Planning: assessment of research infrastructure at primarily undergraduate institutions for collaborative consortium building

Saint Mary's College Notre Dame received a $100,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) for a planning project conducted from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The grant supports the development of an institutional assessment and action plan to strengthen the college's research infrastructure and capacity. Saint Mary's will hire an external evaluator to conduct a mixed-methods needs assessment that integrates qualitative and quantitative data from surveys, interviews, observations, document review, and extant data analysis to evaluate current research infrastructure and identify opportunities for expansion.

The primary deliverable is a comprehensive evaluation report and strategic action plan designed to elevate Saint Mary's research focus and expand research support infrastructure. The project outputs will inform institutional and collaborative proposal planning and submission processes, with results shared among a newly formed consortium of Midwest peer institutions including St. Catherine's University and Alverno College. This collaborative framework aims to enable resource-sharing and expanded undergraduate participation in scientific research, ultimately creating a model for successful interdisciplinary and inter-institutional partnerships at primarily undergraduate institutions.

Abstract

Saint mary?s college seeks to develop an innovative institutional assessment, conducted in collaboration with a consortium of peer institutions, that will be used to inform the development of an action plan to elevate the college's research focus. This planning project involves a rigorous evaluation plan to assess existing research infrastructure, bolstered by evaluations undertaken by partner institutions, to inform recommendations for expansion of the college?s research capacity. The results of the evaluation will be used to create a plan to expand research support infrastructure to facilitate institutional and collaborative proposal planning and submission, which will in turn be shared with peer institutions in the midwest to create a mutually supportive consortium that centers resource-sharing and collaboration to enable the full participation of undergraduates in the scientific process. Through building this collaborative environment, this project seeks to advance knowledge and serve as a model for successful interdisciplinary and inter-institutional partnerships, ultimately contributing to a richer, more nuanced understanding of critical issues affecting research at institutions with a primarily undergraduate student base saint mary?s college has recruited ST. Catherine?s university and alverno college to participate in the new consortium. With this grant, saint mary?s will hire an external evaluator to develop a survey instrument and analyze the data generated. The evaluator will conduct a needs assessment using a mixed methods approach integrating qualitative and quantitative data from various sources including extant data analysis, surveys, interviews, observations, and document review. Two goals shape this proposal: 1) assess saint mary?s internal research infrastructure in relation to a goal of increasing research resources for faculty and students, and to assess the consortium partners? Research infrastructure needs; 2) analyze the data generated from the saint mary?s assessment and synthesize IT with the partners? Results to inform an action plan to address identified needs. The data that will be gathered and analyzed during this project will enable the research team to determine opportunities to share resources and collaborate cross-institutionally, with an emphasis on supporting the needs of undergraduates in research and increasing research opportunities for students and faculty across the consortium. A strategic engagement plan will be utilized to share this model with other puis throughout the united states. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.