By Dr. Maynard Schaus | April 14, 2010
This year marks Virginia Wesleyan’s 5th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. On one hand, you could argue that five years isn’t much, at least not historically, and certainly not geologically. Even compared to my lifetime or the fairly brief history of the College, five years may not seem like much time at all. On the other hand, five years go by and there is hardly a single student on campus that can remember a time when there wasn’t an annual campus celebration of undergraduate research. Five years can completely change our campus culture, in this case making undergraduate research a regular part of an education at Virginia Wesleyan.
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From my vantage point as Director of Undergraduate Research, I thought I would share five great examples of how Virginia Wesleyan has shown its commitment to undergraduate research during this past year, making it a regular part of what we do.
- This year, 128 students have conducted substantial research opportunities, presenting their work either on campus or at a local, regional or national conference. This represents 109 different projects, some of which are authored by several students, but also reflects that some students have conducted 2-3 different research projects during this past year.
- 2010 is the third year in a row that Virginia Wesleyan will represent the College at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. This year, seniors Elizabeth Melby and Eric Webb will both give presentations in Missoula, Montana, on the process of crafting poetry, including some examples from their own work to illustrate the writing process. In addition to Elizabeth and Eric, 20 other Virginia Wesleyan students have presented their work at other local, regional or national conferences.
- This year we have also had seven current or former Virginia Wesleyan students publish their undergraduate research projects, either on their own or in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Publications involving students have included the Proceedings of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Zootaxa, Journal of Morphology and Freshwater Biology. There are also several more publications “in the works,” based on current undergraduate research projects that will likely be submitted after these students graduate
- Upcoming curricular changes provide us with new and exciting ways for faculty to use research to enhance their courses. This year, Virginia Wesleyan faculty approved a plan to offer 4-credit “enhanced” courses starting in Fall 2011. Each 3-credit course would be changed to add an extra credit of enhancements, which for many classes could include substantial independent research by students.
- Finally, Virginia Wesleyan has recently announced its plan to upgrade our science research facilities and programs. This project will build on the recent addition of a research vessel, and will revolutionize the way that we engage our students in collaborative student-faculty research.
I think that these are all remarkable accomplishments, and I think it is even more remarkable that this type of activity is becoming the norm. At many other institutions, research is restricted to graduate students and post-docs, but at Virginia Wesleyan every student has the opportunity to conduct a research project, either as an enhanced component of their courses, or as an independent project under the supervision of a faculty member. Many majors require a research project of their graduating seniors, and still more offer it as an option for their student. These are exciting times at Virginia Wesleyan, and I am really looking forward to what the next five years will bring.