Acadia University’s campus will be the site for the third U4 League symposium related to the unique characteristics of the small, student-focused, liberal university model shared by the members of the U4 League – Acadia, Bishop’s, Mount Allison, and St. Francis Xavier.  Undergraduate Research: Power and Possibility is a two-day symposium involving faculty, students, and university administrators that will showcase student research, share best practices in measuring the benefits of this approach to teaching and learning, and develop strategies for celebrating and communicating successes.

“The academic strength of the U4 institutions lies in the close interactions between students and faculty inside and outside the classroom,” says Tom Herman, Acadia’s Vice-President, Academic and host of the symposium. “Because we all operate at a smaller scale than our large competitors, it’s much easier, as faculty, to engage undergraduate students directly in research. Going beyond simply teaching research techniques, we can nurture a sense of curiosity that is at the root of all academic inquiry. In addition to producing extraordinary research outcomes, which are frequently published or presented publicly, we excel in preparing our students for the next steps in their academic careers.”

The symposium will get underway just as many of Acadia’s other Homecoming weekend activities are winding down, but this is deliberate. Students from the U4 League schools share a strong campus and community spirit that reflects their small town settings. Adding an academic component to social and athletic activities connects all aspects of the undergraduate experience. It also allows students and faculty from our sister U4 schools to learn how much the four institutions have in common - another important goal of the U4 League.

The symposium formally begins on Sunday, October 20, with brief research presentations by student-faculty pairs from each institution. These will feature a diverse array of research areas across the arts, sciences, and professional degree programs that are common to all U4League universities. The remainder of the Sunday sessions will focus on the dynamics and logistics of supporting and communicating undergraduate research and a discussion by the students of the impact that their academic experience has had on their lives and future plans. On Monday, the symposium will conclude with a discussion including all participants about developing a set of best practices for supporting, sustaining and promoting undergraduate research and a set of metrics for the successes of student researchers.

“The quality of research at our institutions is outstanding,” says David MacKinnon, Acadia’s Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. “The evidence of this is the success our undergraduates achieve in obtaining funding for their work, as well as the extent to which they are recruited for graduate programs at larger universities. But this is really only part of the story. What’s really happening is that a significant number of students, who entered university with no plans to conduct research, are finding their scholarly niche. They have become enthusiastic about pursuing an area of study that really interests them. For faculty, seeing this type of transformation in students is a tremendous reward.”

For more information about research at Acadia, visit http://research.acadiau.ca/ or to find out more about the U4 League visit www.u4league.ca .

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