Tusculum University joins Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance

Tusculum University, Bryan College, Carson-Newman University, Ferrum College, Lee University, Lees-McRae College, Lincoln Memorial University, and Milligan University have formed the Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance, a collaborative effort to work toward enhancing the education and quality of life in the Appalachian region. All eight colleges and universities are Appalachian College Association institutions, an organization which provided a planning grant to support the initial stages of the collaboration.

According to an article on Tusculum University’s website, Dr. Chuck Pearson, who serves as Tusculum University’s assistant dean for math and science, was quoted as saying of the initiative, “It is impressive to see so many individuals at these institutions working in partnership with each other. We have strong leadership for this alliance and faculty members and administrators from multiple disciplines who are participating, all of whom are committed to a successful outcome. This collaborative will make a positive difference for students at all institutions and the communities we are privileged to serve.”

The principal investigators of the initiative are lead principal investigator Dr. Shinjini Goswami, the assistant dean of natural and health sciences at Lees-McRae College; Dr. Susan Monteleone, a professor of biology at Tusculum University; and Dr. Adam Rollins, the executive dean and chief academic officer of the College of Mathematics, Sciences and Health Professions at Lincoln Memorial University.

Dr. Goswami said of the effort, “The way the three of us have envisioned this is trying to share some of our individual institution-specific faculty strength, expertise and infrastructural capacities. A lot is happening individually at each of our institutions, but we each bring a unique strength to this interdisciplinary collaborative network. The basic purpose of this collaborative network is to strengthen undergraduate research.”

The network of collaboration between the participating institutions is intended to foster teamwork between smaller rural institutions in the region. Examples given for potential collaborative opportunities include one university collecting a sample of a substance and sending it off to one of the other institutions that has the necessary equipment to test it and provide the results to the original institution, as well as faculty members from one institution training those from another institution on a certain subject they are well versed in.

Dr. Monteleone said of another example, “Dr. Goswami is teaching field botany and I’m teaching plant biology, but I am orienting my course to taxonomy and field biology with a background on botany. Because Lees-McRae has this incredible outdoor learning center and that college is just a few miles from Grandfather Mountain, I’m going to take my students over there and do some field botany there. We’re probably going to take our groups for a trip to Grandfather Mountain.”

Dr. Rollins noted of the initiative, “The idea from the start was that we have a number of excellent, small, rural schools that do not have unlimited resources. We said, ‘Let’s get together and share. Let’s strengthen across the border.’ That’s really the impetus – we can share expertise, we can share equipment, we can share teaching methods. We’re trying to reduce barriers and build the best experience and engagement we can for meaningful scholarship.”

Walter Wimberly, an associate professor of computer science at Tusculum University, has developed a website for the work Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance. As the Appalachian Undergraduate Research Alliance continues, the website could contain an undergraduate student research journal or an Appalachian archive collaboration.

For more information about Tusculum University, visit the school's website.