The 2006 Students Partnering with Faculty (SpF) Summer Research Program is a competitive program that has been developed to support and advance student and faculty research and scholarship at Kean University. Through the SpF program, full-time faculty have the opportunity to submit proposals, in collaboration with undergraduate full-time students enrolled in the current semester, for the purpose of attaining funding toward a specific student-faculty research project. The Students Partnering with Faculty Summer Research Program is managed and administered by the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP). Through this program, and the author's many prior efforts that have involved undergraduate students in various research and professional development experiences, three students were selected and awarded an opportunity to study convective initiation in the New Jersey region. The participating students integrated their coursework related to research activities to see the significance of associated analytic and technical skills to research. Their participation complemented their classroom learning and provided real professional development with “chances to succeed and fail” as they further developed their critical thinking skills and identified problems and solutions as they performed the research. The students also interacted with one another, their peers (academic year), non-majors (presentations, mentoring, tutoring), and professionals (partnering). Interactions with the author, as well as other faculty members, will continue to occur throughout subsequent academic years and/or semesters until and including after their graduation. The SpF component of the Kean University Meteorology Research Program complements the use of Independent Study during the academic year and summer terms, Seminar (and Honors Seminar), and Special Topics as means of involving undergraduate majors in research and professional development opportunities. They also have formed the basis of collaborative work with professional partners in the region.