Mentoring URS students: Our brief but spectacular take
Over the last four years, with my spouse as co-investigator, I have benefitted greatly from having outstanding Undergraduate Research Scholarship (URS) students on our team for two research projects supported by UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees program: one focused on improving the outcomes for Minnesota youths with HIV/AIDS and the second analyzing all the deaths and transitions (cremation, burial, both) in Minnesota over seven years. Our success was solely dependent on our students.
URS scholarships are offered by the University Admissions Office to prospective freshmen as part of the admissions award package. Those students who accept are awarded $1,700, half upon matriculation and the remainder after completing a mentored research project.
How does a retired faculty member recruit URS students? Simple; your research abstract is posted on the URS web site and students respond—rapidly.
After reviewing resumes and interviewing exciting candidates, we chose four students per PDGR project. With our mentoring, each student successfully developed a unique research project. Research Team meetings were held in the Campus Club, perfect for treating students to lunch as they were always hungry.
Mentoring URS students, of vastly different backgrounds, was a pleasure. All were incredibly bright and remarkably effective in getting the information and analysis needed for their projects.
Full of surprises
Our mentorship experience was more than just data management. URS students were full of surprises: one student from Romania had the best use of the English language we've ever encountered; another from Lebanon read a statistics book overnight and applied his learnings the next day.
Yes, a few students had a tough time adjusting to the University workload, and one immigrant student’s family needed help coping. But we did enjoy dinner with another student’s mother (a professor from the Middle East), and we marveled at the daily change in hair color of another superb student.
After many mentorship meetings, all our URS students successfully completed their research plans and presented outstanding posters at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. To date, three have been accepted for outstanding STEM graduate programs and one at the U of M Medical School.
What an incredible and satisfying relationship. Marcie and I would be delighted to discuss this mentoring opportunity with anyone interested.
—Jonathan I. Ravdin, MD, adjunct professor of medicine, and Marcie Christensen Ravdin, former Medical School administrator
News
On December 7, many of us will lose our UMN email addresses and any files associated with these accounts. There are three basic things we need to do to prepare.
UMRA member Susan Kubitschek attended the University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill and, after working at the U for 40 years, retired as assistant dean and director of Collegiate Life in the College of Science and Engineering.
Delegates to the Big Ten Retirees Association 2024 annual conference met at The Ohio State University in July to learn about Ohio State, share ideas, and develop closer ties among the 28 attendees from 12 of the 14 Big Ten schools. Minnesota will host the conference in 2026.
“UMRA members are engaged ‘University citizens’ with decades of experience at every level of this great institution, and we want to have a mutually useful and effective relationship with the Board of Regents,” says John Finnegan, UMRA’s new liaison to the regents.
UMRA member Mike Austin is taking full advantage of his retirement to volunteer in a variety of activities, travel, and learn a new language. He says, “I have the time, I have the ability, and I get bored sitting around.”
Funding of up to $5,000 per grant is available to support U of M retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarship, or creative interests.
Members of UMRA’s 2024–25 Board of Directors were elected in May. Directors are elected to three-year terms and may serve two consecutive terms.
Fall is approaching and UMRA needs everyone to renew their membership. New membership cards for 2024–25 include the QR code you need to access one of the great benefits of membership: a discounted rate in University parking facilities.