Students went to poster presentations and networking sessions in the Verizon Ballroom Oct. 23 to prepare for their honors thesis.
The Honors College conference was created so students can start thinking about their honor thesis, said Katie Wilson the Honors College associate director for Student Success.
The conference gives students examples of projects, and the people they should contact to help them create it, Wilson said.
“It’s an individual, unique research program,” Wilson said. “They pair up with a faculty member to do a project of their choosing on a kind of specialized topic in order to individualize their studies.”
The Honors College Research Conference is not the only event students and faculty can get involved in, said Jennie Popp the Associate Dean of the Honors College. The honors college has workshops that teach students how to put together research proposals. Soon, the Honors College will be debuting a new process that will allow students to submit their honors thesis to ScholarWorks.
Last year the conference had good turnout, but this year was better, Popp said. A few unique things were brought to this year’s presentation.
“The college of education and health professionals, Dr. Michelle Gray who is the honors director there and a professor of exercise science has brought her aging suit,” Popp said. “So you can put on that suit and know what it’s like to feel like me.”
Sometimes those presentations lead to greater opportunities, said Michael Zachary the technical director of the Honors College. Last year there a sustainability student last year who did a presentation on ebikes, which later turned into a larger project.
“Something that you would see in a big city is now here in Fayetteville,” Zachary said.
One of the main goals of the conference is to bring in faculty to develop thesis projects and programs, Zachary said.
Williams said students’ present posters at the conference and attend sessions, so it is up to faculty to reach out and let the Honors College know about the really impressive posters and projects.
“Getting faculty on board and helping out is the next step,” Zachary said.
Author:
Halie Brown – Heb006@email.uark.edu
Sources:
Jennie Popp
Katie Wilson
Michael Zackary
Research:
Peer Reviewers: