12D-4 - Recruit, Train, Retain: Notes on Undergraduate Outreach Involvement

Abstract: Despite strong interest and availability among undergraduate (UG) students, the planning and execution of university outreach events is largely done by faculty and graduate students. We use our experience as UG students in the 2023-24 school year as a case study to show how to effectively increase UG student participation in outreach and the benefits of doing so. Increasing UG outreach involvement has resulted in more frequent and widespread outreach events, more student engagement with departmental activities, and stronger community amongst students, faculty, and the public. We suggest some basic strategies for UG recruitment and training: introducing outreach through events that require little to no training, developing a training pipeline for student volunteers, and encouraging outreach-based peer mentoring. We find that the retention of UGs is best done through ensuring that outreach is accessible, educational, engaging, and meaningful. Mindful development of a UG outreach community is instrumental to the propagation of the integrity of scientific communication.