芝加哥(九月十三日), 2016) — Selected undergraduate students have concluded research from a mentor-mentee structured, 为期八周的暑期课程. Made possible by support from North Park University’s donors, 被录取的学生将获得3美元的奖金,500年津贴, 外加500美元的材料费和免费的校内住宿, to participate in the North Park Research Experience for Summer Students (NPRESS).
该项目始于2015年, 从那时起, word-of-mouth has made getting a spot in NPRESS increasingly competitive. 今年，从30名申请者中选出了13名学生. 对学生和教员都适用, 一对一的师徒框架, 还有一个学生队列模型, 是独一无二的, as this type of relationship is traditionally seen at the graduate 和 doctorate level.
2016年5月 业务 graduate 和 NPRESS participant Ana Liz Castillo embraced the mentor-mentee framework. "整个夏天, 我们都面临着许多挑战, such as how we were going to interpret the data to get the best results, 或者得到统计上不显著的结果. 有我们的个别导师的支持, 还有其他专业的教授, 帮助我们克服了那些障碍,卡斯蒂略高兴地说.
北公园的教员和NPRESS的联合主任 Dr. Rajkumar Boaz Johnson和 Dr. 亚伦Kaestner developed the program to offer undergraduate students a comprehensive 和 h和s-on learning experience, 包括研究, 写作, 和显示. “NPRESS gives students the full experience as an undergraduate while also providing students a sense of graduate-level research,约翰逊说.
受到节目的启发, participants like Castillo plan to extend their academic studies into post-undergraduate work. “NPRESS helped me to generate the first findings of a research area that I want to focus on in graduate school,”卡斯蒂略说. “This past experience with NPRESS instilled research habits that will become extremely useful for me to excel in my graduate studies.”
Commitment to the program is significant, with a minimum of 40 hours of research per week. “Students have regular weekly check-ins with their co-directors 和 mentors throughout the eight weeks,Kaestner说. 在八周结束时, students are well-prepared to present to a packed room of faculty, 顾问, 同行, 董事会成员, 和捐助者, 在校园举行 约翰逊科学和社区生活中心.
This year’s July 29 和 August 31 presentations covered a broad array of research topics from the various divisions of the 文学院 和 科学 和 other schools at North Park. 新闻新闻的接受者涵盖了如此广泛的主题 as Independence Movements in Catalunya 和 the Emergence of Populism in Espana: A Political Analysis; 祷告如何带领我们超越本体神学; 和 Exploring the Relationship Between Inventory Turns on Gross Profit Margin Measures.
NPRESS的学生一致认为，虽然研究是一项艰苦的工作, they welcomed the challenge of combining disparate subject matter. Influenced by North Park’s commitment to using 芝加哥 as our classroom, participant Hannah Hawkinson researched feminist readings of Mary Shelley’s 《亚游集团官方网站》 以及三部福音书的叙述, comparing them to the experiences of five immigrant 和 refugee women in 芝加哥.
“NPRESS gave me time 和 space to develop my research skills 和 academic 写作 abilities while also supporting engagement with social justice issues here in 芝加哥,霍金森说。, an 英国文学 和 圣经和神学研究 主要. The NPRESS experience “afforded the opportunity to explore these passions in t和em through my research project,霍金森补充道。.
每个选择的主题, with a clear set of goals initiated by the students 和 supported by the mentor-mentee relationship, reflects the North Park mission to prepare students for lives of service 和 significance. “My mutual passions for feminist theology 和 social justice were not only allowed, 但鼓励, 为了追求意义和服务而走到一起,霍金森说。.
至于NPRESS的未来, Johnson is particularly excited about taking the educational experience to a different 和 higher level, where research becomes a central component of the North Park experience. “The students are excited about the possibility of doing more,” he said.
The NPRESS Committee also expressed their gratitude to the donors 和 the board for making the program possible 和 for providing North Park students with another avenue to connect academic interests with real-life experiences.
NPRESS的录取是基于学生的成绩, 结果, 和承诺, 和 evaluated by North Park’s Undergraduate Research Committee (URC). The application deadline for Summer 2017 will be this spring, 和 applications are open to faculty 和 undergraduate students of all disciplines. 如有查询，可向教资会主席. Jonathan Rienstra-Kiracofe jrienstra-kiracofe@luyanpengart.com.