The R-Nontraditional R&D Institution: Enhancing Pathways for Diverse Learners

Recent American Council on Education (ACE) announcements regarding changes in Carnegie Classifications' definition of research and development (R&D) opens the door to next-generation research and scholarship possibilities. President of ACE, Ted Mitchell, noted a need "to be complex where complexity matters." Adding a dimension of complexity that creates new opportunities to include marginalized nontraditional, working, and military (NWM) students in the enterprise of R&D is much needed. National University's Cause Research Institute (CRI), specifically its Research, Innovation, and Strategy in Education Collaborative (RISE Lab), seeks to fill this void by expanding undergraduate graduate R&D opportunities for NWM students and peer institutions serving this population. Leveraging best practices and innovative ways to conduct applied research, the CRI will serve as a hub that will work with broad-access universities, community colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, MSIs, and K-12 school districts and carter schools in rethinking how research communities can collaborate in new and innovative ways to serve students and faculty. In addition, the CRI will offer evaluation, assessment, consulting, and other professional services to peer institutions and organizations. This session will explore how we can rethink the purpose of R&D to position NWM learners to improve their communities - be it local, national, or international.