Marquette Today

Campus News and Events

Please note that campus gatherings are currently limited due to COVID-19. See respective capacities for indoor, outdoor, religious and political events. Submit events for approval at marquette.edu/event-services.

For more coronavirus information and regular updates, visit marquette.edu/coronavirus.

Menu

  • Campus News
    • Top News for Students
    • Top News for Faculty & Staff
    • Magazines at Marquette
    • Campus Alerts
  • Archives
  • Submit news
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Contacts
  • @MarquetteToday
  • University Calendar
  • Topics
    • Community Engagement
    • Diversity
    • Innovation
    • Master Planning
    • Marquette Momentum
    • Research
    • Strategic Planning
  • January 24, 2021

MU4Gold Cultivates Students’ Research Ambitions

May 17, 2018

Kate Gustafson: “I don’t think I would have ever thought about doing research on my own.”

Kate Gustafson is one of seven members of Marquette’s inaugural class of MU4Gold Scholars, a pilot program run jointly by the University Honors Program and the College of Arts and Sciences that focuses on engaging students in faculty-mentored research from their first moments on campus.

As an MU4Gold scholar, Gustafson spent her first semester at Marquette learning the research ropes in a special freshman seminar led by A&S associate dean Rosemary Stuart. In the spring, she chose a faculty mentor and joined her team.

A double major in psychology and sociology, Gustafson sat down with five psychology professors to discuss their research interests, and eventually chose Dr. Nakia Gordon as her research mentor. The process is reminiscent of a Greek life rush week: “She had to pick me, but I also got to pick her,” Gustafson says.

During the spring semester, she began working in Dr. Gordon’s lab researching the impact of police brutality on race relations (seeing whether viewing images of police brutality makes subjects more or less willing to interact with a stranger of a different race, for example). Some of her peers in the program are already working one-on-one with their faculty mentors, a phenomenon that’s virtually unheard of for a first-year student.

Dr. Rosemary Stuart

Expected future milestones are equally ambitious: next semester, they’ll take a course on writing research proposals and grants. And then the expectation is for the young scholars to go forward and conduct their own research project. “I don’t think I would have ever thought about doing research on my own,” Gustafson, who has already designed and presented a research poster, says.

MU4Gold’s goals are two-fold. First, it’s to test the hypothesis that the promise of an early introduction to faculty mentored research can help draw academically high-achieving students to Marquette. (The program is currently funded by a three-year grant from the Innovation Fund, with the goal of achieving more permanent funding.) For Gustafson, a valedictorian and summa cum laude graduate of her high school class, that was definitely the case, with MU4Gold helping to firm up her decision to attend Marquette.

Dr. Nakia Gordon

The other goal is to foster undergraduates’ interest in research at the beginning of their college career, rather than near the end. Undergraduates often develop a passion for research relatively late in their college career, says Dr. Amelia Zurcher, associate professor of English, University Honors Program director and an architect of the program. As she explained in an article in Marquette’s Discover magazine, by the time students learn about prestigious fellowships like the Fulbright scholars program, they don’t have the time or experience that makes a competitive application. And it’s not all about applying for fellowships—the earlier a student starts research, the farther he or she can take it. MU4Gold aims to give students both the chance to engage in research earlier, and the training and faculty connections to make it happen. It’s an opportunity that few undergraduates, especially freshmen, have.

Dr. Amelia Zurcher

In that sense, for Gustafson, the program has been an absolute success. “I don’t think I would have thought about [fellowship opportunities] had I not been in this program,” she says. MU4Gold even piqued Gustafon’s interest in pursuing smaller-scale summer research during her upperclassman years, and has become a significant part of her experience at Marquette.

“I’m definitely glad that I ended up here,” she says of Marquette, citing close professor connections and an engagement with research that’s far beyond that of her peers, even those in the Honors Program. “Being in MU4Gold and having these mentors early on has helped me find a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t have elsewhere.”

-Kaley Rohlinger

Filed Under: Home - Featured Posts, Research

More news

Changes to Marquette’s COVID-19 alert level

January 22, 2021

Institute for Women’s Leadership to host three-part series on pay equity

January 22, 2021

Humanities Research Colloquium presents ‘Advocacy Within Violence and Vulnerability,’ Feb. 8

January 22, 2021

Celebrate Black History Month this February; registration now open for events

January 22, 2021

Deadline to apply for graduation is Feb. 3

January 22, 2021

Employee Resource Groups accepting new members

January 22, 2021

December Academic Experience Survey results now available

January 22, 2021

Center for Real Estate’s Andy Hunt named to Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list

January 21, 2021

Late Night Marquette to host ‘Bob Ross Night,’ Jan. 28

January 21, 2021

Mandatory COVID-19 testing for students begins next week

January 21, 2021

Students: instructors will now be able to view your COVID Cheq completion status

January 20, 2021

Instructors: you can now view student COVID Cheq completion status for your classes

January 20, 2021

Virtual Study Abroad Fair is Feb. 2-4

January 20, 2021

Near West Side Partners executive director to participate in webinar about strengthening university/city partnerships, Jan. 27

January 20, 2021

Book Marq remodel now complete; view photos of the new space

January 20, 2021

More news

Quick Links

  • Faculty/Staff News
  • Student News
  • Magazines at Marquette

Featured Stories

Starting the new year off right

Starting the new year off right

Counseling psychology research assistant shares how to approach the new year with optimism, growth and positivity after a year like 2020

What we can learn from TikTok

What we can learn from TikTok

Marquette professor innovates with new digital learning

Thankful while facing adversity

Thankful while facing adversity

A student lacrosse player reflects on a challenging 2020

Read more featured stories.

Human Resources News

Registration for January GROW classes now open 

Reminders for 2021-22 health plan ID cards

Marquette’s 403(b) plan updates

Research

Faculty and staff grants: November 2020

Research team receives $745,000 Mellon Foundation grant for Education Preparedness Program

Faculty and staff grants: October 2020

Awards & Accomplishments

Center for Real Estate’s Andy Hunt named to Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list

AMU student employee wins regional award

The Commons recognized for innovative design by U.S. Green Building Council

Marquette UniversityCopyright 2019 by Marquette University
MARQUETTE.EDU // CONTACTS // A TO Z