Lumberjack Summer Camp: A Cross-Institutional Undergraduate Research Experience in Computer Science

This paper describes our experiences in leading Lumberjack Summer Camp (LSC), a 10-week undergraduate research experience in compiler-based optimization techniques for functional programs, held during the summer of 2000. Like many undergraduate research experiences, LSC was designed to provide an opportunity for students and faculty to work closely together toward a common research goal. But LSC was designed around an additional aim as well: to bring together a critical mass of researchers from two small liberal arts colleges to pursue individual research projects situated within one overarching, collaborative, cutting-edge research endeavor. We explore some important consequences of this design choice, ultimately offering LSC as an unusual, but very workable, model for undergraduate research experiences.