Faculty Resources

Mentoring undergraduate researchers can be incredibly rewarding, even if doing it well makes time and energy. Quality mentorship help students grow as researchers, students, and people. Mentoring can help you develop and hone leadership skills. Undergraduate researchers can also help you progress your research programs. Mentors are often the front-line in helping students realize their potential!

Mentoring undergraduate researchers can be tricky. Below are some best practices and some resources we hope you will find helpful.

Some best practices:

• Have clear communication and set clear expectations. It is helpful to establish an agreement that sets expectations for both the mentor and mentee. This can include time requirements, schedules, expectations of performance, timelines, and goals. The should be revisited and updated regularly. (see some examples below)
• Mentoring should be a two-way relationship.
• Meet with individual undergraduate researchers regularly, not just with the broader research group or lab.
• Mentoring is different than advising or coaching. You will find yourself mentoring and advising but pay attention to what motivates your students and help guide them on their path.
• Talk to other mentors. Mentoring requires some flexibility so get ideas from your colleagues.
• Be patient with undergraduate researchers. They are still learning!

Some resources:

• Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Code of Ethics
• Characteristics of Effective Mentors and Mentees - Michigan State University
• Sample mentoring agreement 1
• Sample mentoring agreement 2
• Sample mentoring agreement 3

Support for Undergraduate Research and Creativity Awards (SURCA)

The call for Summer 2026 projects is now live. Full details, requirements, and the application can be found on InfoReady.

Goals and Purpose:

SURCA’s goal is to enhance faculty-mentored applied learning research and creativity opportunities for undergraduate students.

SURCA is committed to supporting undergraduate research across the diverse disciplines that characterize UNCW and representing the University’s diverse student body.

SURCA encourages projects that integrate students early in their academic career at UNCW, provide new or innovative opportunities for students, provide new programmatic perspectives, and/or expand upon existing work.

Award and Funding Information: 

Up to $5000 is available per project, per calendar year. The dissemination of funds will differ from past years to be more streamlined, but will still need to stay in compliance with university policies.

• Faculty or Graduate Student Mentor - Faculty can receive up to $1000 for mentoring support. Stipends will be added to the June Paycheck. Alternatively, this $1000 can be allocated to a graduate student mentor. Graduate students** must be hired as hourly employees and will be paid at their usual rate (determined by their graduate program) up to $1000 total. Note that combined faculty and graduate student mentor stipends cannot exceed $1000.
• Undergraduate Student - A minimum of $3000 must be dedicated to undergraduate student wages. The student will be hired as an hourly student employee and paid at a rate of $10/hr (subject to applicable taxes). $3000 is the equivalent of 300 hours (20 hrs per week for 15 weeks at $10/hr).* If students work fewer than 300 hours, excess wages will not be paid out at the end of the summer. Any hours worked past 300 hours will need to be paid for on a fund provided by the faculty mentor, before the student can be hired.
  • CSURF will cover the FICA taxes if students do not qualify for exemption. These taxes do not count against the $3000
• Supplies - $1000 can be spent on supplies or travel for research purposes (e.g., to a field site or specific archives). These funds cannot be used for project dissemination (i.e., going to conferences). Make sure to account for shipping fees.

*Students may not receive pay for work specifically required as part of a DIS or any other course in which they are enrolled during the semester of their SURCA work. Additionally, per HR, students cannot serve as an employee and volunteer on the same project. Thus, SURCA projects must be properly sized to approximately 300 hours of work.

**Any graduate students hired as part of a SURCA (regardless of their position) must be approved by the Graduate School and are subject to typical FTE limitations. More information here: Summer Considerations

Faculty Stipends and Supplies funds can be reallocated to other categories, but the project size must match the final dollar amount dedicated to student wages. For example, if $4000 is allocated to student wages, we expect the project to contain 400 hours of work (or 26.5 hrs/week for 15 weeks). Student wages cannot be reallocated (the minimum amount that can be submitted for student wages is $3000).

Student wages cannot be split among multiple students, unless approval is given by the Associate Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

These projects are to take place during the Summer 2026 and it is expected that all funds will be expended by the end of the summer.

Eligibility

Faculty: Must hold a full-time faculty* appointment on the UNCW campus and be returning to UNCW full-time in Fall 2026. (*as defined by the Faculty Handbook)

Students: Must be registered for classes at UNCW within an undergraduate program in the Fall 2026 semester.

Faculty and students may only hold one SURCA at a time. Multiple applications can be submitted but only one will be funded. Students cannot be on multiple SURCAs at the same time.