Information on Past Symposia and Conferences

This page contains information on the long history of Truman's Student Research Conference, information and summary about specific past conferences, and links to online abstracts and abstracts in PDF form. Use the following links to jump down to the part of the page that interests you most.



History of Truman's Student Research Conference

Truman State University held its first "Undergraduate Research Symposium" in 1988, when 24 presentations were delivered by students from the Division of Science and the Division of Human Potential and Performance. Following that inaugural year, the Symposium grew in size and scope, encompassing student presentations from all degree-granting Divisions and many academic Disciplines. In 2000, the event received a new name, the "Undergraduate Research Conference," and beginning that year, scheduled classes have not formally met during the day of the Conference, thereby providing the opportunity for all students and faculty to participate more extensively.

2003 marked another transition in the evolution of the event. The 2003 Conference received an updated name, the "Student Research Conference," which reflected both broadening the Conference to include the University's graduate students and enhancing the program to truly make the Conference a University-wide Celebration of Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Achievement. In addition to providing a venue for graduate students to present their scholarly work, several new student presentation options were added, including Performing Arts, Studio Arts, and Technology Displays. A Conference-wide Plenary Address; and roundtable discussions for both students and faculty were also added to the program. A new web site was also created for the annual Conference (http://src.truman.edu), and beginning with the 2003 Conference, all abstracts have been electronically submitted, archived, and are available to be browsed and searched on the Internet.


Summary Data for Past Conferences

The following tables describe the growth of the Conference and the total involvement of the University community in the Student Research Conference.


Online Abstracts from Past Conferences

In 2003, Truman's Student Research Conference moved online, taking abstract submissions and publishing them via the web. We maintain an archive of past conference abstracts that you can browse by following the appropriate link, below.


Programs for Selected Past Conferences

Online Programs

Books of abstracts of several previous conferences are available for download, here. All are in PDF format. (Download the free Adobe Reader here.)

Plenary Addresses for Past Conferences