Listen Here
Kelsey Nevius
@kelnevs
All classes are cancelled on April 1 to encourage students to attend, participate in 9th annual Symposium
When the morning of April 1 rolls around, UF junior Madelaine McBride won’t be worrying about an April Fool’s Day prank. Instead, she’ll be preparing her research to present at The University of Findlay’s Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity.
The Symposium is an event that McBride is personally looking forward to. She has submitted her proposal and hopes to speak to her peers, faculty, and other members of Hancock County at the Symposium.
“This year I am participating in the Symposium because it is a good opportunity for me to present my research,” said McBride. “Also, presenting at the Symposium could be used as practice for presenting somewhere else like a conference or a job interview because the Symposium allows you to present, possibly for the first time, in a setting that is more familiar and comfortable.”
The Symposium is a common event on campus every year, but it wasn’t always that way. On April 17, 2007, the first Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity was created to give students like McBride an opportunity to grow academically.
“The Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity (SSC) grew out of two separate events, Academic Excellence Day and the Honors and Awards Ceremony. Academic Excellence Day was the brainchild of Marjorie Schott who was the chair of the Honors Program in 2001,” said Rebecca Quintus, college librarian for health professions, pharmacy sciences and original member of the Symposium Committee. “She was aware of similar events at other campuses and wanted to try something at our University.”
After the combination of the two events, Academic Excellence Day and the Honors and Awards Ceremony, the Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity was born. Since that time, students have been taking advantage of the academic day.
“The first SSC was held on April 17, 2007 and had about 79 student participants and 48 presentations,” said Quintus. “Last year’s event had more than 300 participants and 150 presentations.”
The Symposium as we know it today has grown into a huge event to celebrate academic excellence. Today, it holds a greater meaning and reaches a broad span of students and topics.
“The Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity is in its 10th year. It is a day-long event that provides undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to share their research, creativity endeavors, and professional learning experiences with the University and the community,” said Darin Fields, Ph. D, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. “Students can give traditional oral style conference presentations, exhibit creative talent in music, dance, and art, and there are poster sessions as well. Additionally, each of the Colleges present their awards to distinguished students, and they invite prominent alumni to return and speak to students.”
The day is full of events, including student presentations about a multitude of topics and award ceremonies for students who have excelled at their academics.
For the first time, this year’s Symposium will be an entire day long, according to Jeremy Cripps, PhD, member of the Symposium Committee and professor of accounting.
“There will be no classes for the first time and this is to encourage students to take time out to attend their college celebrations listen to visiting speakers and then attend student presentations,” said Cripps.
Because of the dedication of both students and faculty at UF alike, the Symposium will be the biggest and best it has ever been so far. The benefit the event will have to students is especially exciting.
“I think that the Symposium shows how UF students are doing more than just sitting in classrooms and doing homework; it shows how students are actually applying their knowledge and expanding it to fit situations outside the classroom,” said McBride.
