Undergraduate Research at Two-Year Community Colleges

ABSTRACT

There is a growing movement in academia that focuses on increased efforts at undergraduate research. Historically, this movement has been driven by faculty in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and has only recently become a focus for social sciences in general and political science in particular. For students to be successful at conducting undergraduate research, they should be exposed to it as soon as they are ready. This requires exposing students to undergraduate research in the freshmen and sophomore years. There is no reason this exposure should be limited to four-year institutions. To that end, a new journal has been created for students in political science and other social science courses at two-year colleges so they can be recognized for their undergraduate research. The Social Science Text and Academic Research (STAR) Journal is a peer/faculty-reviewed journal limited to students at two-year colleges.

KEYWORDS:

• High impact practices
• mentorship
• publication
• two-year colleges
• undergraduate research

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew Schuster

Matthew Schuster is a professor of political science at Anoka-Ramsey Community College with campuses in Coon Rapids and Cambridge, Minnesota. His main areas of interest are political theory, environmental politics, and contemporary political issues.