Our Why.
The U.R.M. Institute provides campus-wide leadership, coordination, and support for undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity (URSCA) at Boise State.
Our mission is to expand meaningful opportunities for students to take part in mentored scholarly and creative work, while also strengthening the mentoring, partnerships, and structures that make those opportunities possible.
We serve as a hub and backbone for this work across the university.
What we do
The U.R.M. Institute helps Boise State build a stronger and more connected undergraduate research and mentoring ecosystem. We do this by
- Defining and promoting a shared understanding of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity (URSCA) at Boise State
- Supporting opportunities that allow students to participate in meaningful mentored work across disciplines and settings
- Strengthening mentoring by offering guidance, connection, and support for faculty, staff, graduate students, and community mentors
- Coordinating across programs and partners so students and mentors can navigate opportunities more easily
- Tracking participation, experience, and opportunity patterns so the university can make informed decisions and keep improving
- Advancing the visibility and value of undergraduate scholarly and creative work across the university
Who we serve
The U.R.M. Institute serves undergraduate students across majors, experience levels, and pathways. We also serve faculty and staff mentors, graduate mentors, campus leaders, academic units, and partners who want to expand or improve mentored undergraduate URSCA opportunities.
How we work with others
The U.R.M. Institute does not replace the work already happening in colleges, departments, and programs. Instead, we help connect and strengthen that work by offering shared language, coordination, support, and infrastructure that can benefit the wider campus. We work with colleges, departments, programs, centers, research ecosystems, and community partners to:
- keep URSCA efforts pointed toward shared goals
- support mentoring and program design
- build ways for the campus to learn from both data and experience
- help make the case for the resources and recognition this work needs