Student Application Process

Student How-To: Community-Based Research in the Student Experience Portal

Community-Based Research deliverables will now be completed using the Student Experience Portal! 

For Capstone Students

Undergraduate students can sign-up for one of our three 4000-level courses where every student in that course completes a community-based research project, either individually or in teams. The structure of these courses, including any lectures or seminars, is focused towards community based research. If you are enrolled in a capstone course, you do not need to submit a CBR Student Application. In September, you will be introduced to the Student Experience Portal and begin your CBR Steps during the course - see below for instructions. 

For Independent Students 

To get set up with a community-based research project, follow these steps:

1. Search: To browse Community-Based Research Opportunities, visit Available Projects or the Experiential Catalogue.
2. Apply: Contact one of our staff or complete the STUDENT APPLICATION FORM.
3. Interview: Once we receive your application, someone will be in touch to arrange an interview with the hosting organization/group/employer and faculty.
4. Start: If a successful match is made, do a celebration dance then begin to refine the research questions and lay out a project plan that everyone can agree to. You will begin your CBR steps in the SEP beginning with Step 4. 

How to use the Experiential Catalogue

To visit the experiential catalogue, visit trentu.ca/sep and click Experiential Catalogue. 

To filter your search results, click the black circle with 3 white lines on the right. 

Scroll down and click to turn on the Community-Based Research filter. 

The opportunities with numbers beside them are our currently available projects. You can also see currently available courses. 

To view the details of a specific opportunity, click to expand it. 

Accessing the SEP: 

Log in to trentu.ca/sep using your student email and password. Click on Experiential Education on the left-hand side of the screen. 

Navigating to your course: 

On the right panel, you will see a list of your Current Experiences. Select your CBR course. Alternatively, you can click “Current Experiences” and select your CBR course from there.  

Step 1:

You will be brought to your Student Workflow, which contains all the steps you need to complete for your CBR workflow. 

Note: If you are already matched to a project, you will skip steps 1-3 and begin at step 4 in the document. CBR staff will manually place you at this step in the workflow. 

The first step is to Select Research Opportunities. To browse available research opportunities and express your interest in your top 3 choices, click “Search Opportunities”. 

You will be able to view all CBR opportunities applicable to your course. Click “View” for more information on a research project. 

Read through the project’s description. If you are interested in the opportunity, you can click “Show Interest”. You can do this for up to three research projects. 

Once you have clicked “Show Interest” you will have another screen where you will need to click the checkboxes to indicate you are “Interested”, and then click “Submit”. You may show interest for up to 3 CBR opportunities. 

Once TCRC has received your expression of interest, we will manually progress you to the next step in the workflow. Once you have been approved, you will go back to your steps and click “Submit Rankings” to rank your projects of interest by preference. 

On the right, there is a box where you will be able to rank your projects of interest, with 1 being the project you would like to do most, 2 being your second choice, and 3 being your third choice. Once you are finished ranking, you can click “Submit”. 

Step 2: 

Click on “Answer Questionnaire” to complete your CBR Student Application.

When you are finished with your application, click “Submit”.

Step 3: 

Once we have received your application, we will send your resume and cover letter to the host organization for your project of interest. TCRC will reach out to schedule a matching meeting. If the matching meeting is successful, we will manually place you with your project and give permissions for you to move forward to the next step. 

Step 4: 

Once you are matched, you will need to fill out some mandatory Risk Management Paperwork. Click “Submit” to view the requirements. You will be required to upload some training certificates as part of this package, which you will complete on Blackboard. 

Once you have read and agreed to the necessary forms and uploaded your training certificates, you can click “Submit”. 

Step 5:

You will be expected to complete a Project Agreement, which acts as a social contract between you, your host organization, your faculty supervisor, and TCRC. This Project Agreement is signed by all parties. Once it is completed and signed, you can upload the form by clicking “Answer Questionnaire”. 

At this point, you are ready to begin your research!

Step 6:

A CBR project has two main deliverables: a research poster, and a final report. In March, a draft copy of your research poster will be due for your faculty supervisor, host organization, and TCRC to review. 

To submit the draft research poster, go to step 6 in your course on the Student Experience Portal and select “Answer Questionnaire”.

Please upload your draft poster as a Powerpoint slide using “Upload New File” so we can provide feedback for your final version. When you have uploaded the version you want to hand in, click “Submit”. 

Please allow some time for review of your first draft before you are given permissions for Step 7.

Step 7: 

To submit the final research poster, go to step 7 in your course and select “Answer Questionnaire”.

Please upload your final poster as a PDF or JPG image using “Upload New File”. When you have uploaded the version you want to hand in, click “Submit”. 

Step 8: 

In early April, a draft copy of your research paper will be due for your faculty supervisor, host organization, and TCRC to review. 

To submit the draft research paper, go to step 8 in your course on the Student Experience Portal and select “Answer Questionnaire”.

Please upload your draft paper as a Word doc using “Upload New File” so we can provide feedback for your final version. When you have uploaded the version you want to hand in, click “Submit”. 

Please allow some time for review of your first draft before you are given permissions for Step 9.

Step 9 

To submit the final research paper, go to step 9 in your course and select “Answer Questionnaire”.

Please upload your final paper as a PDF using “Upload New File”. When you have uploaded the version you want to hand in, click “Submit”. 

Congratulations, you have completed your research! There are two more things we will ask you to do prior to the completion of your course. 

Step 10

We ask that you take some time to fill out the CBR Student Survey.  To do so, click “Submit” and respond to the required questions. 

Once you have completed your CBR Student Survey, click “Submit”. 

Step 11

Lastly, ensure that you submit the number of hours you completed to finish this course by clicking “Submit”. 

If you took a half-credit CBR course, you will have completed 110 hours, and if you took a full-credit course, you will have completed 220 hours. Please see an example of how to fill out your hours below. When you are done, click “Submit”. 

You have officially completed your CBR course! Below are some screenshots of how your Steps will look when you have completed a course.