| Abstrakt: |
Broader diversity in the research workforce affords the inclusion of research agendas, methods, and perspectives that might otherwise be overlooked to address key social and scientific problems. However, promoting diversity in science is not a trivial matter. It entails mitigating some of the long-term social and institutional inequalities that have prevented the participation of underrepresented groups, such as Latinos, in scientific research. For instance, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) reports that Hispanic serving institutions receive (on average) only 69 cents for every federal dollar of funding that all other higher education institutions receive. This article describes how an interdisciplinary research institute at an under-resourced Hispanic serving institution managed to build a culture of undergraduate research by promoting the research of local faculty and supporting their mentoring role in the face of economic and administrative challenges. In spite of dramatic budget cuts that fluctuated between 1.4% and 13.3% (2005-2013) and loss of 23% of its seniorfaculty due to retirement (2006-2014), during a 10-year period, the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (HR) at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey was able to increase the number of faculty conducting research from 7 to 54 and the number of students engaged in research from 8 to 481. During the period, UPR-C faculty from the Sciences, Arts, and Business Administration engaged in the applied, regional and interdisciplinary research mission of the IIR, published 81 peer-reviewed articles, offered 238 research presentations, and submitted 81 grants (57 to external funding agencies and 24 to UPR-C divisions). Grant approval for external funding was 45.6%. Students most important research products included oral and written presentations in epidemiology, psychology, anthropology, ecology, chemistry, microbiology, pedagogy, business administration, and humanities. Overall, during the period, 84% of students who applied to graduate programs were admitted. This article identifies the key approaches and outcomes ofa strategic planning process that allowed the IIR to become a successful campuswide research resource for interdisciplinary research at an undergraduate, Hispanic serving institution facing fiscal and administrative challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
