Third Annual Academic Excellence Conference
KEENE, N.H. 3/17/03 - Work by over 100 of Keene State College’s top students will be showcased at the College’s third annual Academic Excellence Conference, to be held Saturday, March 29, in the Lloyd P. Young Student Center. Among projects to be presented at the conference will be a workshop about developing fitness programs for people with disabilities, a report about the use of beetles to control invasive plants at KSC, and an investigation of the best practices for school counselors who work with adolescent girls who inflict injury upon themselves.
The conference is an opportunity for students to exchange intellectual ideas with their peers and faculty and to develop professionally, said Ann Rancourt, associate vice president for academic affairs at KSC. “The conference serves as a place for students to share their work with the College community, with parents, and with the community in general,” said Rancourt. “This conference exemplifies the quality of students we have at Keene State.”
Proposals, which had to be endorsed by faculty members, were submitted to the conference committee in December. The committee chose the best abstracts from the submissions and these were entered into the conference.
To cater to the diverse range of presentation material, from a performance of songs from the Holocaust to a report on the influence of Britney Spears on American morals, students were asked to choose from six different presentation formats. These included workshops, performances, poster sessions, oral presentations, and panel and roundtable discussions. Each presentation will take about 30 minutes.
The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with a welcome by KSC President Stanley J. Yarosewick. The presentations will begin at 9:40 a.m. Dr. Al Taylor, professor of mathematics from Union College in New York, will deliver a keynote address during the presenters’ luncheon.
“We’re holding the conference on a Saturday so parents and community members can attend,” said Rancourt. “People seldom have a chance to see the academic side of life at college. This conference is a good exhibition of the academic work Keene State students are doing.”
The conference is co-sponsored by the KSC Honors and Enrichment Program, the Student Center Office of Programs and Leadership Development, and the Student Assembly. The partnership, said Rancourt, reflects a shared commitment to academic excellence between the offices of academic and student affairs at the College.
The full conference schedule can be viewed at www.keene.edu/academics/honors/ aecschedule03.pdf.
For more information, contact Donna Hinz, administrative assistant to the associate vice president for academic affairs, at 603-358-2104.
