Student/staff presentation numbers surge for OSCAR Expo

A celebration of growth, creativity, curiosity and hard work by students, faculty and staff will be on display at the 2024 Student Research and Creativity Exposition, featuring a hefty increase in the number of presentations.

The event is Thursday, May 2, from noon to 6 p.m. in the Williams Center.

Each year, undergraduate and graduate students in all academic disciplines are invited to present their work. Formats for presentations include oral presentations, poster presentations, multimedia presentations of scholarly and creative work and live musical or theatrical performances.

“This year, we’re excited to report a 25 percent increase in proposals submitted compared to the previous year. As a result, we’ll have over 100 presentations, musical and dramatic performances, and posters representing a wide array of programs and majors across campus,” reported Office of Scholarly Creativity and Research (OSCAR) Director Jill Reese.

The opening ceremony is at noon in the Blue Lounge of the Williams Center. As is an OSCAR tradition, students who have been selected to receive the Undergraduate Research Award, established by Dr. Donald Nelson Nasca through the Fredonia College Foundation, will be recognized.

This year, seven students and their projects will benefit from support from the Nasca award.

Also to be acknowledged will be first recipients of the Mentoring the Future Award. For this new award, current SUNY Fredonia students nominated former teachers (K-12) who provided exceptional mentorship critical to their development as the next generation of scholars, researchers and/or artists.

“We’re excited that one of the three teachers selected for the award will be on campus for the opening remarks with a group of students from their high school,” notes Dr. Reese.

Bobby Slisz, a Pine Valley Jr./Sr. High School teacher and recipient of the Mentoring the Future award, and his students will tour the campus, talk with SUNY Fredonia students and attend the expo.

Refreshments will be served throughout the day.

In addition to the performances and presentations, the expo will host five simultaneous panel discussions from 3:20 to 3:50 p.m.

During each panel, students and faculty will talk and answer questions about high-impact, applied-learning opportunities on campus that include study abroad programs, internships through the Career Development Office, student/faculty research through the Partners in Inquiry and Creativity Program, business competitions and internships through the SUNY Fredonia Center for Innovation & Economic Development (CIED) and programs through the campus Intercultural Center.

The panels will be followed at 4 p.m. by additional refreshments and a keynote speech delivered by Dr. Miroslawa Wielopolska-Szymura, a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at SUNY Fredonia. Presentations, performances and posters will continue through 5:50 p.m. before the expo’s concluding event, a performance in the Multipurpose Room by the a cappella group The Guerrillas.

See the Office of Student Creative Activity website for more information about the schedule and specific performances and presentations.