PORTSMOUTH-Featuring students in programs from different colleges across Shawnee State University’s campus, Celebration of Scholarship (COS) is an annual conference allowing students to deliver presentations on their own exceptional research and academic projects. Student participants are mentored by an SSU faculty member and will present the results of their original work in oral and poster presentations before their peers, faculty, and the public.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase your work, looks great on a resume, and will give your work a wide exposure,” SSU COS Committee Chair, Marie Richey said. “These academic works and presentations are seen by the SSU community, local community members, and worldwide via our library database.”

All SSU students who have academic work to present from the past two semesters as well as the current semester are eligible to participate in this year’s COS. The conference features several categories for presentations and presents the opportunity to compete for various award and scholarship prizes.

“Celebration of Scholarship is all about shining the spotlight on student academic achievements here at SSU,” said Richey. “This helps students to show their academic work, get used to public presentation, and receive public recognition for their hard work.”

To participate in COS, students should contact a faculty member to serve as their mentor, or talk with their department chair for guidance on selecting a mentor. Presentations can be done individually or in a group, and students may present orally or in the poster presentation. In order to participate in COS, students must submit an abstract of their work ahead of time for approval by the event committee. Abstracts for the 2023 conference are due by Mar. 10. The conference will be held on campus the week of Apr. 3.

“I am looking forward to the event taking shape,” said Richey. “April is such a nice time on campus with spring and graduation on the horizon, it is perfect time to open campus up and have these presentations. This year we are focusing on bringing back the poster presentations which have been on hiatus due to past COVID-19 restrictions, we also are embracing the flexibility of recorded and in-person presentations.”

To learn more about this year’s Celebration of Scholarship conference at Shawnee State University, visit www.shawnee.edu/cos or contact Committee Chair Marie Richey at [email protected].