The Chemistry Department of Wichita State University (WSU) is supported by the Chemistry Division, the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities, and EPSCOR under the "Research Sites for Educators in Chemistry" (RSEC) program. Dr. D. Paul Rillema is the Principal Investigator. The Wichita State RSEC program will focus its attention on some 30 two- and four- year institutions via the development of research collaborations. A minimum of two faculty from institutions will receive support to spend one or two semesters and a summer at WSU doing research. A second component of the Wichita State RSEC is a program of teaching postdoctoral fellows who will be involved in research and trained for teaching in two- or four-year institutions. The training will be provided by a team of WSU Faculty and the two- and four-year faculty participants. The teaching postdoctoral fellows will teach one course per semester under the guidance of a WSU faculty member and from a two- or four-year institution faculty participant. The faculty participants will also invite one promising student from their institution to work alongside them as team members in the laboratory during the summer thus facilitating the continued functioning of the team at their home institutions. Finally, each teaching postdoctoral fellow will select an undergraduate student either from WSU or a two- or four-year institution to learn the ropes of directing undergraduate students in research.
Research Sites for Educators in Chemistry bring together the faculty of participating two-year colleges, baccalaureate colleges, and master's universities with faculty at research universities within a geographic region to enhance the research and educational opportunities at all Academic and research institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students, and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learner perspectives. RSECs such as this one at Wichita State University provide mechanisms for disseminating the knowledge, skill, practices and ethics of research to a broader community, including those from underrepresented groups; assist in developing viable, sustainable research programs at participating institutions; and involve faculty and students at the participating institutions with a broader cross-section of faculty and students .
