Faculty commitment inspires a new generation of scholars

When visitors walk through the labyrinth of poster displays in Memorial Union’s Great Hall on Tuesday, April 12, during the 2005 Undergraduate Symposium, they may be getting the first glimpse of the next generation of academic scholars.

The UW–Madison symposium has grown steadily in participation and now consistently attracts more than 200 students. This year, 244 students will take part, with 118 poster displays, 68 oral presentations, seven panel presentations and 17 art displays.

Its success has inspired offshoots, such as the UW System-wide “Posters in the Rotunda” event, to be held Thursday, April 7, in the state Capitol. A dozen UW–Madison students will present their work to legislators this year.

An interesting pattern has emerged in the UW–Madison symposium, now in its seventh year. Many faculty members appear year after year as sponsoring mentors, helping scores of students prepare their research for public consumption — often for the first time.

Psychology professor Charles Snowden, one of the frequent contributors of undergraduate researchers, says the symposium can be a career-shifting experience. One good example, he says, might be his own.

“I got involved in a psychology lab during my junior year, and it became a turning point in my life,” says Snowden. “I was a shy kid and first-generation college student who would never have believed I would be capable of lecturing in front of a class or getting my own research grants.”

Adds Snowden: “This type of work promotes confidence. The process in general, and the symposium in particular, is a way to boost the intellectual and academic self- confidence of students.”

Snowden says he takes getting undergraduates involved in research as a personal responsibility. Close to half of his students are either first-generation college students or are from under-represented groups, and research experience can open doors they haven’t even considered. He cites one of his current seniors, a quiet student from a low-income family in rural Wisconsin, whose research expanded her outlook. She’s now mulling three different offers at prominent graduate schools.

“What I’m seeing is a lot of students are pursuing totally different career options than they would have before they became involved in undergraduate research,” he says. “They got involved in scholarship in a serious way.”

William Karasov, professor of wildlife ecology, also adopts a take-all-comers approach to undergraduate research, looking back at his days as a postdoctorate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. The professor who led the lab always had legions of undergraduates interested in lab work, and he found a way to get all of them involved. An informal count shows that more than a dozen students working in one of Karasov’s two labs have made their way to the UW–Madison symposium in the last four years.

Karasov says he sees all kinds of students getting involved, from juniors and seniors who haven’t done research before to first-year students wanting lab work on day one. “Some of those students end up landing their own Hilldale or Holstrom research grants or end up as co-authors on our papers,” he says.

English professor Heather Dubrow agrees. She has also shepherded numerous undergraduates through the research pipeline and says it can be the best experience in their academic careers.

“One of the main goals of faculty is to empower students, to make them aware that their work is of interest to the outside world, not just in an academic context,” Dubrow says. “With this event, it may be the first time their work is presented to other people, and it often builds greater self-respect and self-confidence.”

Laurie Mayberry, who is helping coordinate this year’s event for the provost’s office, says last year’s event produced a steady stream of visitors throughout the day, from faculty and administrators to friends, siblings, parents and grandparents of presenters.

“It’s a very rewarding experience and frequently a highlight of their time here,” Mayberry says.

Students display and discuss their research at the 2004 Undergraduate Symposium in Memorial Union, an annual program to celebrate research, creative endeavors and service learning done by undergrads. Photos: Michael Forster Rothbart

Undergraduate Lauren Silberman demonstrates to Assistant Dean Michael Moss how sport video games can promote learning at the 2004 symposium.

Human ecology students Jennifer Kittleson, left, and Diana Dewi display their “wearable art,” clothing they created using found objects as part of a textile and apparel design class in 2004.