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Vertical Integration (presence of team leader(s), graduate students, and undergraduates at various levels of experience) on the team allows for students already on the team (vs. the team leader exclusively) to mentor and onboard new students to the team.


Some team leaders also have success with creating small sub-teams of 4-6 students, with mixed levels of experience within each sub-team - so each sub-team has built-in leadership.

VIP courses most often run as (small group) Directed Research at the level of the department or college- ex. BME 392 (Dept, UG level), or INFO 592 (College, GR level). However other options are possible if you dept/college prefers another setup. Whatever the VIP course, please tag it with the VIP course attribute available in the registration system - it is under Research Experience (REXP) and the VIP attribute is "VIP."

It benefits VIP for students to be enrolled, even if it is just for one unit, so we can show the impact of the program, and students involved can be tracked in the U of A system as "students participating in research, scholarship or creative activities."

See more detail on enrolling students: VIP Enrollment Guide

Yes, if funds are available and you are able to hire a student as a research assistant who would not otherwise be able to participate in your VIP Team (or participate as fully), hiring students has the potential to expand access to research for them. You can hire students from your own funds or check with the VIP Program Coordinator to see if funds are available for the VIP program to hire and pay a student through the federal work-study program. 

See more details on hiring students: VIP Hiring Guide

Yes.
Here are two recent examples:

Syllabus for a large (40-person) lab-based VIP Team

Syllabus for a small (6-person) VIP focused on secondary data analysis 

VIP course structure is up to the Team Leader(s). But, suggested elements include: 

  • A common document for all participants to refer to - a syllabus, a mentor-mentee compact, or at minimum a list of course expectations and required assignments.
  • Required/Graded Assignments, which could include:
    • VIP Notebooks checked periodically (these could be physical notebooks, Google Documents set up by the instructor, or a wiki updated throughout the semester - VIP Notebook Check Rubric.
    • Peer Evaluations at mid-term and end-of term (see this Excel sheet shared by another VIP program for how this might be set up)
    • An end-of-semester final presentation (poster, talk) for the team or a broader audience  - VIP Presentation Rubric.

Some VIP Teams also may use:

  • Website/wiki creation or updating with what has been accomplished in a particular semester.
  • Student-selected individual “final projects” where they create something to benefit the team in the future.

Please email Program Coordinator Kay Orzech, kmcelvee@arizona.edu

She can direct you to a VIP template to be filled in with your grant details, and ensure the letter is signed by the VIP Faculty Director.

Please allow at least 5 workdays for this to happen!

If you have been funded by a VIP Catalyst Seed grant, you can include the text “Funded through a VIP Catalyst Seed Grant.” 

If you are a health sciences/medicine team funded by a Catalyst Seed Grant, you can include: “Funded through a VIP Catalyst Seed Grant with matching funds from Health Sciences Design.”

For a more detailed acknowledgement of VIP student work, see this example. 

You are always welcome to include the University of Arizona VIP Logo on posters:
Link to the light-background VIP logo

Link to the reverse (dark background) VIP logo