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Mentoring via undergraduate research is a proven strategy for individual and institutional transformation. Not only does it provide faculty with a means of giving back by sharing knowledge, skills, experience, and wisdom with students, but it also has the added reward of shaping, molding, and nurturing the next generation of researchers and scientists. The literature (Olson & Riordan, 2012;  Lopatto, 2007; Lopatto, 2010; Gasiewski et al., 2010, Newman, 2011; Espinosa, 2011; Toldson & Esters, 2012; Junge et al., 2010; Blake et al., 2013; Blake et al., 2015; Ghosh-Dastidar & Liou-Mark, 2014, Chang et al., 2014; Davis & Jones, 2020 and Boysen et al., 2020) is replete with evidence that students who are mentored via undergraduate research become better overall scholars—in their course work and also in their approach to learning. Not only do they become more academically mature, but these students also develop a more distinct, focused vision of their future academic pursuits and careers. Graduate and professional studies become attainable options, internship opportunities are sought after, graduation and retention rates are improved, leadership and communication skills are enhanced, critical thinking skills are sharpened, academic potentials are realized, ownership of knowledge is coveted, expectations are elevated, and academic passions are born. Undergraduate research, therefore, provides the milieu in which individual transformation via mentoring occurs and thrives. The added value of all the above is that the transformation goes beyond the individual undergraduate research mentee. Its benefits extend to the entire institution and become the fertile soil in which a culture of authentic research experiences thrive.

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