Mount Hood

Why do students like performing at AES? Three reasons!

Why do students like performing at AES?

  1. It’s a direct exhibition of all the hard work that students have been doing; you get a chance to perform for a real audience,
  2. It’s a professional setting, so you get the experience of time restraints—it’s not the usual audience because it’s mixed with many people who might not normally choose to come see your art, music, or performance .
  3. It’s a challenge, too, because you are performing outside of our normal setting—and that’s kind of cool but also a bit unsettling.

 

Authored by: Chloe, gz

Image information: Performance by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

Why do students volunteer at AES?

Why do people volunteer at AES?

For the love! Also:

  • It’s a chance to help at a campus event, get some good experience.
  • It’s an opportunity to help your fellow students thrive through their academic research.
  • Additionally, it’s a non-academic way to participate in one of campus’ largest events.
  • You get to be a part of a great all campus event, but you don’t have all the stress of having to prepare a presentation or stand in front of dozens of people.

 

What do volunteers get?

Depends on how much they help out. It ranges from a letter of thanks to some sweet swag!

 

What do volunteers have to do?

Moving furniture, flipping signs, handing out tickets, helping with directions, getting a hold of tech experts if there’s a bump.

 

What usually surprises volunteers?

That they don’t have to do huge amounts of work—it’s not a very stressful experience.

 

Authors: Chloe, gz

Image Information: Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Throwback Thursday: First AES held in 2006

The first Academic Excellence Showcase was held in 2006. Here’s the official origin story from the 2006 Proceedings:

“The Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences began in 2004, when a group of faculty formed a task force to look at ways we could better institutionalize undergraduate research at Western Oregon University. We define research in its broadest sense to include research, scholarship, and creative activities. Institutionalization refers to the process of making undergraduate research part of a structured and well-established system within the university.

“The PURE Taskforce identified many ways to help facilitate and enhance undergraduate research experiences. One of the proposed mechanisms was to facilitate greater participation by the entire campus in celebrating our students’ accomplishments. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, which has organized an Academic Excellence event for years, has partnered with PURE in sponsoring this year’s celebration. With our combined resources and through planning provided by an Academic Excellence Showcase Planning Committee, which includes Phi Kappa Phi and PURE members, as well as representatives from across campus, the 2006 Academic Excellence Showcase has been developed.  The campus community has responded very favorably to this call for participation as evidenced by this impressive Proceedings volume. The Faculty Senate passed a statement encouraging faculty to reassign class time so students could attend the Showcase, over 20 faculty members volunteered to chair a session in their respective fields, many faculty encouraged their students to participate, and approximately 250 students submitted applications to present at this year’s Showcase of Academic Excellence. This exciting event celebrates our students’ many academic accomplishments. We are very proud of their success and hope you will join us in attending as many of their presentations as possible.”

 

Source: 2006 AES Proceedings, p. 3

Designing conference posters: Tip for student presenters

If you are not sure about how to design a great poster for AES, then you’ll want to do several things:

  1. Talk to your mentor to see what they suggest.
  2. Look at some good examples.
  3. Review what other experts have to say.

This post addresses #3: looking what other people have to say. Colin Purrington has some good advice about how and why to present posters. Just as good, he has multiple downloadable poster templates! There’s a lot of great material on this site–it’s the kind of advice you want to go back and review as you are drafting your poster.

If you’re thinking about presenting a poster, try skimming this resource and you’ll have a much better idea of how to prepare.

Thanks to Dr. Ava Howard for sharing this resource with us!

Introducing Chloe, PURE Student Representative

Chloe Miller – Sophomore

History Major – Dance Minor

Working for Academic Excellence Showcase for the past year and a half has been a learning curve that I needed in order to better myself. This job has provided me with opportunity for many new skills, has encouraged my growth as a human and made me more confident in my abilities. My work primarily consists of Outreach work with the focus on students, but I also coordinate Volunteers and write content among other odd jobs.

Outside of my AES work, I am singing in multiple music groups on campus, The West of Us Acapella and The Western Oregon Voices Jazz ensemble.  I am a member of the Wellness Advocacy Group (WAG) as well and I am also participating in a project on campus that archives former Professor Thomas Gentle’s papers. I love to stay busy and I love to bring the campus community together in my various activities.

Author: Chloe Miller

Introducing Kranti, PURE Student Representative

Kranti speaking at microphone

I’m Kranti Budhathoki, student representative for PURE and AES 2019.  I’m a business major and a Senior at Western Oregon University.

       As an international student, AES has played a major role in my academic career. It allowed me to gain experience at a professional conference, inspire others and helped me to study and research a concept of my focus in more depth. Also, as an attendee, I got inspired, gained knowledge and was exposed to various academic programs. According to my experience, I believe AES is not only powerful for students because I remember the happiness in the faculty’s face and how thrilled they were and delighted to have their students present which reflected the students’ hard work and effort to make that happen.  I also hope many students will get enlightened by the projects and the presentations they experience through this event.

Author: Kranti Budhathoki

WOU logo

Facebook   Instagram   Twitter  YouTube  LinkedIn  wouTV

WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
345 Monmouth Ave. N.
Monmouth OR 97361

503-838-8000 | 1-877-877-1593

Tools

Campus Maps
Canvas
Find People
Portal
Virtual Tour
WOU Email
Technical Support

Resources

A-Z Index
Accessibility
Academic Calendar
Class Schedule
Jobs at WOU
Partnerships
Student Services

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

Accessibility    Public Records    Privacy    Student Consumer Information

WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.