The University of Arizona has been selected as one of ten recipients of the National Science Foundation's Recognition Awards for the Integration of Research and Education. The university has achieved noteworthy success in two aspects of the integration of research and education: revision of tenure and promotion guidelines to consider the quality of undergraduate teaching, and creation of an innovative undergraduate biology program. The university has established a Science and Engineering Promotion and Tenure Committee which ensures that education issues are considered on a par with research performance in hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions. In addition, the university is committed to infusing research into the undergraduate experience in both lower and upper divisions, and noteworthy progress is being made in the biology program. A Biology Learning Center is helping to create innovative courses that use Internet-based resources. Undergraduate biology majors are engaged in research with faculty from 35 academic departments. Research results are presented by students at an annual conference on campus. Selected alumnae of these research experiences are placed in biomedical research labs overseas. The University of Arizona's efforts to integrate research and education were designed with specific outcomes in mind: implement tenure and promotion policy reforms at all levels and across disciplinary boundaries within the university; increase significantly the numbers of students participating in biological research on campus and overseas; expand faculty participation in undergraduate research projects; and increase student awareness of diverse career opportunities available to biology majors. The university has documented noteworthy success in achieving these goals. The university is being awarded $500,000 with the goal of expanding, documenting, and disseminating its exemplary practices over the coming three years. Plans for use of the award funds include: conducting workshops on tenure reform for faculty and administrators from other institutions; increasing support for student-faculty research projects; enhancing Web-based resources; and production and dissemination of video and print materials that document the undergraduate biology program.
