Research Symposium Focuses on Undergraduate Students: iRISE-UP

The first university-wide undergraduate research symposium was held on March 2, 2016 at the Willie R. Tempton Memorial Student Center with over 200 students, faculty and staff in attendance.  Integrating Research in Student Engagement-Undergraduate Program: iRISE-UP is a competitive poster presentation that provides a hands-on experience for students to practice their presentation skills and to demonstrate a keen understanding of their research projects.

“Research is the foundation of knowledge acquisition. Research engagement is fundamental to making the undergraduate a better student, and eventually better at his/her chosen profession and career”, states E. Gloria Regisford, Ph.D., who served as the 2016 iRISE-UP Committee Chair.

The symposium was supported by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies and by the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences.  There were 113 abstract submissions for the event.  96 posters were submitted, printed and judged.  Judges for iRISE-UP included faculty, staff, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. Fred Bonner II, Professor and Endowed Chair in Educational Leadership and Counseling at Prairie View A&M University provided the keynote address and enlightened the audience with  his research on gifted Black males .  His work has been featured nationally and internationally. Dr. Bonner is the author of the recently released book Building on Resilience: Models and Frameworks of Black Male Success Across the P-20 Pipeline.

Students were prominently featured on the iRISE-UP agenda which included presentations by Yassine Cherif – College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, Jeaiza Quinones – College of Arts and Sciences, James Gipson – College of Education, and Moiz Sheihk – College of Engineering.
Posters submitted by college/school are as follows: