Despite being a fairly small Catholic liberal arts college, Stonehill offers great programs that students can get involved in to boost their resumes and make themselves a better candidate for the world outside the bubble. One of these opportunities is called the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience, otherwise known as the S.U.R.E. Program. This program occurs every summer and is open to all disciplines at Stonehill College. If you’re tired of scooping ice cream or are feeling pressure from your parents to get a job, this program gives you the opportunity to conduct publishable full time research in collaboration with a professor. Yes Skyhawks, you get paid to conduct research for eight to ten weeks over the summer.
Being that I was a SURE Scholar during the summer of 2013, I can personally endorse all the great aspects the program has to offer. First, the program helps narrow your field of interest for your future career decisions. For example, you may know you are interested in cell biology but by doing research with a professor that involves duplicating cell DNA, you may realize a newfound interest that you wish to pursue further in the future.
Second, this program provides students with a competitive advantage in graduate professional school applications. If you are planning on attending graduate school, whatever school you apply to is going to want to see that you are capable of conducting extensive full time research and have a genuine interest in a specific area of study. The SURE Program helps you gain this experience before attending graduate school and gives you an advantage over students who have not completed a similar program. Even if you are looking for employment after Stonehill, the SURE Program is a great way to display your dedication and hard work. An essential function of SURE is for students to work in collaboration with a faculty member. More than likely, this faculty member will be willing to write you a glowing recommendation for your post-graduate plans, whatever they may be.
Third, there are free SURE lunches once every week. All the SURE Scholars and faculty members get together once a week to eat and talk about how their research is progressing. It’s a fun way to hear what others are researching and learn about topics that may not be in your field of interest. Also, as a SURE Scholar there are numerous outings or fun activities that you do as a group. For example, this past summer we had student and faculty basketball games, volleyball tournaments, barbeques, trips to Boston for an all-you-can-eat ice cream event, and we would have went to the zoo during our last week of the program if the weather had permitted, but of course it was scorching hot and most likely we all would have had heat stroke by the end of the day.
This past summer, fifty Stonehill College students worked with 32 faculty members on a variety of research projects. The summer of 2013 marked the 18th group to work under the SURE program. If you stopped by the SURE Poster Session in the Commons on Thursday, September 26th, you got to see the many different topics that are researched over the summer, from behavior patterns of guppies to a study on the Stonehill College Campus Police Department.
Personally I worked with Professor Robert R. Rodgers in the Political Science Department in collaboration with Professor William Ewell, Melissa Linne and Kristen DeVoid on a book project. Generally we were looking at whether situational factors in the political sphere can be transformed into institutional factors that give one party an advantage. I personally researched whether one political party influences the redistricting process significantly over the other and how this can impact election outcomes. Although this may sound extremely boring to you, I had a blast because I am interested in learning about the political process in the United States. I may also one day be able to say that I am a published author! Talk about a resume booster.
If this all sounds like something you would be interested in then go talk to your professors. Express your interest in being involved in the SURE Program and see if they have any ongoing research projects that you could be involved in. If they think you’re an outstanding student, the two of you will fill out an application together explaining your proposed research project. Applications for the summer program are due in the beginning of December for the following summer. Then you simply wait to see if you have been accepted into the SURE Program. This is a competitive, intense, but extremely fun program that I highly recommend especially if you are planning on attending graduate school. Stonehill College has wonderful programs such as SURE that helps to foster the environment of learning and growth; you may just have to apply!
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