Many of you engage in meaningful research and creative work outside of formal coursework - yet these experiences often do not appear on your academic transcript.
Beginning in Fall 2026, URCA 290 (Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity) provides a simple, standardized way to address this. This zero-credit course allows you to receive transcript recognition for mentored scholarly or creative work, while also enabling faculty to formally record and report their mentoring contributions. As a zero-credit course, registering for this course will not impact your eBill or financial aid. URCA 290 is flexible by design - expectations and workload are determined by your faculty mentor and tailored to the project. If you are participating in programs not otherwise for credit, such as the Teacher-Scholar Program or the Pepsi Grant or other similar opportunities, you may enroll in this course so that your research activity appears on your transcripts for these experiences as well. How do you enroll in URCA 290? You just need to ask your mentor about it. Your mentor’s department will work with your College’s Scheduling Specialist to create a URCA 290 special permission section and provide them with your Ball State ID number. After they set this up, you may enroll in that section before the add/drop week ends.
Best regards,
Stephanie Simon-Dack, PhD
Vice Provost for Research
Professor of Psychological Science