Invited Letter: Primary focus is to work toward embedding opportunities within required courses

As a quick introduction, my name is Professor James Hewlett. I am a Professor of Biology at Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) in Canandaigua, NY. In addition, I serve as the Program Coordinator for our A.S. Biotechnology degree program. Outside of my faculty role, I have served as the Executive Director of the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI) since 2007. With over 140 institutional partners, CCURI has focused on a mission of expanding opportunities for community college students to engage in an undergraduate research experience. The primary focus at Finger Lakes Community College is to work toward embedding these opportunities within the required course sequences and then provide additional opportunities for deeper exploration by participating in an active student research group. Although the current CCURI initiatives and efforts at FLCC are now operating at scale, the journey associated with this scaling effort continues to be defined by what can only be described as modest beginnings.