Community College Undergraduate Research Experience

The Community College Undergraduate Research Experience (CCURE) is a new initiative at UNCW that is intended to open pathways to undergraduate research for community college students prior to transferring to a 4-year institution. Started in Spring 2021 with partners from Cape Fear CC, Craven CC, and Lenoir CC, CCURE provides community college students with an introductory-level applied research experience that is taught by a community college instructor and supported by a UNCW faculty mentor.

The primary goal for CCURE is to provide students with exposure to an undergraduate research experience prior to transferring to a 4-year institution in order to build confidence and experience in engaging in undergraduate research (or other high impact practices) after transferring.

In addition to helping community college transfer students succeed, CCURE is framed around a partnership model that encourages direct engagement between CC and UNCW instructors. Thus, a secondary goal is to provide opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration to develop among stakeholders.

CCURE includes a network of units at UNCW that provide the administrative and logistical support for the initiative. While primary leadership and management of CCURE is a collaborative effort between the Office of Applied Learning & High Impact Practices and UNCW’s Community College Collaborative (3C), which is housed in the Watson College of Education, numerous offices are engaged in CCURE including Admissions, the Registrar, and the Honors College, among others.

The partnership network for CCURE includes the partner community colleges that host CCURE sections. In 2023 the CCURE partner institutions included:

• Brunswick Community College
• Cape Fear Community College
• Carteret Community College
• Craven Community College
• James Sprunt Community College
• Lenoir Community College
• Martin Community College
• Piedmont Community College
• Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
• Southeastern Community College
• South Piedmont Community College
• Wake Tech Community College

All students who participate in CCURE complete an applied research project that culminates with a research poster or presentation. CCURE graduates earn academic credit from UNCW’s Honors College that may be used to transfer to degree progress at UNCW or other 4-year institutions. Assessment results indicate that students also develop skills that will help them succeed academically; notably, students have demonstrated growth in research literacy skills, comfort engaging in research activities, and confidence in ability to be successful as a transfer student to a 4-year institution.

CCURE has also been featured in regional, national, and international publications that highlight the program’s partnership model and contributions to student learning and development, including:

• BCC Story on “Research and Discovery Students Visit Bald Head Island”
• LCC Story on “LCC participates in Community College Undergraduate Research Experience (CCURE)”
• Craven CC Story on “Craven Community College partners with UNCW for new honors history class”
• Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (PURM) publication titled “Opening Pathways to Undergraduate Research for Community College Students: Outcomes from a Course-Embedded Research Initiative and Multi-Institutional Partnership”