Visiting Undergraduate Student Researcher Information for Departments and Schools

Departments at Rice have the ability to offer experiential research-based learning opportunities to current Rice students and visiting students. When departments identify these openings, they facilitate soliciting applications and selecting students for participation. Visiting student researchers are undergraduate domestic or international degree-seeking students at their home institution who are invited to conduct short-term research or participate in a mentored or independent research project or collaboration with a faculty member at Rice. Visiting student researchers who have completed their undergraduate degree or are graduate students should be processed through the Visitor Portal.

Application Process with the Office of the Registrar

The Office of the Registrar assists departments with helping visiting student researchers get set up in the student information system as a visiting student.

After the visiting student researcher is selected and invited to campus by the faculty member, the following information is needed to set the visiting student researcher up in the student information system:

Student submit to the Office of the Registrar:

  1. Visiting Student Application;
  2. Payment of $100 application fee in the application. (Departments who would like to pay the $100 application fee on behalf of the VSR should submit a request here.)

Submit to the department (please upload completed documents to your department's Rice Box folder):

  1. Official transcripts from each institution the student has attended. (Transcripts must be sent to the department directly from the school or the student may provide the transcript to the department in a university sealed envelope).
  2. Dean of Student’s Recommendation form or letter of good standing. (The Dean's Rec/letter of good standing must be sent to the department directly from the school or the student may provide it to the department in a university sealed envelope).
  3. Proof of Meningitis Vaccination if the student is under the age of 22.

Registration Process with the Office of the Registrar

All visiting student researchers will be registered for Visiting Research through the sponsoring department. The Visiting Research course is a zero-credit hour course that is set up for the visiting student researcher for each term that they are on campus participating in their research program. The course number will be 007, and will be graded on an S/U basis with instructor permission required.

Additional Information Regarding Course Registration

  • The visiting student researcher, on their application, will identify the department they are working with and the faculty member. A section will need to be set up on the Course Schedule for each faculty member bringing in visiting student researchers to campus each semester. The OTR Program Manager will schedule the section using CourseLeaf CLSS if a section does not already exist.
  • The Visiting Researcher course will typically be scheduled during the 1st half of the term and the 2nd half of the term. For students who are conducting research in-between semesters, their courses will be scheduled during a "pre-term" or a "post term". As such, for each semester that the course is on the schedule, for each faculty member teaching, there can be multiple sections set up. The student will be registered according to the start date and end date listed on their application for each part of the term (and subsequent terms) that they are on-campus. The dates for the parts of term can be found on the Part of Term Calendar under the Standard Part of Term table.
  • The Office of the Registrar will collect the start date and end date from the student on the application, and will verify with the department that the student should be registered before registering the student for the Visiting Researcher course.
  • After the student is registered for the course, the faculty member will be responsible for submitting a grade for the student for each section that the student is registered for and completes.
  • Students can order a transcript after their research experience ends, or at any point after their student record is set up through the Office of the Registrar’s Transcript Request process.

International Visiting Undergraduate Researchers

For visiting international undergraduate research-only students, the department must work with the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) to collect/prepare the documentation necessary for the appropriate immigration category. We recommend working with OISS and OTR concurrently in order to avoid delays in processing.

Procedure

  1. Please contact the Program Manager in OTR (registrar@rice.edu) as well as OISS (oiss@rice.edu) to let them know about the visiting undergraduate researcher you are inviting. Please do this before submitting any documents, or asking the visiting undergraduate researcher to submit the visiting student application.
  2. You will need to upload other documents to Rice Box, as directed on the OISS website. Both OISS and OTR will review the documents uploaded.
  3. After OTR receives approval from OISS, and the student has completed the Visiting Student Researcher Application, the Program Manager at OTR creates a student record. OTR will email a department coordinator and OISS with their student ID. The student will receive an automatic email about how to set up ESTHER and net ID.
  4. The Program Manager at OTR will also create a section under a SUBJ 007 course and register the visiting undergraduate researchers the course. If they will stay at Rice over different semesters, OTR will make a section for the SUBJ 007 course each semester. Please note that the department is still responsible for grading (which needs to be done every half semester).
  5. Please email OISS (oiss@rice.edu) and OTR (registrar@rice.edu) if there’s any change in the duration of the researcher’s stay.

See the OISS website for instructions regarding international status compliance.

FAQs

Can Department Coordinators fill out and submit the visiting student application form?

No. Visiting undergraduate researchers will need to fill out the form because they will need to read and agree with Rice policies on the application.

Can OTR start making a student record/issuing a student ID before Department Coordinators upload all the documents to Rice Box?

Unfortunately no, but please contact OISS and OTR in case of emergency.

I'm a department, can I pay the application fee on behalf of the student?

Departments who would like to pay the $100 application fee on behalf of the VSR should contact the Office of the Registrar.

Who should I contact to set up a folder in Rice Box?

Before granting you access to the Rice Box folders, you will need to confirm that you have completed the following steps:

Go to https://rice.app.box.com/login Login with net ID and password In the upper right, click on your name Click Account Settings Click Sharing on the top

  • Change the following in Sharing to match these:
    1. Shared Links can be viewed by: People in your company and people in this folder only
    2. Allow Shared Links for: Folders and files
    3. Default permission: People in this folder or file
    4. Link viewers can: preview the shared item only
    5. Incoming invitations: Check Automatically accept incoming collaboration invitations
    6. Email Notifications: please see the picture below

Additional tools to help ensure the safety of protected data are described on https://kb.rice.edu/page.php?id=68327. Please read through that page as well.

You will also need to complete FERPA training (or have completed FERPA training within the past two years).

After you have completed the account setting changes and have read through that short webpage, email the OTR Program Manager (registrar@rice.edu), and they will add you to the folder.

Why do we need SUBJ 007 courses for visiting undergraduate researchers?

Visiting undergraduate researchers need to be registered for coursework while at Rice in order to be in compliance with their visa. This course has been set up specifically for this type of visa program.

Why can’t we use the visitor portal?

The visitor portal is to invite scholars who are not paid by Rice through Payroll and have completed an undergraduate degree.

If visitors get an ID through the visitor portal (the ID number starting with V), since it’s not associated with the student record, it won’t let visitors get registered for courses or obtain transcripts. Please upload documents to Rice Box so that OTR can review documents to create an ID number with student record.

How can I pay a stipend to a visiting student researcher?

The visiting student researcher will receive payment as a trainee. Departments should follow the process found here. Questions regarding this process should be directed to Human Resources.