Mentors
Why a research symposium?
Students connect with Utah State’s vibrant culture of student research by getting involved in the Fall or Spring Student Research Symposium.
Participating students can learn about research by interacting with presenters as attendees, or, even better, can become presenters themselves. The symposia support individual or group presentations in oral, poster, or performance sessions, along with exhibition spaces for visual work.
Sharing research in a symposium gives students the experience of communicating their work and creative inquiry to an audience. Attendees come with a range of foundational knowledge about the presentation topics, allowing students to sharpen their presentation skills. Both symposia are designed to provide structure and a friendly environment for student presenters. They provide a real academic experience for veterans, while including elements to guide new presenters through the process.
Presenters will also receive constructive feedback from expert researchers on their research methods and presentation skills, and will have the opportunity to network with other research students, staff, and faculty.
Students will receive presentation templates, detailed instructions, and other guidance to ensure they are ready. In the weeks leading up to each symposium, Student Research staff will also provide presentation trainings where interested students can receive one-on-one feedback and training from professional communicators.
The Fall Student Research Symposium is for undergraduate presenters only, while the Spring Student Research Symposium is open to graduate students, as well.
All USU students are welcome to present their research at one of the symposia. Students tend to gain the most out of their presentation experience, however, when they have a faculty mentor to guide them through the research process and help them prepare for the symposium.
How can the symposium experience be integrated into a course?
Typically, the students who stay involved with research after presenting are the individuals who have ongoing support from a faculty mentor. There are many students looking for mentors, who could use your help. If you would like to involve students on a more broad level you can integrate a course into one or both symposia.
Many faculty at USU already incorporate student research into their course syllabi. One way to integrate the symposia into a course is to encourage students to present on that research. Through the symposia, students will present to a more broad audience than what they would reach with an in-class or in-department presentation. Course integration provides the opportunity to deepen the impact of their research experience.
Students can also attend the symposium without presenting, and that could be integrated into the course structure. The options for integrating the symposium into a course are broad!
Faculty that are interested are highly encouraged to fill out the course integration form, as it will help our staff prepare for the needs of your students. You can describe what you want the integration to look like, or, if you’re not sure, you can identify what you would like your students to gain from their participation. In either case, someone from the symposia planning team will work with you to make sure we have the resources and plan to provide the experience you’re looking for.
This form is only for faculty who are encouraging a full course to participate, not for faculty mentoring a few individuals or small groups.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the symposia planning team. We are happy to work with faculty through this process!
What to know about the form?
Student Research staff cannot guarantee that we’ll be able to provide everything requested in the form, but filling it out by the deadline will help us make plans to incorporate as much as possible.
Because of the large number of students involved in including a full course and the intricacy of developing the symposium schedule, there is also a deadline to withdraw your class.
Some faculty want their class to sign up for the symposium, but don’t have special circumstances that require extra planning. Those faculty are still encouraged to fill out the form so the planning staff can make accurate projections of the number of presenters.
The deadline to submit this form for participation in the Fall Student Research Symposium is September 10. The withdrawal deadline is October 31.
The deadline to submit this form for participation in the Spring Student Research Symposium is January 10. The deadline to withdraw is February 29.
Course Integration Resources
Other Presentation Resources