CSU Pueblo Students to Present Original Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity During the 9th Annual Spring Symposium on April 7

The 9th Annual Spring Symposium: A Celebration of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 7 at the Learning, Innovating, and Networking Center (LINC) located on the second floor of the Library and Academic Resource Center (LARC) at CSU Pueblo. The symposium features poster, oral, and creative presentations by undergraduate and graduate students at CSU Pueblo. 

The mission of the Spring Symposium is to serve as a forum for the dissemination and discussion of original research, scholarly ideas, creative activities and to foster interaction among students, faculty, and the local community. Dr. Stuart Benkert, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success, is the chair of the symposium this year. “Research and creative inquiry places all that the student knows into stark relief as it rarely works quite as expected,” Dr. Benkert said. “As students begin to think like researchers, they learn to see failures as opportunities to ask questions, reframe problems, and try new approaches."

The symposium is open to all majors and works from across multiple academic areas of study will be presented. To participate in the research symposium, students were required to identify a faculty advisor or mentor to provide approval for abstract proposals. Students then chose between an oral or poster presentation or a creative demonstration to present their work. Each presentation style will operate between specific time slots throughout the day. 

Students who have selected an oral presentation will be allotted 20 minutes to discuss their research and respond to audience questions. Student panel presentations will rotate continuously in 30 minute increments beginning at  8 a.m. until 4 p.m. There will be four poster sessions divided into two-hour time slots. Session I begins at 8 a.m., Session II at 10 a.m., Session III at noon and Session IV at 2 p.m. Creative demonstrations will be delivered by either an individual or group of students to include music, art or multimedia presentations. These sessions are available continuously from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. All sessions are open to the public. 

According to Dr. Katie Edwards, a visiting assistant professor at the School of Nursing, junior and accelerated nursing students will present their work through poster presentations. Her students worked together in groups of four to six students per poster, totalling 18 presentations at this year’s symposium. Topics range from nursing shortages and staffing issues to the best way to care for patients with various health concerns.

“My students work extremely hard to learn translational research and then apply it to a hot topic of concern in current nursing practice they have seen during their clinical time. The research symposium is a wonderful opportunity for my nursing students to meet presenters from different disciplines across campus and discuss their scholarly work. I love how the whole campus comes together to showcase our students' many talents,” Dr. Edwards said. “Nothing is more joyful or meaningful to this educator's heart than to see the deep sense of accomplishment in my student's eyes when they present scholarly work that they are proud of to their ThunderWolf peers, campus community members, Pueblo community members, and community healthcare professionals.”