Fostering Undergraduate Astronomical Research in the Southeast: The SARA REU Program

Session 20 - Research Experiences for Undergraduates.
Oral session, Monday, June 10
Old Madison,

[20.06] Fostering Undergraduate Astronomical Research in the Southeast: The SARA REU Program

T. Oswalt, M. Wood (Fla.Tech), J. Rafert (M.T.U.), G. Henson, M. Castelaz (E.Tenn.St.U.), S. Shaw (U.Ga.), K. Rumstay (Valdosta St.U.), J. Webb (F.I.U.)

In spring 1995 the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to establish a new summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. SARA's program is unique in that there is not a single host site. Each summer, student researchers are distributed among a consortium of five universities in the Southeast: Florida Tech, East Tennessee State University, University of Georgia, Valdosta State University and Florida International University. These institutions jointly operate a 1-m class telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona which serves as the research focus of the SARA REU program. We discuss solutions to the unusual logistical problems posed by our distributed program, and underscore the unique advantages a close-knit consortium such as SARA provides to student REU participants.

Support from the National Science Foundation grant AST-9423922 and the SARA universities is gratefully acknowledged.

Program listing for Monday