California State University, Channel Islands

Requested funding will support development and implementation of a collaborative Stepladder Program for Interdisciplinary Research and Learning (SPIRaL) as part of a larger campus-wide effort to institutionalize undergraduate research at CSU Channel Islands. SPIRaL begins with new courses at the lower division that introduce common research methods and develop analytical tools and skills. It then builds upon these fundamentals by engaging students in increasingly sophisticated research projects at the middle and upper divisions. By introducing interdisciplinary research at the lower division in a way that demonstrates the university’s commitment to community engagement and service learning, SPIRaL will systematically develop intellectual depth and breadth in a broad spectrum of the student population, and will encourage students to develop career and life goals marked by engaged curiosity, sustained passion and civic responsibility. At the same time, the stepladder structure will cultivate expertise in the students continuing on to senior-level interdisciplinary research. As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) the university has developed structures that will support efforts to invite underserved student populations into innovative research projects that promote individual academic success and increased university retention and graduation rates.