Undergraduate Research at CMU

HURAY Information for Faculty

To read about program basics and student eligibility, see the main HURAY webpage. After reading this page in its entirety, please contact OURSD if you have any remaining questions about the program.

2024-2025 HURAY Faculty Timeline

Mid-July 2024: Deadline for faculty to submit a project for the HURAY program

• • • Faculty interested in mentoring a HURAY student in their research during the 2024-2025 AY should submit a project in our HURAY project form in late July. Interested faculty who would like access to the form should contact oursd-general@andrew.cmu.edu.
    • Note: OURSD can only financially support a limited number of HURAY students. As such, faculty projects are only accepted on a first come, first served basis until we have reached capacity (~50 total faculty projects)

Between Mid-July 2024 and September 3, 2024: Student recruitment takes place

• • OURSD advertises HURAY program to federal work-study students
  • OURSD screens interested students for eligibility; confirmed eligible students are provided access on a first come, first served basis to view project descriptions and contact faculty about HURAY participation
  • Faculty engage in conversations and (if applicable) interviews with eligible students for their HURAY project positions, selecting only ONE HURAY fellow per faculty member for the 2024-2025 academic year
  • The faculty member and selected HURAY student complete the HURAY registration form and faculty/student contract. The completed form must be emailed by the faculty member to oursd-general@andrew.cmu.edu by 9/3/24 in order for the student to be hired.

8/26/24: Earliest possible start date for HURAY research

• • • Upon submission of the registration form, students will work with your department business manager to be set up in Workday
    • Once the student is set up in Workday, research work may begin
    • Please note that timely submission of the registration form enables an earlier start date for your HURAY research fellow.

HURAY Faculty FAQ

Q: What accountability/evaluation mechanisms does HURAY intend to use to make sure students are participating & active in their research projects?

A: HURAY students are paid hourly and will only receive pay for the hours they actually work on their research. Additional accountability measures should be addressed through the HURAY Registration Form & Faculty-Student Research Contract, which must be completed and signed by both the student and research advisor prior to the student’s hiring. This contract allows for clear expectations to be laid out prior to the start of the research experience.

Q: Will faculty be able to interview interested students to ensure a good match or do students get assigned without input from research supervisors?

A: HURAY students who are interested in pursuing research with a faculty member are responsible for emailing the faculty member to discuss potential HURAY participation. From that point forward, the decision to pursue research via HURAY lies with both the faculty member and student. If both parties decide that research together is a good fit (through informal conversations, an interview process, etc.), the faculty member and student should complete the HURAY Registration Form & Faculty-Student Research Contract, prompting the student's hiring process.

Q: Would students in HURAY have to report hours through Workday, like other student RAs?

A: Yes, HURAY students will report their hours in Workday like other hourly employees at CMU as per federal work-study protocol. Students will be entered into Workday through the faculty’s departmental business manager and hours will be approved through the department.

Q: Would a student be eligible for HURAY if they had one semester of unpaid research before this program existed?

A: Yes, but because donor funds are limited, priority will be given to students who have not yet had the opportunity to participate in research. Additionally, students from disciplines traditionally underrepresented in undergraduate research are especially encouraged to apply for HURAY.

Q: How many hours of research-related work should a faculty member plan to provide a HURAY student?

A: Each HURAY student will be funded up to 135 hours of research (8-10 hours per week) over each semester (or 270 hours for the academic year). Faculty interested in mentoring HURAY researchers should aim to have around 9 hours’ worth of research activities available for each HURAY student each week (though students’ research hours can also amount to less than 8 per week if both the faculty and student are amenable to such an arrangement). Financially, faculty members will not be asked to contribute any monetary support for HURAY students (aside from providing students with necessary research supplies related to their assigned project). HURAY is entirely funded by federal work-study funds and donor funds earmarked for students with financial need. 

Q: What are the outcome expectations for the student?

A: All HURAY students are expected to present their research at the Meeting of the Minds in the May during their HURAY participation. Project-specific outcomes may differ depending on the goals of the individual student and/or faculty advisor. Outcomes should be addressed through the HURAY Registration Form and Faculty-Student Research Contract, which must be filled out and signed by both the student and research advisor prior to the student’s hiring. This contract allows for clear expectations to be laid out prior to the start of the research experience.

Q: What if my student doesn’t manage to solve a research question or problem before the end of the program?

A: This is a possibility with any research program, and it’s perfectly fine! Our main goal for HURAY is that it provides a meaningful introduction to research for students who have not yet had the opportunity to participate in extracurricular scholarship or creative inquiry. With this in mind, our intention is for students to participate in some aspect of original knowledge production as defined by the faculty research mentor, but we understand that the timeline of the overall research endeavor may exceed the length of the program.

Q: HURAY is only available for students with no prior research experience and only funds two consecutive semesters (fall and spring). What happens once the academic year is over and a student wants to continue their research work in the following semester?