The Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) offers a unique opportunity for students to complete undergraduate research projects alongside faculty mentors. Through a competitive selection process, the SURE program is one way that Stonehill affirms its commitment to undergraduate education by providing our students with high-quality experiential and interdisciplinary learning opportunities that foster critical thinking, free inquiry, and the interchange of ideas. 

Each summer, the SURE Review Committee confers the following three honorary designations on exceptional SURE projects whose undergraduate research and academic merit exemplify the purpose of the SURE program.  

The Pohlad SURE Scholar designation is conferred upon the student(s) who receives the top ranking for a non-STEM-based research project. The top ranking is determined through the SURE Review Committee’s evaluation process based on criteria that include: (1) strong student academic records; (2) potential student contributions to the Stonehill community through leadership; and (3) the potential for the SURE research project to result in a scholarly article that contributes to its academic field.  

This designation honors the Pohlad Family’s generosity in establishing the SURE Endowment Fund, which serves as a critical source of support in perpetuity for the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience.  

The Louis Liotta SURE Scholar designation is conferred upon the student(s) who receives the top ranking for a STEM-based research project. The top ranking is determined through the SURE Review Committee’s evaluation process based on criteria that include: (1) strong student academic records; (2) potential student contributions to the Stonehill community through leadership; and (3) the potential for the SURE research project to result in a scholarly article that contributes to its academic field.  

This designation honors Professor Louis Liotta’s longstanding service and leadership to Stonehill College. Professor Liotta established the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience in 1996 because of his belief that offering students hands-on research in their chosen areas of study is critical to their personal and professional development. This commitment to student development resulted in his personal mentorship of nearly 100 students in his lab and his foresight in establishing the SURE program to include student and faculty researchers in disciplines well beyond the traditional sciences.  

The Hayden Family SURE Scholar designation is conferred upon the student(s) whose project exemplifies a commitment to research at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and social justice.  The academic leadership of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice (CRES) works in partnership with the SURE Review Committee to select the Hayden Family SURE Scholar(s) based on criteria that include: (1) strong student academic records; (2) potential student contributions to the Stonehill community through leadership, particularly at the intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (3) the potential for the SURE research project to result in a scholarly article that contributes to its academic field. 

This designation honors the Hayden Family’s generous commitment to establish and endow the James E. Hayden Chair of Stonehill’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice. The Center is an interdisciplinary hub for innovative and interdisciplinary teaching, research, and public dialogue that bridges academic experiences and student life. CRES supports faculty and student research examining how race, ethnicity, and other categories of difference are infused into power structures.  

Contact Information:

Craig A. Kelley

Craig A. Kelley

Associate Vice President for Academic Operations
Academic Affairs