The 14th annual Undergraduate Research & Scholarly Work Symposium will soon be underway, offering students from across disciplines to present scholarly projects and research completed while enrolled at Waynesburg University. The deadline to register is this Friday, March 27.

This year’s symposium will be held on Wednesday, April 22, in the Center for Criminal Justice & Forensic Investigation building from 5:30 to 8 p.m. 

This event offers undergraduate students the chance to present their work completed during their time at WU in both poster-style or oral presentation sessions, said Dr. Christian Hayes, assistant professor of biology and director of marine science. 

“Not only are students getting a chance to present, they’re essentially getting the publication of sorts,” Hayes said, referring to the events program booklet.

The program booklet prints the title of the project, the names of the student and the professor, who the student worked with and the abstract for the project.

According to an email sent out to all students, this year’s symposium is being spearheaded by Hayes, accompanied by Dr. Edward Sutter, director of the counseling center, Charles Chen, instructor of computer science and Chaley Knight, instructor of psychology.

When discussing the application process, it was decided that students must have worked on their projects with a professor specifically, or be enrolled in a research studies class, Hayes said. There are only so many oral presentation spots, but poster presentations are not limited. The symposium is not restricted to certain majors, and everyone is encouraged to apply. 

There will be multiple judges reviewing each presentation, Sutter said, these judges will be making the final decisions based on set criteria focused on execution not content.

Each participant will receive a score and feedback from the judges based on the criteria, shared by Sutter, including:

• The title of the poster. That it is properly conveying the topic of information that is being presented.
• Clearly defined term. The terms throughout the poster should be clearly defined in common and easy to understand language.
• Readability. The content should be clear and concise. 
• Design or Presentation. The overall poster, including layout formatting and graphic design elements. 
• Communication aspect. The presenters should effectively and accurately relay the information from the poster to the judges and others in attendance.  
• Conclusion or results. Students must demonstrate how their projects made an impact or yielded beneficial results. 

Hayes said that once all the presentations are scored, two winners will be selected: one for best oral presentation and one for best poster presentation. The awards will be handed out by Provost Dr. Mindy Walls along with a cash prize. 

The symposium was originally started by Chad Sethman, former associate professor of biology, Hayes said. They had worked on this event together in past years starting in 2021 but once Sethman left, Hayes filled the position. 

Previously presented posters are displayed on the fifth floor of Stewart Science Hall for everyone to view, Hayes said.

Historically honor students have been involved in the staffing for the symposium, Hayes said, but anyone is welcome to join the team. Light refreshments will be served.