For context, it is useful to know that the Missouri State University Faculty Handbook defines faculty research as:
…the production and formal communication of creative scholarly works. The nature of research varies widely among different academic disciplines, but generally refers to the discovery, refinement, and synthesis of information; the application of information to the solution of problems; and artistic activity. In the context of each academic discipline, research produces creative outcomes that are formally communicated to and vetted by peers.
This definition, based on the work of Ernest Boyer, is intended to include scholarship across disciplines and colleges. Further, the University interprets this definition to include a broad range of scholarship, including the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Scholarship, teaching and research are all aspects of a quality education. If teaching and its related activities are defined as the learning and communication of that which was already known, research is the discovery, synthesis and communication of that which was not previously known.