Researchers From Day One
A new College of Arts and Sciences program draws high-achieving freshmen to Marquette and grooms them for research experiences.
As valedictorian and a summa cum laude graduate of her 500-member senior class in Normal, Illinois, and a member of the National Honor Society and two other honor societies, Kate Gustafson had few worries about the many college acceptance messages she’d receive, but when financial considerations put her top choice out of reach, her heart sank.
Around the same time, however, she heard something from another school in her top three — Marquette — that changed her college calculations. Invited to apply to join MU4Gold Scholars, a small College of Arts and Sciences cohort embedded in the University Honors Program and focusing on faculty-mentored research, she wrote an essay and submitted her application. She learned of her acceptance a few days before the deposit due date, just in time to choose Marquette. “I was originally kind of bummed. Then I got into MU4Gold Scholars,” says the freshman psychology major. “It was definitely a nice bonus, and it made me feel that this was where I was supposed to be.”
Stories like Gustafson’s are what academic leaders had in mind in piloting this strategic bid to attract high-achieving students, introduce them early to Marquette’s research opportunities, and support them in higher research ambitions. “We know a lot of really high-achieving students are interested in doing faculty-mentored research as undergraduates,” explains Dr. Rosemary Stuart, professor of biological sciences and the Klingler College’s associate dean for research and experiential learning. “That’s something we have quite a lot of happening all over campus. So we thought that should be something we can market to these high-achieving students to encourage them to select Marquette.”
Gustafson and seven other Honors freshmen in MU4Gold Scholars’ inaugural class are participating in a one-credit course led by Stuart that acquaints them with the research landscape — and leading faculty researchers — while grooming them for this spring’s highlight: a match with a faculty mentor and a multi-semester research project in a discipline of their choosing.
“We know a lot of really high-achieving students are interested in doing faculty-mentored research as undergraduates. That’s something we have quite a lot of happening all over campus.” — Dr. Rosemary Stuart
Aiming to inspire challenge-ready students and ultimately strengthen
the research culture on campus, Stuart and University Honors Program Director Amelia Zurcher, associate professor of English, also launched MU4Gold Scholars to combat a too-common scenario: undergraduates discovering a passion for research and an interest in prestigious opportunities such as Fulbright or Critical Language scholarships and Peace Corps service too late to put together credible applications. “The early introduction to research provided by MU4Gold Scholars means that by the time students begin thinking about applications to prestigious scholarships and service programs in their junior year, they have lots of useful experience under their belts,” says Zurcher of the pilot, currently funded for three years by Marquette’s Strategic Innovation Fund. “And the close mentoring relationships the program fosters are not only rewarding in themselves but are a springboard for successful competition for these opportunities.” Like the quest for Olympic medals, the pursuit of research gold requires patient preparation in a supportive environment — like Marquette.
