Building Relationships
"It is an honor to work in the Student Research Assistant Program with someone who possesses such a vast amount of knowledge regarding my field of interest. These experiences have been very beneficial by allowing me to work with materials and subject matter related to my field of study. I also feel that this experience will greatly increase my potential career earnings and lead me to a happy, fulfilling career."
Building relationships that contribute to student success is a hallmark of West Georgia’s personal learning environment. One proven program for developing these connections is mentor-directed undergraduate research. Through the Student Research Assistant Program (SRAP), undergraduates are paired with faculty or staff mentors to collaborate on research or other career-related projects. This paid work in their fields gives students a jump on finding meaningful jobs or pursuing graduate studies while earning money for current college expenses.
As a SRAP student, junior Paul Hearn spent the past year building a paleobiology database under the direction of Dr. Phil Novack-Gottshall in geosciences. The experience has been life-altering and set him on a new course. His career interests have evolved from work in construction to pursuing the SRAP experience which illustrated the lifespan of marine invertebrate trilobites.
