Union was one of ten colleges and
universities nationwide to receive National Science
Foundation awards this fall for the Integration of
Research and Education (AIRE).
The award is a $500,000, three-year
grant to design and implement programs that extend
initiatives already underway to integrate research and
education.
Dean of Faculty Linda Cool said the
AIRE award is “an outstanding validation of the kind
of inquiry-driven investigative learning that we value at
Union. It proves that our faculty are thinking in
exciting and innovative ways about involving our students
in collaboration and research.”
Other AIRE recipients are Colby
College, Grinnell College, Harvey Mudd College, Hope
College, Oberlin College, Occidental College, Reed
College, Wellesley College, and Coastal Carolina
University.
Union has integrated investigative
learning throughout its science and engineering curricula
with new programs that cross disciplines, have new
pedagogical models, and incorporate international field
experiences.
One initiative the College may consider
is adding Greenland to the list of countries it sends
students for academic work. The idea for such a
“cold camp” came two years ago, when the 109th
Airlift Group, from a nearby air national guard base, was
transporting supplies to NSF missions in the Arctic and
Antarctic regions. Officials from the 109th and NSF then
talked with colleges in New York's Capital District about
becoming involved in polar research.
The College also will use the grant to
develop new courses to teach engineering principles to
students who are not engineering majors, and will expand
a popular program started by Chemistry Professor Charles
Scaife, who uses fun activities to get children
interested in science.
Union was chosen from fifty-six
institutions invited to submit final proposals.
Joe Bordogna, NSF's acting deputy
director, said the institutions chosen for AIRE awards
are strengthening the bonds between research and
education by designing and implementing new ways to
involve undergraduate students in the process of
discovery. “These new awards help create a
discovery-rich environment where institutions and their
students can benefit from making research an essential
component of school curriculum.”