Faculty and Staff Resources
There are many opportunities for faculty and staff to get involved with the Spring Student Symposium.
Ways to Participate
Sponsor a Student Presenter
Encourage a student to submit an application for a project you are familiar with and review their abstract. Updates will be sent by email about the symposium. Please plan to attend their session or leave them a comment online.
Serve on a Committee
As well as being a student sponsor, faculty and staff are welcome to serve on the symposium committee, its subcommittees or at the symposium as a moderator. If you are interested, please email the committee chairs. Otherwise, all faculty and staff are encouraged to check the schedule and attend student presentations throughout the event.
Presentations
The symposium is open to students of all classes, and is intended to showcase all forms of student intellectual inquiry, including the following:
- Independent research with a faculty or staff adviser
- Classwide research or group projects
- Summer or winter internships involving the meaningful exploration of a topic
- Creative work, including studio art and dramatic or musical performance
- Research conducted while studying abroad
Presentation formats include 15-minute oral presentations, 15-minute music, dance, film, and theater presentations, staffed poster sessions, and artwork displays.
Class Presentations
Most of our oral presentation sessions will involve four 15-minute presentations by individual students from different disciplines on a common theme to form a 75-minute session. However, some presentations are from an entire class on group work. An all-class presentation can be for an entire 75-minute session with one group presentation or multiple individual 15-minute presentations on the shared topic.
Location
The event will primarily be throughout McCardell Bicentennial Hall. Art will be displayed in Johnson Memorial Building. Prerecorded and digital presentations will be posted online for students who could not present in person.
Language Policy
Students are invited to submit presentations conducted in any language. We will, however, require that non-English presentations include English translations in a format appropriate to the presentation’s structure, such as slide subtitles.
Deadlines
The application process for this year’s symposium will begin with an all-campus email message in December, inviting all students to participate. A similar message will be sent in January. Students participating as individuals, small groups, or classes must all submit an on-line application, and each presentation must include a designated faculty or staff sponsor.
See the current application deadline information. Students and their sponsors will be notified of their presentation time and grouping in late March.
Contact the Committee
Please feel free to speak with any member of our planning committee to share questions, ideas, or feedback.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q What is involved in sponsoring students to participate in the symposium?
Sponsoring students for the symposium is a natural extension of doing research with them. By agreeing to sponsor a student you are stating that their research/creative work is worthy of inclusion in the symposium. You are also agreeing to provide your students with mentorship and advice regarding the best way to organize and present their work, and agreeing to serve as an editor of the students’ final research abstract for inclusion in the symposium program.
Q Can an entire class submit a presentation proposal?
Class projects are allowed. Please ask one student to serve as the contact person.
Q What roles can faculty and staff play in this event?
Faculty and staff are warmly invited to attend the Spring Student Symposium. We also ask you to encourage students to participate as presenters, and ask faculty and staff who are familiar with their work to agree to sponsor them. Finally, faculty and staff will be invited to serve as panel moderators/facilitators for presentation sessions that pertain to their area of expertise.
Q May I co-present with my student(s)?
No. Although the research of many of our student presenters will be closely connected with that of their faculty mentors, this symposium is for the students to present their work. However, when appropriate, students should acknowledge all persons involved with the project and also indicate any grants or sources of funding.
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research
Davis Family Library, Suite 225
Middlebury, VT
05753