The Week in UR - April 10, 2026

Happy Friday! Indeed it is a particularly happy Friday, with much to celebrate, as we close in on these waning weeks of the spring semester. These foregoing weeks certainly are the busiest in the life of UR, both at TSC and all around the country, and this particular moment in the spring semester always brings much occasion to look back, reflect, and celebrate all of the good work accomplished in the preceding academic year. And so that is mostly what I’ll endeavor to do here.

Certainly the most significant event in these last few weeks in UR was TSC’s Seventh Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, which took place last Wednesday, April 1 (No foolin’!). Without a doubt, this year’s symposium was distinct for the exceptionally high quality of student research that was on display, the result of an especially rigorous abstract review process implemented this year. Of the 110 students to submit abstracts, just 78 were ultimately selected, resulting in a field of presenters that was unparalleled for the sophistication of the work they presented. All of our presenters should be very proud of the achievement represented by their selection to present at this year’s symposium, and I know that I speak for the entire faculty in extending you congratulations on this achievement. I invite all friends of the Undergraduate Research Program to give this year’s symposium program a careful read. It serves as a testament to the high quality of research mentoring to which TSC students have access, and to the exceptional work that TSC students routinely produce. It’s also worth mentioning that the symposium was just good fun, to boot, with students presenting a variety of work, in different presentation formats, and across all disciplines, including the fine arts! Here are a few images (Including some that move!) from last week’s symposium for your viewing pleasure.

Elise Ray Mohallil and Vivian Leeds

Bishal Ale and Samantha Hall

Arrista Corral and Dr. Joseph McNeil

And speaking of the high quality of TSC students’ research experiences, perhaps the best gauge of our impact is the incredible success that our alumni enjoy when they leave us for our partner institutions, Florida A&M University and Florida State University, both universities with high research activity. Certainly one of the highlights of last Wednesday’s Undergraduate Research Symposium was hearing from our alumni speaker, Musa Tumsah, at our closing awards ceremony. Within just a few months of transferring to the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Musa was selected for a prestigious research assistantship at the Center for Advanced Power Systems, one of our nation’s premier research centers studying renewable energy technologies. What Musa shared about his experience was instructive for students interested in continuing their research experiences upon transfer, and incredibly rewarding for all of us who had the opportunity to work with Musa during his time at TSC. Then, just this past Wednesday, I had the great pleasure of attending Florida A&M University’s annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, where I was delighted to hear presentations by two of our TSC Undergraduate Research Program alumni, Nickolas Harvey and Joi Monsanto. Seeing how they have both grown as researchers since transferring to a major research university is incredibly gratifying to see as a member of TSC’s faculty. They’re also two of the kindest individuals you’ll ever meet; even though they were busy presenting, they still spared a few moments to take a couple of photos, so all of us can see how well they’re both thriving as FAMUans.

Nickolas Harvey

Dr. Daniel Beugnet and Joi Monsanto

But wait! There’s more! And I don’t just mean more of this never-ending blog post. For all of our student researchers who just completed a research experience during the 2025-2026 academic year, there’s still one more research opportunity yet to pursue: Publication in the TSC Undergraduate Research Journal (TSC URJ), the College’s fully online peer-reviewed journal publishing research carried out by TSC students. While a conference presentation is an important means of disseminating research findings, and connecting with other researchers, it does have the disadvantage of being somewhat ephemeral. That is, it happens at a fixed point in time, and only those who attended will ever benefit from it. Publication in a peer-reviewed journal, meanwhile, is indelible. It creates a permanent record of your research findings that never goes away. And in the case of TSC URJ, every issue is archived in perpetuity, so authors can always link back to their publication, including in applications for graduate school, employment, and the like. TSC URJ really does represent an unparalleled opportunity for TSC students. Complete information about the submission process can be found on the journal’s web platform at https://journals.flvc.org/TSCURJ.

 

One final note on the way out: The Undergraduate Research Program will be working much more closely during the 2026-2027 academic year with other campus partners to expand and enhance research opportunities for TSC students. In particular, we’ll be working closely with the TSC Libraries, including their recently dedicated Innovation Hub. On the subject of TSC URJ, one aspect of the publication process that has bedeviled our authors in the social sciences is following the conventions of Turabian style. As an interdisciplinary journal, articles in TSC URJ typically adhere to the style guidelines that are most prevalent in the discipline in which the research was carried out. For at least some of the social sciences disciplines, that style is Turabian, a variant of Chicago style. Responding to this need, the TSC Libraries is offering a workshop that will provide, as succinctly as possible, a crash course in Turabian style. The workshop will be offered next Friday, April 17, from 12:00 to 1:00, in the TSC Main Campus Library. And free popcorn will be on offer!

That just about does it for this Week in UR. And I’ll admit, that is quite enough. But spring semester is always the busiest time in UR, so there’s always a lot to say. And we’re not quite done just yet for the 2025-2026 academic year. Indeed, I’ll be back in another week or two with still a few more exciting announcements to share, so stay tuned for that. Until then, I wish everyone a pleasant denouement to the spring semester, with thoughts pleasantly and perennially veering in the direction of slower paced days ahead.