Certificate in Liberal Arts Research

The College of Liberal Arts' (CLA) undergraduate research certificate is administered through the College of Liberal Arts. It is designed to give students the opportunity to engage in undergraduate research and provide those students with an added credential that documents their work. In completing the requirements, students will gain valuable research skills and experience that will help them become more marketable to employers and graduate schools.

Students earn the certificate by completing:

1. 12 hours of supporting courses specified to have an undergraduate research component. See list of courses below.
   Overall GPA requirement of certificate courses: 3.2
   50% of the credits should be at the 3000 level or higher
   No more than 25% of the certificate courses may be obtained from transfer credits. Any transfer credits used as part of the certificate plan must be approved by the student's mentor.

May be within one department or interdisciplinary

2. In addition to the 12 hours of supporting courses, the student shall complete a culminating project, approved by the mentor, such as:
   ePortfolio
   Exhibition
   Lecture-recital
   Internship
   Peer-reviewed journal article
   Other accepted project

3. Faculty Mentor
Statement of support required

4. Presentation based on undergraduate research project
   One local presentation such as AU’s This is Research: Student Symposium
   or a national/regional conference presentation
   The presentation material will be assessed via a rubric by the student’s mentor.

5. Application form to include:
   Student information
   Description/justification of undergraduate research agenda
   Mentor statement of support
   UR Worksheet with list of planned courses, ideas for research presentation, and proposed timeline for completion of certificate. This worksheet should be reviewed and updated each semester by the student and mentor.

The application form should be submitted to CLA’s Associate Dean for Research. Courses, project, and presentation all must be approved by the mentor and Associate Dean for Research.

6. Once all the above requirements are met, the student will need to complete both a survey and a set of reflective questions about their undergraduate research experience. The survey, reflective questions, and presentation assessment rubric will be submitted to the Associate Dean for Research for final approval of completion of the certificate.