VCU Hosts the 8th Annual Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University will host the Colonial Academic Alliance’s 8th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference on April 16 and 17.

More than 80 undergraduate students from the alliance’s 12 member institutions will showcase their research by displaying posters or delivering oral presentations. Students from all segments of the sciences, humanities, arts, social sciences and professional schools will participate.

Provosts from the member institutions also will hold their Provosts’ Council Business Meeting at VCU in conjunction with the conference.

Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., FACSM, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, will welcome participants to the conference.

Jeffrey C. South, associate professor of VCU’s School of Mass Communications, will deliver the Friday evening keynote address titled “Communicating With the Masses: News as Research on the Fly.”

Sheldon Retchin, M.D., CEO of the VCU Health System and vice president for VCU Health Sciences, will deliver the Saturday morning address titled “Necessity is the Mother of Invention: The Story of the SwiMP3.” Thomas F. Huff, Ph.D., vice provost for Life Sciences, will deliver the Saturday afternoon address titled “The Life Sciences Revolution of the 21st Century.”

The Colonial Academic Alliance develops, promotes and facilitates collaborative programs and resource sharing to enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness in the areas of international programs, undergraduate research, assessment, student affairs and institutional advancement.

The Colonial Academic Alliance was founded in 2002 by the provosts of the institutions of the Colonial Athletic Association. Members are VCU, the University of Delaware, Drexel University, George Mason University, Georgia State University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Northeastern University, Old Dominion University, Towson University and the College of William and Mary.    

This is VCU’s first time hosting the undergraduate research conference, which rotates among the member institutions.