Harper makes case for community college research grants

For two years, Jim Tufts has conducted original research in Harper College’s chemistry labs, working on a project that he acknowledges is a little tough to explain unless you’re a researcher yourself.

Such opportunities are rare among community colleges nationwide, and Tufts, a Palatine resident, is one of a growing number of Harper students signing on to participate.

Over the years, Harper’s student researchers have analyzed dietary supplements, researched blood-clotting enzymes and examined the quality of water in local creeks, reservoirs and ponds.

Tufts’ project, which deals with hydrogen storage and polymers, got him doing graduate-level research in his first semester on campus.

“It’s real research, and we are really furthering science,” he said. “I enjoy chemistry, and I wouldn’t be saying that without this experience.”

He told his story this fall in Washington D.C., at a hearing aimed at urging lawmakers to fund additional community college research programs. The research he’s done, Tufts said, has changed his life.

“Nothing has given me more purpose,” he said in Washington. “And it’s about more than pursuing science. It’s about creating confidence. I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without this.”

Nearly half of all American university students begin their education at community colleges, and more than one-third of the undergraduate students now enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses are taking those classes at the community college level.

Officials with the Council on Undergraduate Research say such data makes a compelling case that undergraduate research programs like Harper’s are vital to the nation’s success and competitiveness, and should be more common.

“We believe such research has to start in the first year of college,” said Nancy Hensel, executive officer with the Council on Undergraduate Research, noting such programs also provide a critical foundation for students who plan to transfer to a university degree program. “I think it’s important that Congress knows programs like this can make a contribution to the goals we have as a country.”

Harper launched its chemistry research program in 2005 with help from a National Science Foundation grant. Since then, nearly 75 students have participated. All have gone on to pursue four-year degrees in chemistry or related disciplines, amassing $300,000 in scholarships along the way.

Research fellows, chosen by professors following an application process, spend hours in Harper labs throughout the semester. Their summers, which afford them the opportunity to take on additional research stints on the campuses of colleges like DePaul and Illinois State, often are more intense.

The fellows, Tufts among them, say the payoff is worth it.

Tufts came to Harper several years after his Palatine High School graduation, after deciding the career path he was on — he’d started his own software company — wasn’t what he wanted to do for life.

A chemistry professor he encountered in his initial term on campus encouraged him to try Harper’s research program, and it wasn’t long before he was hooked. He never looked back.

Today, Tufts has completed two summer research internships and plans to transfer to a university to complete his bachelor’s degree, the next step toward his eventual goal of earning a doctorate in chemistry.

“Community college research may be one of the most effective ways to engage students,” says Harper Provost Judy Marwick, who called for more such opportunities at the Washington hearing, “and students who are engaged personally are more likely to persist toward a goal of earning a degree.”

Harper College now is working to spread research beyond chemistry, and potentially beyond the sciences.

“I’m there to support it,” Marwick told lawmakers, “because I’ve seen the difference it makes.”