Happy Friday! It has been a truly unbelievable week in UR. And I do mean that, like, literally. Indeed, I’m half convinced that it might all just be one extended false memory. Because the fact is, it’s been a very, very good week in UR, and I can’t quite believe that it really happened. So allow me to recap, and then let me know what you think.
It all started out unassumingly enough. On Monday, I met with our seven FURC presenters. J.T. got called away, so I was the one who spent an otherwise fine hour of my afternoon getting peppered with questions that I couldn’t begin to imagine the answers to: Where do we leave our cars overnight? What time are our presentations? What does the venue look like? Who attends this thing, anyway? And what do I even we wear? I hadn’t the foggiest. It didn’t help that these are probably some of the smartest folks on campus. No kidding around. They’re the ones with the sense to eschew the usurious tuitions charged by the R1s for a community college, and then take advantage of every single blasted opportunity on offer, all while taking on not a penny of student loan debt. If only I could go back 25 years… But I suppose we muddled through alright, and they’re a lovely group of young people. As long as I told them the right place to meet next Friday (I do have my doubts), we’ll have ourselves a fine time. As important, they’ll show the entire FL UR community what community college undergraduate researchers are capable of, and learn a lot whilst doing it.
When I returned to my office, sweaty and cold, and feeling much as though I’d just been on trial for my own life, why what did greet me but an email from J.T. containing three of the finest UR Fellowship applications one could ever expect to see. And just like that, we were made to become not only a fine new academic program, but a Bonafide grant-making authority. Impressive stuff. And the applications were quite astute indeed. I called Heather at the Foundation right straight away. (I notice she’s started answering my calls by saying, “What?” I can’t imagine why.) ((I really am joking, of course. Heather is always lovely to talk to. And if you’re reading this, Heather, please don’t cut our funding. Please?)) But when I told her I had a good reason for calling this time, and told her of our great success, she was just pleased as punch, and not for nothing neither. Because I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. (Because, by golly, this newsletter just ain’t long enough.). Community colleges don’t financially support student researchers. Like ever. This was a seriously innovative idea, and with very little time to implement, we’ve demonstrated proof of concept. Next year, if the Foundation is on board, and I feel certain that they will be, we’ll open the applications in the fall. For a great many students, I think this program will serve as a serious motivator to engage in a research experience. And man oh man does it ever look good on a CV.
So that was about the best Monday any UR practitioner could
ask for. But then, there’s more. And here’s where I begin to question my
relationship to reality. Little more than twelve hours later, I did find
myself, inexplicably, where else but on the radio, talking about UR, of all
thing (But, of course, what else?), on the
Greg Tish Show. (But haven’t you heard of TSC Tuesday?) “Dan
on the radio?” You might be asking in consternation. “Talking about UR, of all
things? How on earth could this have happened? And why???” Well, Occam’s razor,
and all of that. Someone backed out at the last possible second, and I was the
only one still in the office past COB on a Monday evening. That’s how. But…and
I must stress this point…I could not have found a warmer reception from Greg
and his producer, Mattie Rowe, both TSC alums, who were genuinely enthralled by
all of the opportunities that our little UR program is now offering to
students. As TSC alums themselves, they immediately grasped the value of what
we’re doing here, and it was good to get a reminder of just how significant
that is, which is, of course, nothing less than leveling the playing field of
higher education, offering experiences that historically were restricted to the
rarified cohort of students privileged enough to study at an R1 institution,
never mind that UR is just about the most powerful best practice in higher
education, based on decades of research now. Dare I say they were a little
jealous of our current students? I think that just might have been the case.
And that is a powerful indicator that what we are doing is far greater than
coordinating some niche student activity. This is a cause well worth all the
effort that we might invest into it. Anyway, if you want to listen to a couple
of the most entertaining radio hosts you’ll ever meet nerd out on UR for half
an hour (and trust me, you do), pop on over to the following link, and give it
a listen:
And then, as if all of that wasn’t enough good news, late on Tuesday afternoon, symposium abstract submissions, which had been sitting stubbornly at around 10 or so for weeks on end, started suddenly ticking rapidly upward which, certainly not coincidentally, followed on the heels of the Public Relations and Workshops Committee’s third and final abstract writing workshop of the academic year. What’s more, they haven’t stopped coming in since. Now, still days out from the deadline, the total count of abstracts submitted is sitting right at 41, for the moment. Who knows what the final count will be, but that is a record-breaking number of submissions at this point in the process, with still five calendar days to go before the deadline. This excellent showing strongly suggests that our sustained communications throughout the year have had a significant positive impact, at least in terms of keeping the symposium top of mind for a great many students and faculty. On another note, it strongly suggests that we may just have a whole lot of abstracts to review in the coming weeks, so let’s do our level best to keep some time open in our schedules between next Thursday, February 13, and Friday, February 21. Whatever happens, it is now known that there will be a significant number of abstracts to review during that time.
All of this is assuming, of course, that this week ever happened at all. Let me know your thoughts? And while I await them, I think I’m due for a nice, restorative nap. Then, when I awake, I hope that I don’t find that all of this was just a very pleasant dream. I think not? Nay, I think this all might be turning out just as we had planned. Maybe even better. And there’s much to look forward to. Have a great weekend, everyone.
Dan
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