before they graduate begin solving society’s most challenging problems and become part of intellectual life, and when they leave us, they are well-positioned to be leaders in their fields.
This important work deserves to be documented alongside credited coursework. I am proud to announce the launch of a new program that allows undergraduates to highlight non-credited research experiences on their official GW transcript. The transcript notation recognizes important experiential learning and gives future degree programs and employers a more complete picture of a student’s background and interests.
Eligible research experiences will:
- primarily benefit the student’s educational experience;
- be mentored by a faculty member or other individual with a GW academic affiliation;
- be unique from other experiences for which a student is already receiving course credit (paid opportunities are eligible if they meet the rest of the requirements);
- involve at least forty hours of activity over the course of a single semester; and
- culminate in a final ungraded project (e.g. an oral presentation to a lab group, a written report, a poster presentation at GW Research Showcase or other event, authorship or co-authorship of a publication, etc.).
The student’s research experience will be reflected on their transcript as a zero-credit course UNIV 1995: Undergraduate Research Experience.
To request a transcript notation:
- The student must initiate the transcript notation request form available on GW Student Research Commons. The student will be asked to provide details about the experience such as a description of duties and the ungraded final project.
- The student’s submission will be routed to the mentor for review and approval. The research mentor will be asked to verify the description of the experience and then attest that the experience was completed as described.
- Completed and verified submissions will be forwarded to the university registrar by the notation’s course director. The student is then enrolled in UNIV 1995: Undergraduate Research Experience and assigned a grade of “Pass.”
Deadline to request a transcript notation:
Requests must be submitted and verified by the GW mentor no later than the start of final examinations to receive a notation for that semester. Students may only apply for a transcript notation during the semester that the experience occurred. Transcript notations cannot be sought for previous semesters.
For more information:
Contact [email protected] with questions about this new opportunity.
Tips for finding research opportunities:
Undergraduate research experiences offer the chance to learn first-hand, in collaboration with professors, how new knowledge is generated. There are many ways to get involved in research at GW:
- Review the tips provided by the Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research.
- Connect with student organizations like the GW Undergraduate Review or others listed in GW Engage to network with peers that have similar interests.
- Visit and bookmark GW Student Research Commons to learn about opportunities and events.
- Explore the GW Student Employment talent management portal and filter positions by “Time Spent on Research.”
- Reach out to faculty directly to learn more about their work and ask if they have opportunities to get involved. The Department of Biological Sciences has posted some tips for starting these conversations.
The ingenuity of our students impresses and inspires me every day. I look forward to seeing our undergraduate student research enterprise continue to thrive.
Sincerely,
M. Brian Blake
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs