The College of Staten Island recently concluded its annual Undergraduate Conference on Research, Scholarship, and the Arts, a major event that nears the close of the academic year. The Conference allows students to present the research they’ve conducted with faculty mentors over the year. Alongside research-based presentations are creative works of art, inventions, and music and theater performances by students. Notably, this year’s conference was one of the College’s biggest in history, with more than 275 student participants from 22 different departments at the College.

Associate Provost of Faculty Success Laxmi Ramasubramanian, PhD, who also serves as principal organizer of the event, felt it was important to mention, however, that an event like this does not come about overnight. “There is a lot of planning that goes on for this event, and work starts about eight months before the Conference actually happens.” she said.

The first step is inviting CSI students to participate alongside their faculty mentors with whom they have done research. Over these months, the Office of the Provost for Faculty Success offers workshops to help students with their posters, from designing them to printing them before the Conference. The weeks leading up to the conference include making sure the posters are grouped by department, ordering food for students, recruiting volunteers for set up, securing all the publishing and print work for the event, and managing registration for the day of.

Dr. Ramasubramanian expressed her excitement for the popularity of the event this year. ” I was particularly delighted that we focused on research, scholarship, and the creative arts – the diversity of presentations is what makes this event unique and special for me,” she said. Dr. Ramasubramanian gave credit to her office which allowed for a successful showcase of CSI student’s hard work.

The effort behind-the-scenes did not go unnoticed by the many student presenters, performers, and attendees.  Jordan Swanson, CSI junior, and student-athlete stated “I think the conference went well. I really enjoyed it.” She also went on to speak about how much she learned during her research with Dr. Berger from the Psychology Department, which only exemplifies the merits of this annual event. Many fellow student presenters remarked how lucky they were to be able to learn from one another and be exposed to new ideas.

When asked what she thought about the conference as an attendee, Laura Mehmetaj, CSI alumna and Office of Academic Support staffer, said, “As an attendee this year, I was exposed to a ton of new research outside of the department I studied in during my time here as a student, which I feel benefits everyone who was able to attend. I was also able to help out one of our student presenters with the culmination of his research which was a great experience.” Overall, the CSI Undergraduate Conference on Research, Scholarship, and the Arts is a tried and proven event that benefits our students and their time at CSI. With the increased numbers in attendance this year, the hopes are that even more students will get involved in future years and get featured in the Conference for years to come.

To see a full gallery of images taken at the event, visit the CSI Today Photo Gallery below:

By: Jacky Zhao