Faculty Involvement

In order to create robust undergraduate experiences and attract new students to CSU Pueblo, the Discovery Scholars Program will fund and support a mentor program to recruit engaged faculty members to play an active role in scaffolding research opportunities for first-time undergraduate students within their discipline area, and provide active mentorship to students engaging in applied and basic research. First-year undergraduate students will be actively mentored by faculty through all aspects of the research process, including: designing research projects/experiments, nurturing proper research and laboratory techniques, collecting and analyzing data and disseminating research findings through presentations and/or publication.

Benefits of Involvement:

• Compensation via stipend and/or course release (determined by the College Deans and appropriate Chairs)
  • 1 student mentored: $1,500
  • 2-3 students mentored: $2,250 
  • 4-5 students mentored: $3,000
  • 6-8 students mentored: $3,750
  • Stipends pay out in May. Release timeframe/permission is determined by the Department Chair.
• Access to funding for research supplies (up to $500) through the Discovery Scholars Program
  • Research supply funding amount is at the discretion of the Discovery Scholars Director

Expectations for Involvement:

• Guide one research group of first-year undergraduate students through the academic year
• Support Discovery Scholars Program Manager (Linda Hannafious) to track student effort for receiving monthly stipend
• Participate in the Spring Symposium (tentatively April 7th, 2023)
• Facilitate weekly meetings with your student research team
• Maintain regular communication with Discovery Scholars Director to ensure the timely handling of any issues that arise
• Guide students through a meaningful research experience* to produce data-driven results
  • *Meaningful Research Experience: the student is the driving force behind experimental design/project design, implementation of the methods to collect data, data analysis, presentation design, and oral communication of the results

Overview of Discovery Scholars Timeframe and Expectations:

• Fall Semester: Finalize recruiting of student roster by end of second week of semester (September 2nd). Kick off research mentorship week of September 5th through Fall semester. Development of projects and training of students on scientific and laboratory/field skills, begin to implement studies and projects. 
• Spring Semester: Continue active project implementation, data collection, data analysis and dissemination of results. Mentor students in the poster development and abstract submission process. Students required to present their Discovery Scholars work at the Spring Symposium (tentatively April 7th, 2023).
• Note: Faculty mentors that do not play an active role in scaffolding and facilitating the research process are subject to dismissal from participation
• Please note that participation as a faculty mentor is dependent on student interest in your project – if sufficient interest is not garnered, the project is unlikely to be included in the Discovery Scholar Program

To become a Discovery Scholar mentor, please contact Dr. Stuart Benkert at stuart.benkert@csupueblo.edu