Research Symposium

All of Florida’s higher education institutions are invited to participate in the 17th annual Florida Statewide Symposium on undergraduate research. Registration fees are:

• $100 for individual or institutional members of the Florida Undergraduate Research Association
• $110 for non-members

Registration can be found at this Eventbrite link. The registration deadline will be Friday, September 20 at 11:59 PM.

The Florida Undergraduate Research Association‘s Florida Statewide Symposium is a venue for staff and faculty involved in undergraduate research programming around Florida to connect, share ideas, and learn from each other. This year, we are delighted that over 50 speakers from 16 institutions will be sharing their undergraduate research initiatives, best practices, and data and evidence on undergraduate research programming.

The program with all speakers is available here:
Florida Statewide Symposium 2024 – Best Practices in Undergraduate Research Program

You can see an interactive program with abstracts at UCF Libraries’ STARS site. 

Schedule at a Glance

• 1:00 pm – 2 pm: Registration
• 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Welcome
• 2:30 pm – 3:45 pm: Plenary Panel:
  Pipelining Students into Undergraduate Research, moderated by Dr. Ruth Palmer
  
• 3:55 pm – 5:20 pm: Concurrent sessions (workshops and presentations)
• 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm: Poster Session, Reception, and Networking
• 7:00 pm: Dinner on your own

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Chris Quick (Texas A&M University)

New tools you can use now to dramatically increase the quality, size, and accessibility of undergraduate research programs

By adopting community-based mentoring models that emerged from Hispanic, Black, and Indigenous communities and team-based approaches employed by minority-serving undergraduate institutions, the Research-Intensive Community model was developed at Texas A&M University as an alternative to the traditional 1-on-1 mentoring model. Leveraging the sustainability and scalability of multilevel mentoring and the productivity of diverse undergraduate research teams, this model fully integrates research, education, and leadership to train participants, produce research, and transform institutions. Within five years of implementation as coupled research leadership/undergraduate research programs, this asset-based model proved to be scalable, sustainable, and inclusive, forming the basis of the largest, cheapest, and most inclusive undergraduate research program in the nation. By sharing infrastructure, emerging practices, and cross-institutional leadership programs, it has started propagating across the nation at the level of individual faculty member, research group, department, college, university, and university system, especially within institutions whose students are negatively impacted by growing budgetary and legal constraints on programming. 

Christopher Quick, Ph.D., is a Professor and Executive Director of the Aggie Research Program at Texas A&M University. Since joining Texas A&M in 2002, he has been on the forefront of developing novel administrative structures that empower faculty to create sustainable, scalable, and inclusive curricular and co-curricular programs. 

Plenary Panel: moderated by Dr. Ruth Palmer (president emerita of the Council on Undergraduate Research)

Access for All: Pipelining Students into Undergraduate Research

Speakers:

• Michael Mallott (Daytona State College)
• Kimberly Schneider (University of Central Florida)
• Melonie Sexton (Valencia College)
• Latika Young (Florida State University)
  

All the events in the program will be held at the UCF and Valencia’s joint Downtown Campus (500 W Livingston St, Orlando, FL 32801), in the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons and Union West Buildings.

There are a number of hotels in downtown Orlando, near the conference site (UCF Downtown Campus,  500 W Livingston St, Orlando, FL 32801)

Marriott Downtown Orlando:
This hotel is a few yards away from the conference venue and walkable.
The link gives a 20% discount: be sure to select “Marriott Downtown Orlando”.

Residence Inn Orlando Downtown:
 A 10-minute drive from the conference site, these apartment-style rooms have a set rate of $149/ night at the link.
Be sure to select “Residence Inn Orlando Downtown” on the landing page.

Towne Place Suites Orlando Downtown:
A 10-minute drive from the conference site, these apartment-stye rooms currently have a rate of $167/night at the link.
Be sure to select “Towne Place Suites Orlando Downtown” from the list.

Please note that these rates are only available until the hotels reach capacity.

If you have questions about the 2024 Florida Statewide Symposium that are not answered here about the Florida Statewide Symposium, please email our@ucf.edu.

When and where will the conference be held?
The 2024 Florida Statewide Symposium will be held on Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19 at the University of Central Florida’s and Valencia College’s joint Downtown Campus (500 W Livingston St, Orlando, FL 32801).

APPLYING TO PRESENT
When is the deadline for submitting a proposal for a presentation?
The organizing committee welcomes abstracts for presentations related to undergraduate research initiatives, best practices, and data on undergraduate research programming before September 2, 2024.

REGISTRATION
When is the deadline for registration?
The deadline for registration is Friday, September 20, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

What is the cost of registration?
Registration will cost $100 for individual and institutional members of the Florida Undergraduate Research Council (FURA) and $110 for non-members.

• Would you like to become a member of FURA? Please visit this link: https://www.floridaundergradresearch.org/join-fura 
• Not sure if your institution is already a member of FURA? Please email our@ucf.edu.