Last Wednesday, 46 Elon students boarded a bus bound Salisbury, Maryland, to participate in the 22nd National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Traveling with the students were five faculty members: Alexa “Night Talker” Darby (PSY), Evan “Rocko” Gatti (ART), Lauren “Tazo me bro” Kearns (DAN), Anne “Housebane” Marx (LSM), and Karl “Moneybags” Sienerth (CHM/URP). The conference, which spanned Thursday April 10 – Saturday April 12, was hosted by Salisbury University and included more than 2800 presentations by students from over 300 institutions nationwide. This year Elon University ranked 5th (up from 6th last year) in the nation in terms of the number of presentations that were accepted for inclusion in the conference, and Elon presenters represented 31 mentors from 16 different departments and all four schools campus-wide.
Apart from those record-breaking numbers, Elon students were notable in other ways as well. For many years, presentations by Elon students at external regional, national, and international conferences have stood as testimony to the excellent mentoring they receive from our faculty members. “People have told me ‘you’re doing a great job with the Undergraduate Research Program’, but the reality is that all the growth and recognition the Program has seen comes directly as a result of the superior mentors we have and the exceptional students who work with them,” said Sienerth. That quality in research and mentoring is most evident at a large, multi-disciplinary national conference like NCUR, where students are able to compare and assess not only the level of research in which they are participating, but also the strong guidance they receive in preparing for the presentations themselves. “You could tell that we put an extreme amount of effort into our presentations and backed them with quality research,” said Stephanie Murr (HST). Similarly, Amy Duncan (ENG) noted that “The quality of Elon students’ presentations was impressive, on a completely different level than a lot of the other ones I saw. Students knew what they were talking about and articulated it well. It made me proud to be an Elon student — and I know that sounds cliché, but it’s nice to have bragging rights!”
In addition to making their own presentations, students participate in the conference by attending other Elon presentations, selecting interesting presentations by non-Elon students to attend, and generally supporting the travel group. “There was a sense of community amongst the different disciplines the Elon participants represented and we each supported each other by attending one another’s sessions”, said Marella Peele (PSY). The group also enjoyed a very nice meal out at the Chateau De’Ville (more fondly known as Chef Fred’s Chesapeake Steakhouse) one evening while at the conference.