Roles and Expectations

Completing an undergraduate thesis is a collaborative process, but you are the primary owner of your URS experience. You will work with your faculty research advisor(s), the Office of Undergraduate Research (UGR) team, and likely many others throughout the program; however, each entity has a different role in helping you successfully complete your thesis.

Understanding the different support roles around you as well as program policies and expectations will help you know where to go for guidance, when to ask questions, and what responsibilities ultimately belong to you.

Undergraduate Researcher and Thesis Author

As a URS student, you are responsible for your research, your thesis, and your progress through the program. Your faculty advisor(s) and the UGR team will provide mentorship, guidance, resources, and feedback, but they cannot complete or manage the process for you.

You are expected to:

• Take ownership of your scholarly project and thesis.
• Understand and meet URS requirements and deadlines.
• Regularly check their student email, the URS Canvas Community, and the UGR website for announcements, instructions, and updates.
• Attend and actively participate in required URS meetings and activities.
• Communicate regularly and professionally with your faculty research advisor(s).
• Plan ahead and allow sufficient time for research, writing, revision, and advisor feedback.
• Use the required URS thesis template and follow program formatting and submission requirements.
• Submit their own work and uphold expectations for academic integrity and responsible research.
• Ask questions when expectations, instructions, or next steps are unclear.
• Communicate early when you encounter a problem that may affect your ability to meet a program requirement.

Faculty Research Advisors

Your faculty research advisor is your primary mentor for the research and disciplinary content of your thesis (i.e., the chair of your thesis committee). You may be working with multiple faculty research advisors (i.e., co-chairs or committee members) as well as other mentors such as graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and other staff. 

Because research and scholarly communication look different across disciplines, your faculty research advisor(s) is(are) best positioned to guide decisions about the intellectual and disciplinary aspects of your work.

Your faculty research advisor(s) may help you:

• Complete training and identify ethics or research compliance requirements.
• Define or refine the scope of your research project.
• Make disciplinary or methodological decisions.
• Interpret findings and determine how they should be presented.
• Understand scholarly conventions within your field.
• Develop the organization and content of your thesis.
• Review drafts and provide substantive feedback.
• Determine when the scholarly content of your thesis is ready for final submission.

Your faculty research advisor(s) is(are an) important partner(s) in the thesis process, but you are ultimately responsible for initiating communication, providing materials with enough time for review, responding to feedback, and keeping your work moving forward.

Do not assume your faculty research advisor knows every URS deadline, formatting requirement, or administrative process. You are responsible for understanding program requirements and communicating relevant information to your advisor when necessary.

UGR Team

The UGR team manages the program structure and thesis process that supports students across disciplines. We are here to help you understand what URS requires and how to navigate the process successfully.

The UGR team is responsible for:

• Establishing program requirements, deadlines, and milestones.
• Providing thesis templates, instructions, and program resources.
• Offering required meetings and informative programming.
• Communicating important program information and updates.
• Reviewing required submissions for completion of URS requirements.
• Providing guidance on the thesis process and general scholarly communication.
• Helping students interpret URS policies and expectations.
• Connecting students with appropriate resources when a question falls outside the scope of the program.

Because URS serves students from many disciplines, the UGR team does not replace your faculty research advisor. Questions about your research methods, disciplinary conventions, interpretation of results, or the scholarly content of your thesis should generally begin with your advisor.

What We Expect From URS Students

Be Proactive A thesis is a long-term project. Waiting until a deadline to determine what is required can make relatively small problems much harder to solve. Review requirements early, plan backward from deadlines, and communicate with your advisor before you need something from them. Communicate Professionally You are working as a member of a scholarly community. Communications with faculty, staff, peers, and other members of the research community should reflect that responsibility. Be clear, respectful, and specific when asking questions or requesting assistance. Give others reasonable time to respond and provide context when they may not immediately know what you are referring to. Read Before You Ask—but Ask When You Need Help The Student Hub is designed to make URS expectations and resources easy to find. Before reaching out, review the relevant module, instructions, announcement, or resource. However, we do not expect you to figure everything out alone. If you have reviewed the available information and are still unsure what to do, reach out. Asking a thoughtful question is part of being an effective researcher. Plan for Feedback and Revision Strong scholarly writing develops through revision. Your first draft is not expected to be your final draft. Build time into your schedule to receive feedback from your advisor, think about that feedback, revise your work, and review it again. When asking someone to review your work, do not assume they can provide meaningful feedback immediately. A deadline for you is not automatically a deadline for your advisor. Keep Us Informed Research does not always go according to plan. Projects change. Experiments fail. Data collection takes longer than expected. Advisors become unavailable. Personal or academic circumstances can change. A change or challenge does not necessarily mean you cannot complete URS. What matters is that you communicate early. If something may affect your ability to meet a URS requirement or deadline, contact the URS team as soon as possible. The earlier we understand what is happening, the more effectively we can help you determine your options. --- When You're Not Sure Who to Ask A useful starting point is to ask yourself: Is my question about my research or discipline? Start with your faculty research advisor. Is my question about URS requirements, deadlines, templates, submissions, or the thesis process? Start with the URS team or Student Hub. Is my question about my own progress, planning, or next steps? Start by reviewing the Student Hub and your URS timeline, then communicate with your advisor or the URS team as appropriate. And if you genuinely do not know where your question belongs, contact us. Helping you find the right resource is part of our role.