Claremont McKenna College is now classified and recognized as a robust research institution by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Carnegie Foundation).
The prestigious designation makes CMC one of only four liberal arts colleges in California to be formally recognized in the new category, “Research Colleges and Universities,” elevating the College’s commitment to research within the framework of CMC’s educational focus to prepare undergraduate students for success.
Prolific scholars who earn significant grant support at CMC to fund their research span a wide range of disciplines, including: Sarah Cannon (Mathematics and Computer Science); Esther Chung-Kim (Religious Studies); Stacey Doan, Director of the Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development (Psychology); Devin Fergus (History and Public Affairs); Lily Geismer (History); Paul Nerenberg (KDIS, Computational Science); Albert L. Park (Pacific Basin Studies); and Evan Rosenman (Statistics).
“We are a multifaceted liberal arts college that highly values and supports research, so it is gratifying for us to earn an official designation,” said Albert L. Park, Bank of America Associate Professor of Pacific Basin Studies at Claremont McKenna College. “CMC supports research among the faculty, between faculty and students, and in addition, our students doing their own research with faculty supervision.”
Historically the Carnegie Classification only had two categories—R1 and R2. With the addition of a new category, “Research Colleges and Universities,” liberal arts colleges that previously have not been recognized for their research activity—including institutions such as CMC that do not offer doctoral degrees—are now included in the new classification system.
With 45 percent of CMC seniors working on research projects with faculty, Park said, “I think the research opportunities are why both students and faculty are drawn to our school. The amount of faculty-student research is pretty unique. And it starts with our faculty, who bring the energy. Faculty set the research agendas and bring in students and necessary additional resources, such as grants, to enable us to execute those agendas, and we’re able—for example—to hire students as research assistants, and host important academic events and conferences on campus.
“And we have a strong foundation for this high level of faculty research productivity because of the support we receive from Heather Antecol (Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and James G. Boswell Professor of Economics) and her team, as well as President Chodosh and his office, and our research institutes,” Park continued. In addition, Park credits the infrastructure at CMC, such as staff in Human Resources; the Faculty Support Center; and the Office of Sponsored Research, who partner with faculty on grant support.
“Research,” Park said, “is in the DNA of this institution.”
In another boost to the College’s research resources, CMC, Pomona, and Harvey Mudd Colleges have received a New Opportunities for Research Development/InfoReady grant to develop best practices for a collaborative peer review network at the Claremont Colleges and within the regional research community.
Beth Jager, Executive Director of Sponsored Research at CMC, said the grant “will strengthen research proposals and achieve greater success with grant seeking … to leverage our collective strength (and regional/national partnerships) to create something impactful for our faculty.”