SET Domain: Undergraduate Research

SET Home

Domain Description

This domain encourages students to strive for academic excellence by conducting undergraduate research that transcends the traditional classroom assignment. Students are encouraged to select a topic, analyze the related literature, and create new knowledge that could potentially contribute to the field. Because every academic discipline maintains different standards for scholarship, each individual school will define its own acceptable criteria for undergraduate research.

Examples and Criteria

Activities that satisfy this category must occur under the direction of a faculty member. Examples include but are not limited to:

  • Completion of a substantial scholarly project conducted by an undergraduate student under the guidance of a faculty sponsor, 
  • Completion of a department-approved research-based course, such as Honors Thesis, Senior Thesis, Student Teaching Seminar, Nursing Research, etcetera.

Getting SET Approval

To receive SET approval for the Undergraduate Research category, students can submit the activity through their Sentry Secured Services account.

Log into account and click on Submit SET Activity under Academics: Sentry Secured Services.  The RMU SET Guide to Submitting an Activity gives step-by-step instructions on completing this process.

If you would like the title of your research project included on your SET, please email set@rmu.edu with the title as you would like it to appear after submitting the activity through Sentry.

Please note that the faculty member overseeing the research project is the authorizing faculty sponsor. Approval of activities in this category lies at the discretion of the faculty sponsor.  All research activity must conform to the requirements set forth by the RMU Institutional Review Board (IRB).

*If a student is part of a large group or class submitting the same activity to one faculty/staff member, please ask the authorizing faculty member his or her preference for submission of this activity. He or she may prefer to submit the activity as a group.

Questions should be directed to the Student Life Office at set@rmu.edu or (412) 397-5956.