On the fourth floor at Mount Sinai Hospital, Farah Rahman, a junior, is observing patients with her mentor, Dr. Benaroya. She is studying a case of hip dysphasia, a hereditary disease that can cause crippling lameness and painful arthritis in newborns. But she is not a doctor, nor a lab technician. She is just an undergraduate researcher.

Instead of spending her summer relaxing, Rahman is one of many undergraduate students at Stony Brook with a very harrowing schedule.

Rahman was one of a lucky few undergraduate students able to find her desired research position. ‘It’s all Daddy’s connections,’ she said jokingly when asked about how she got her job. ‘You either have good grades, or good luck,’ Rahman continued.

And SBU is not alone when it comes to highly competitive research positions.

For decades, SBU has lauded itself as a research institution. Many administrators brag about the discoveries made by scientists here as well as the highly qualified professors teaching students; 97% of full-time faculty holds a doctorate or the highest degrees in their fields.

Some critics claim that Stony Brook’s reputation as a research university comes at the expense of undergraduate education and that most undergraduates never experience genuine research.

Students and educators have criticized the quality of education found at many research institutions. The Boyer Commission, which President Shirley Strum Kenny heads, is a national commission that surveyed the nation’s 123 research universities in 1998. According to the commission’s published report, ‘Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America‘s Research Universities,’ US ‘research universities have too often failed, and continue to fail, their undergraduate populations.’

More often than not, the report said, the standing of a university is measured by the research productivity of its faculty, with departments emphasizing faculty research rather than undergraduate education. Graduate students are prioritized over undergraduates because they are essential as research assistants on faculty projects, and their placement as post-doctoral fellows and new faculty reinforces the university’s standing.

Students at Stony Brook have complained about the difficulty in obtaining research positions. ‘I really wanted to do research, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it,’ said May Castro, a biochemistry major.

Other students claim that obtaining research opportunities at Stony Brook is relatively easy as long as the student in question has the grades, usually an A in the subject in which they wish to pursue research.
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Stony Brook offers two programs for student researchers, Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, URECA, and Long Island Group Advancing Science Education, LIGASE.

URECA provides summer funding for researchers and many students find this program helpful.

But others complain about the sparse research opportunities posted on the ‘Bulletin Board,’ which lists postings of available programs. On Sept. 3, 2007, some of the postings dated back to 2003.

The URECA website also ‘suggests’ that students find the ‘Department Research Liaison,’ or the undergraduate faculty director of the specific department. For some students, this experience can be overwhelming.

‘I emailed a few professors, but I was rejected or I never received any response back. I lost confidence in the process,’ said Trisha Barua, a biochemistry major.

Another student, Vicky Chen, faced similar obstacles. ‘I went to the department liaison for biology, Ms. Ellen Lopez, but she told me to check out random labs. I did so but most professors were hesitant in accepting me. I did not have any prior experience.’

‘We encourage students but in the end, a lot depends on the students’ own initiative,’ said Karen Kernan, the director of programs for URECA.

Much of the decision process depends on the professor, said Michael Hadjiargyrou, the associate vice president for Research and associate professor of biomedical engineering. While some professors preferred to have students with some prior research experience, others do not require it as long as the student’s grades are strong.’

‘We are constantly being asked so we could afford to be choosy, it’s not like there is a shortage,’ said Hadjiargyrou.

Sidney Gelber, the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Stony Brook from 1971 to 1981, has written that the massive growth of SBU in the 1970s came at a steep price: a lowering of admission standards which resulted in an inferior undergraduate education, intolerable housing conditions, and growing disappointment among faculty.

University officials were not available to comment.

But, according to a 1986 Management Task Force Report commissioned by the previous President John Marburger, ‘We see ourselves as the graduate institution on the Island, but this sole mission is not supported by the state.’ This mission does not take into account, the report said, ‘the aspirations of the constituents, such as tax payers and undergraduates who produce significant financial support.’

A follow-up report in 2002, ‘Reinventing Undergraduate Education: Three Years After the Boyer Report,’ claimed that universities have improved and made ‘considerable headway’ toward focusing on undergraduate education. Administrators at nearly all of the universities surveyed reported that they were stressing the importance of teaching undergraduates, which has affected decisions regarding promotion and tenure more than it did a few years ago.

‘The university was born as a research institution,’ said Peter M. Baigent, the vice president of student affairs. ‘It is in the last ten to twelve years that we focused more on undergraduate education.’

The 2002 report also said that the majority of faculty members nationwide remain more interested in scholarships than in teaching. ‘All of our faculty teaches; this is true for most research departments. It is one of our primary responsibilities, and a chance to recruit students to work in our labs,’ Hadjiargyrou said.

Around 40% of the universities replied that undergraduate education is now a ‘major consideration’ in those decisions, but it is not clear that universities’ values have changed.

At Stony Brook, faculty awards still cater to researchers rather than quality professors. ‘I personally believe that if you have a professor who is very well funded in research but is not as good of a teacher, than yes, they will receive tenure,’ Hadjiargyrou said. ‘You can be the greatest professor, but if you have no research then you will never receive tenure,’ he continued. In comparison, the standards for a four-year liberal arts college are different.

Stony Brook administrators are still wrestling with the transitioning of focus from research university to undergraduate institution, both in practice and in conversation: ‘The infrastructure at Stony Brook is to facilitate research,’ said Elizenda Mondesir, the assistant university budget director. ‘No,’ she corrected herself. First, ‘stimulate teaching, and the second is to stimulate research.’