Faculty

Capstone Festival

Students

The Committee on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Mission Statement

The Committee on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (CRSC) supports the College’s teaching and learning mission by helping to foster an environment that supports students as problem solvers and individuals who are eager to learn.  Mary Baldwin College’s commitment to faculty and student engagement in research, scholarship, and creative activity is based upon our belief that undergraduate teaching and student development are enhanced and strengthened through such activity. Research, scholarship, and creative activity within a discipline and across disciplines, including studies on pedagogy and instruction, student development, and assessment, is recognized and supported as is work that advances or contributes to the knowledge or creative base in academic fields of study.
The primary mission of the committee is to enhance the environment for student and faculty research, scholarship, and other creative activities. In order to do this, the committee is charged with:

  1. Gathering information, formulating ideas, and designing mechanisms that will facilitate the conduct of research, scholarship, and other creative activities at MBC;
  2. Advocating and promoting the involvement of students in high-quality experiences in undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity (URSC),  including completion of senior projects;
  3. Supporting faculty efforts to obtain external support for research, scholarship, and creative activities; and
  4. Providing a forum for the exchange of information about the development of URSC among peer institutions and collaborators.

The committee may: conduct needs assessment surveys; develop systems for the collection and dissemination of information regarding research opportunities; offer pre-submission peer support for faculty who request assistance in project methodology, data analysis, and other elements of proposal review; assist the Dean of the College in gathering and disseminating information about faculty and student accomplishments in research, scholarship, and creative activities; support collaborative relationships with other institutions to enhance student research opportunities; and conduct other activities to enhance the environment for student and faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity. The committee coordinates its work with, and makes recommendations as appropriate to, the Dean of the College, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Division Coordinators, and other faculty committees.

Membership

The Committee was established in 2001 by the Dean of the College/Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Ex-officio voting members are the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the College; the Director of Sponsored Programs and Undergraduate Research; the Assistant Director of Sponsored Programs and Undergraduate Research; the Director of the Honors Program; and the Director of Grafton Library.  In addition, the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the College appoints three members of the full-time faculty, with one member from each academic Division, to three-year rotating terms, and a student representative.  The Director of Sponsored Programs and Undergraduate Research serves as chair; the full-time faculty membership annually elects a spokesperson to the faculty.
For academic year 2009-10, members are:

Adopted January 2002, revised December 2007; September 2008; July 2009