Undergraduate Research Symposium coming together
Emerson Csorba - Wed Nov 02, 2011Well, I’m writing this in a bit of a rush as we are in the last five minutes before the URS submission deadline and the submissions are flying in. We have about 130 at the moment, but I've lost the exact count. At 5pm on the nose, I will send them off to the Review Committee so we can read through the second half of abstracts (we reviewed the first 60 last Friday). There is the chance that 20-30 submissions will not be accepted, as the cap for the event is around 100 student submissions.
The last three weeks could be described as full tilt. Preparation for the symposium has been non-stop, but a lot of fun. And the Undergraduate Research Symposium Team has stepped up big time, from filming student videos with U of A multimedia to brainstorming for the November 17 dinner set-up. I cannot thank them enough for the work that they have done and will do over the next two weeks.
We have also raised $5000 over the last three days, thanks in large part generous contributions from the following faculties: Science, Campus Saint-Jean, Nursing, Education, Native Studies and Medicine/Dentistry. These funds will go toward student awards at the closing ceremonies. During the February-March 2011 executive elections, I set the goal of raising $10 000 for awards. I plan on hitting that target, hopefully by the end of this week.
It is time to go, because the 5pm deadline has hit and the Review Committee is waiting upstairs in SUB 424. But for now, I can say that the Symposium planning is well on its way. We have so much left to do, but as long as we make every day count from now to November 17, we’ll have a marquee university and SU event ready to go.
Cheers,
-Emerson
