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With a background in anthropology and archeology, Ann is interested in the way groups of humans work together and what they build. Serving as the director of Fellowship, Opportunities, and Undergraduate Research (FOUR) and newly appointed associate dean for Student Services within the Patrick Leahy Honors College (PLHC), Ann has gone beyond studying the behaviors and outcomes of �պ�����’s undergraduate students; she’s become an invaluable resource and mentor, helping students map out their unique pathways to research, experiential learning, and success. This work earned Ann recognition as one of 12 recipients of the 2023 Our Common Ground Staff Award.

After doing her Ph.D. and working in Michigan, Ann joined �պ����� in 2010 as the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research (now FOUR). It was a shop of one with the charge to expand access to research for undergraduates at �պ�����. FOUR is now a team of three and supports all undergraduate students, despite being housed in PLHC. “Honors students come from all colleges on campus, so this was like a centralizing way we could pull in students from all of these different areas,” Ann shares. It was a natural starting point to build connections and expand the reach of her office, but there were still other misconceptions about what research looked like at �պ����� – and who could do it.

“In STEM, students know that they're going to do research when they go to college. It's now an expectation for them,” Ann explains. “But students in other disciplines? Not so much.” Undergraduate research opportunities are a vital component to �պ�����’s experiential learning model, where students engage in educational pursuits outside of the classroom. One of the ways FOUR highlights the spectrum of research and its inclusivity is through its annual Student Research Conference. Hundreds of students come together to present in a variety of formats, from poster sessions to lightning talks – there is even a creative lounge for projects that are outside the box. Any student, from any discipline, at any point in their research can participate. The multimodal format and broad participation help students recognize their own capacity, and just the mention of it brings a smile to Ann’s face.

Even though events like the conference helped ameliorate what professor of Chemistry Rory Waterman calls a “patchwork of entry points” into undergraduate research, many pathways at �պ����� still “relied on students knowing they needed to take initiative, a scheme that reinforces privilege.” Interconnected experiential learning opportunities, including research, have the highest impact on underrepresented populations including first generation and low-income students, and students of color. Looking at student data and information collected by the FOUR office, Ann refocused her efforts on making FOUR’s offerings more visible and accessible to the students who could benefit from them the most.

“Ann developed a database of opportunities and advertised it to all students. She brings how-to-start information to students around campus, where they are,” Rory explains. And once those opportunities and points of contact are made, Ann is present every step of the way, helping to map out a plan – usually on one of two giant whiteboards in her office. “She provides key advising to help students overcome the speedbumps that sometimes stand between an aspirant student researcher and realizing those ambitions.”

Already known for cultivating strong relationships throughout the university and her unwavering support of students, Ann garnered recognition for her leadership in developing more equitable access. Strategies she implemented within FOUR were later used as a roadmap for the college’s Inclusive Excellence Action Plan. Being equal parts idea generator and problem solver, Ann has demonstrated her ability to plot out feasible, exciting paths towards success for students and campus partners alike.

As far as why she does this work at �պ�����, Ann says that the institution’s size and focus on the undergraduate experience is what truly makes it special. Being a predominantly undergraduate university gives students the opportunity to engage in research alongside faculty (often quite literally) and breaks down a barrier commonly felt in a lecture style setting. “Those hands-on experiences can be so vital,” she adds, and it tends to be a crucial piece to any student’s development. “Research is so fascinating because it never turns out the way you planned. Being able to pivot in those moments…to reimagine a pathway, it changes the way your brain functions.”

As �պ����� closes in on the prestigious R1 classification, grows its graduate student offerings, and ushers through high-level strategic initiatives around sustainability and inclusive excellence, it’s easy to start defining success exclusively through big outcomes or lofty metrics. While she reveres data, Ann talks about success by describing the face of a student who suddenly sees the possibilities in front of them. The value, it seems, is in the personal experience where students discover, plan, pivot, and grow.

“Students can have these explorations, have all these different things that they can weave together so that by the time they get to graduation, they can look back and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I did this.’”