Eight seniors from the University of Hartford Honors Program have been selected to present their research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research in April. The annual conference will be held at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash.
The selection process for NCUR is very competitive, according to Honors Program Director Donald Jones.
“Students have to submit applications,” Jones said, “Those were due in early December. They’re reviewed, and then the students were notified in mid-January that they were accepted or not.”
The research is based on the students’ senior theses. Each begins work on his or her thesis during junior year. Then, they commit to a topic through a proposal that they turn in at the end of October, and work with a faculty mentor to do in-depth research on his or her selected topic.
The topics of those selected vary, as the eight students come from different majors and backgrounds.
Andres Olarte, a double major in Economics & Finance and Marketing in the Barney School of Business said being selected is a huge personal achievement and privilege for him.
“I was born and raised in Columbia,” Olarte said, “I never thought I would be writing a thesis for a private university here in the United States.”
Colleen McLoughlin, a double major in Rhetoric & Professional Writing and Politics & Government in the College of Arts & Sciences, said, “I’m just really excited to go to the conference to hear other people’s presentations. I think it’ll be really cool, not only in my field…but other fields as well and especially other students from the University of Hartford.”
This is the second year in a row that students from the UHart Honors Program have been selected to present at NCUR.
“I think it’s a way to really distinguish the particular students, but then just the overall quality of the honors program,” Jones said, “Such a large majority of the students presenting for the second year in a row proves the first wasn’t just a fluke or anything so it’s wonderful for the honors program.”
The other students presenting at NCUR are Natalie Dukette (Economics major, A&S), Joshua Gischner (Judaic Studies major, A&S), Reed Ashley Haight (Psychology major, A&S), Conor Knox (Mechanical Engineering major with an Acoustics concentration, CETA), Michelle LaValle (Biology/Pre-Med major, A&S), and Adam Stankiewicz (Multimedia Web Design and Development major, University Studies).