For senior English major Elizabeth Hudson, who plans on entering the publishing world, writing will never be the same after her experience in the blogosphere.
“I think of writing now as being multimedia. Blogging allows for building a different sense of community,” Hudson says of her blog, “The Galley Slave to Pen and Ink,” named after a line from Honore de Balzac, a French author.
“It’s also nice to get a little validation each time you write something,” Hudson adds.
Hudson’s research project was one of more than 100 showcased at the fifth annual CURCA event in the Rutgers–Camden Campus Center multi-purpose room. Project summaries were displayed on large, colorful poster boards as students discussed their hard work with the campus community.
Desiree Aragon drew her inspiration for research from the national healthcare debate. The junior nursing major has one word for hospitals looking to lower the $4 billion they owe each year for hospital-acquired infections: soap!
“Proper hand washing – 20 seconds of washing or singing the Happy Birthday song twice – before and after medical staff interact with patients would benefit patients and hospitals that incur these costs,” says Aragon. “The research fair has been a great way to not only educate myself, but to educate others on an issue I care a lot about.”
Getting students to think critically and become passionate learners in and out of the classroom is precisely why undergraduate research is championed at the Camden Campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
“We’ve been committed to providing a wide range of research opportunities to students in varying disciplines and at varying points in their academic careers,” Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Margaret Marsh says. “Jumpstarting this scholarly work at the undergraduate level has been a cornerstone at Rutgers-Camden, where we’ve witnessed tremendous progress in students’ professional outcomes and in how we contribute to a better understanding of our world.”
The Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences has encouraged undergraduate research by initiating a series of grants for research and travel to conferences, as well as by establishing several prizes and scholarships for international studies.
According to Nancy Rosoff, associate dean for academic affairs and program development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, more than 100 grants totaling nearly $111,000 have been awarded to Rutgers–Camden students for their research since
“One of the special qualities of our campus is the opportunity for students to engage in research and creative activity with our faculty,” Rosoff says. “The Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity provides a chance for students to showcase their work and for members of the campus community to discuss the projects with the students.”
The projects on display also included research in disciplines such as art, biology, business, computer science, criminal justice, history, physics and political science among many others.
Topics included nutrition and exercise education in urban settings, advances in explosives detection, water management efficiency, and traditional wet plate photography.
Alex Robles, a junior mathematics major from Toms River, researched the effects of abandoned properties in North Camden with students Greg Himes, Eric Kennedy and Sheena Knight.
“Our project incorporates the history of North Camden and the problem abandoned properties create for the city,” Robles says. “With civic engagement, those problems can be addressed.”
Senior nursing majors Patricia Crosby, Katelyn Kriebel, Laura Ruoff and Melissa Whitten worked with Acelero, a government-funded early intervention program which provides healthcare education to low-income families with children under age three.
“This shows that as students we can really make an impact on the local community,” Crosby says.
Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
856-225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu