Letter from the editors

National University colleagues,

We are participating in our University's historical ascent to new heights. National is striving to become a Carnegie IV University, initiating PhD programs and pursuing ambitious goals. The faculty members who are also scholars and researchers play a crucial role in these ambitious efforts. The President's Commission on Research and Scholarship (2002) focused on the University's challenges, goals and expectations surrounding many issues related to research and scholarship. The report's initial section focused on definitions for research and scholarship as well as relational connections. Dr. Nedra Crow, a commission member, provides us with insights and excerpts from the Report illuminating a historical perspective concerning the definitions and expectations associated with research and scholarship.

According to Bavaro's (1995, p.2) review of the literature, research "tended to be narrowly defined as systematic inquiry leading to products such as publication of books and/or articles in professional journals" ... Ernest Boyer's Scholarship Reconsidered (1990) influence on the definition and perception of scholarship followed a trend in re-conceptualizing the terms of scholarship and research. ...(In deed), in Boyer's call for a broader definition of scholarship, he argued such a definition reflected a return to earlier notions of "being a scholar" in this country…. While research is, generally, viewed as activity and related products (i.e., presentations, publication of books, journal articles), the concept of scholarship is boarder, complements the University's mission, and illuminates one's career as well as one's lifetime passion.... Boyer (1990) and other writers (e.g., Miller & Serzan, 1984; Sundee, 1990) called for a re-conception of scholarship, in which teaching and inquiry were integrative as well as supportive. In Scholarship Reconsidered, Boyer recommended four general areas:
        
  1. Scholarship of Discovery: Covers all aspects of research process and associated with the generation and dissemination of knowledge, adds to the empirical base of knowledge. Those engaged in this form ask, "What to be known?" and "What to be found?"
    2.     
  2. Scholarship of Integration: Provides meaning to isolated facts by putting them into perspective and makes connections between across disciplines. Those engaged in this dimension ask, "What do their findings mean?" and "How can this known information be combined in a new or unique fashion?"
    3.     
  3. Scholarship of Application: Involves service through shaping public policy, working in schools, or clinical settings. Those engaged in this form ask, "How can this information applied to other tasks?"
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  4. Scholarship of Teaching: Using innovative methods to bring new knowledge and new meaning of concepts to students such as the production of new curricular, new methods, and assessments.

The Commission's report stressed the need for alignment between the University's mission and its research and scholarship goals, expectations and activities. The Commission on Research acknowledged, celebrated and promoted diverse scholarship and research perspectives and activities.

In this issue of the Research Council's periodical, The National University Scholar, we, too celebrate the roles, goals and achievements associated with rich and diverse scholarly activities. It is within this scholarly embrace we hope to promote and enrich a culture created by each person's contributions and enjoyed by all of us. Our scholarship culture is formed through endless hours of research, countless revisions, saddened disappointing moments of rejection and proud life times moments of achievements. National University's culture reflects and represents faculty members beginning their research agendas, collaborative teams debating future research directions as well as senior professors reaching even deeper for understanding and expression and examination. We celebrate our University's diversity of scholarly activities including and not limited to in-depth research that produces academic papers for peer-reviewed conferences and journals; books and chapters in edited books; media and communication productions of film, audio and internet achievements; creative arts and writing projects; curriculum development reviewed by external professional organizations; and grant efforts seeking external funding.

Our scholarly efforts and culture as well as our research products ensure a myriad of complementary connections reaching into all aspects of National University, such as symposiums; seminars; workshops and conferences. Moreover, our scholarship extends into our teaching activities, curricular decisions, classroom interactions and syllabi frameworks. It is within our classrooms that our scholarly activities touch our students' lives by deeply influencing their learning. Uniting our scholarship and teaching enlivens National  University's overall cultural bearings and links its mission to the faculty's investigative and creative endeavors.

Therefore The Research Council's mission is to promote and support faculty scholarship and research; providing collaborative efforts among the Research Council, Faculty Senate, Graduate and Undergraduate Councils. We hope the Research Council's four new initiatives enhance our scholarly and research cultures as well as deepen our University's mission. As a result, the Research Council is moving forward with four initiatives:

        
  1. Publishing The National University Scholar--a quarterly periodical publishing various useful information related to scholarship and research
    2.     
  2. Publishing The Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching --an annual peer reviewed scholarly periodical with the 1st issue to go online on April  1, 2008
    3.     
  3. Initiating student research conferences the first of which took place during Spring Symposium of 2007
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  4. Conducting annual faculty research conference, the first being successfully launched on September 5, 2007

We invite all University community members to participate in these initiatives and raise National  University to new heights.

References
Bavaro, J. (1995). A review of the construct of scholarship in the literature. Eric, ED 381064.

Boyer, E. L. (1990) Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Miller, A. C., & Serzan, S. L. (1984). Criteria for identifying a refereed journal. Journal of Higher Education, 6, 673-697.