UR-designated courses at MCC provide an active, inquiry-based learning environment that emphasizes the language and processes of undergraduate research, scholarly inquiry, and/or creative activity in the classroom. The purpose of UR-designated courses is to promote a culture in which students are encouraged to explore, enter, and advance current dialogues in academic disciplines.

According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), Undergraduate Research (UR) has been identified as a High-Impact Practice (HIP). All HIPs have been “widely tested” and shown to be “beneficial for college students from many backgrounds, especially historically underserved students.” Yet, the AACU makes clear that historically underserved students also “often do not have equitable access to high-impact learning.” It is part of our mission to ensure that all students at MCC have increased access to HIPs, and especially to Undergraduate Research. 

To achieve this mission, in the Fall of 2011, an Undergraduate Research initiative was created and spearheaded by James Murphy and a Committee was formed. In Fall of 2012, that Committee expanded to include representatives from the Humanities as well as from STEM. Few four-year colleges and fewer two-year colleges had college-wide Undergraduate Research programs at that time. To reflect MCC’s college-wide ambitions, the Committee renamed itself URSICA, or Undergraduate Research, Scholarly Inquiry, and Creative Activity, uniting the diverse disciplines across MCC that employ UR pedagogies under a single organizational umbrella.