NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Our vision is an academic community without borders, a connected network of aspiring student scholars committed to the advancement of knowledge and appreciation of the arts. UReCA fosters the exchange of intellectual and creative work between undergraduate students, providing a platform where students can engage with and contribute to the advancement of their individual fields.

While musing over the lack of a venue for undergraduate research and creative activity for honors’ students, professors Brian White (Graceland University) and Johnny Maclean (University of Montana Western) pondered the idea of a Web journal to meet that need. Inspired by the experiential education model used by Partners in the Parks, Johnny and Brian saw another opportunity for honors students to engage in experiential learning. Their vision: an international undergraduate journal, peer reviewed and produced for the web by an interdisciplinary community of honors students.

Discussions with the NCHC Publications Board led them to Linda Frost at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) who proposed that the new journal be housed at UTC. The basic idea was to sponsor an Honors College course at UTC, led by Russell Helms, whose job it would be to coordinate and publish the new Web journal. The name UReCA (Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity) was chosen, and the journey, underwritten by the NCHC Publications Board, began in the Fall of 2015. The UReCA class has evolved into a student-led production seminar, grounded by nine editors at UTC who work closely with twenty-two nationally selected editors from NCHC-affiliated colleges and universities. The journal continues to be published in November of each year and is now open to all currently enrolled undergraduate students both national and international.

Our mission is to curate relevant, progressive and academic content that appeals to the undergraduate student. We, the creators, are also the audience, and therefore are attuned to the interests of our peers; we commit ourselves to becoming the number one undergraduate journal in the nation. UReCA is sponsored by the National Collegiate Honors Council, and is currently managed, edited and produced by a team of 31 undergraduate honors students from every NCHC region and a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Though diverse, we share a common goal: the production of a prestigious national journal, for students, by students.