Students’ deadline to submit proposals for this year’s Conference on Undergraduate Achievement is this coming Friday, March 6. The College of Math and Sciences andCollege of Language, Culture, and Arts are partnering for the Empower Your Dreams event taking place on March 19.The event’s flyer said, “We invite proposals for papers, posters, performances, creative writing readings, art displays, and exhibitions. Students from all disciplines will have the opportunity to share their scholarly and creative accomplishments with the entire university community.”Phillip McArthur, dean of the College of Language, Culture, and Arts, said, “The purpose of the conference is to give students an opportunity to present their original work. It could be anything from textual analysis of literary text to scientific research. They get the opportunity to present their research - to organize and present it, and have that experience of going before an audience and being asked questions about it from their peers.”When asked what advice he would give students writing their abstracts, McArthur said, “My recommendation is to be as concise and clear as possible. In the 150 words they have, state the title, what it’s about, what are the most interesting findings that are compelling and of interest to others, and any conclusions they can make from that. It’s an exercise on being pithy, concise, and articulate. It’s a good practice for future careers. It’s not just about getting your paper admitted to the conference. It’s about learning how to even render what you’ve done and sum it up really tightly.”Rose Ram, the associate Academic vice president for Assessment and Accreditation, said she prepares students in her research class to present at the conference. She advised students to, “Look at what is required in your proposal, definitely work with your faculty mentor, have peers read it, and be very creative about your abstract that makes people excited and draws people in. An abstract that is well written will leave the person reading it very intrigued and wanting to come hear it.”Rae Robinson, a junior studying painting from Texas, said she is preparing to submit her proposal. “I’m just excited to show my art in any way I can, especially to a different audience that doesn’t normally view it. I think it’s really nice that they open it to visual arts. It’s fun to combine and come together with many of the same ideas and views, but just in a different way of portraying it.” Robinson said she is going to submit a collection of her pen and ink drawings, a couple portraits, and a collage of the Pacific Island temples.McArthur said he was excited for this year because the winner of the music presentations will be able to play with the Honolulu Symphony. He said, “We have a whole day where students move towards becoming professionals.” In regards to the presentations, he said. “They have not only used them for their resume, but also some of them have reworked them and submitted them for publication and were able to get them in a publication in a smaller journal before grad school. Those are really good moments in reflecting over the conferences the past 15 years.”Ram said she looks forward to every Winter Semester for this event. “For me, the most thrilling part of being able to mentor students to get to this conference is to be able to see that confidence in the student grow. That’s the richness. If I can do that for them here, it will set them up for greater success in the future.”Uploaded March 3, 2015
Writer: Mackenzie McLeod
