Welcome Message

Dear Participants,  

Welcome to the Twenty-Ninth Annual Graduate Research Symposium!  This is the sixth year of collaboration with the Office of the Provost and the Brinson Honors College to present the 2021 Research and Scholarship Conference (RASC), a collaboration that includes the Undergraduate Expo and the Graduate Research Symposium, showcasing scholarly research and projects from both undergraduate and graduate students. I express my sincere gratitude to you for sharing your excellent work with your fellow students, colleagues, faculty, and the greater WCU campus community. I also wish to highlight my appreciation with a heartfelt thank you to all participating faculty and staff mentors – your active student mentorship, support, and encouragement of their research is the hallmark of Western’s graduate education experience.  

Because of the ongoing pandemic, we are hosting the Graduate Research Symposium as a virtual, web-based event featuring a variety of digital content from registrant’s posters, academic papers, and pre-recorded oral presentations. A faculty research roundtable, live graduate discussion sessions, and academic competitions with awards for student projects will complete the event. I encourage you to spend time on the newly created Graduate Research Symposium website, opening on March 22 to learn about the wide variety of research topics that are being explored by graduate students at Western Carolina University.  

For many students, this will be your first opportunity to share empirical findings and creative works with the academic community. Today, you take a step in being recognized as a scholar in your chosen discipline. The skills you learn as part of the research process and your ability to convey that research in writing and in person will enable you to share your knowledge, intellectual passion, and commitment to ideas and to your discipline and profession. Congratulations on this significant milestone in your academic development! 

It is my hope that your experience inspires you to continue to contribute to our understanding of all areas of knowledge in the arts, humanities, education, health, social sciences, business, and sciences. You are helping to shape the future and to create the solutions to important issues facing our region, state, and world. What you are doing today as students is just the beginning of all you can do to make a true difference. Thank you and Congratulations! 

Brian D. Kloeppel, Ph.D.  

Dean, Graduate School and Research