Institutional Research and Planning (IRP) held its first meeting of a new journal club, Research Roundtable, with following sessions on the first Wednesday of every month. They will be exploring literature on higher education practices and enhancing data and literature literacy. They will discuss selected research papers and share insights relevant to our campus community. At this his inaugural meeting, an article about improving retention through a belonging intervention at a broad-access Hispanic-Serving Institution was discussed.

This morning, the university held our annual Undergraduate Conference for Research and Creative Practice in Hammond Hall. The conference is a public forum to enhance student's  skills, to share their work, to see the work of others in their field, and to give and receive valuable feedback. The conference was free to attend and open to the public. We're proud of the work our undergraduate community does -  from the opening performance of the Fitchburg State University Choir, to the outstanding research, presentations, creative writing readings, and more, to the closing performance of the Fitchburg State Modern Jazz band at lunch.

President Lapidus welcomed Senator John J. Cronin to the Fitchburg State University campus this afternoon. Provost Marshal, Dean Hanselman, and faculty  were on hand to discuss the Biology and Chemistry programs. Students in the disciplines gave Senator Cronin a tour of our facilities and talked about their own research, and what a Fitchburg State University has meant to them.

The Center For Faculty Scholarship held a faculty research poster session and lightning talks in Hammond Main Hall yesterday afternoon. Some faculty featured were; Kiernan Riley (Nursing), William Sisk (Economics, History, and Political Science), Patricia Kio (Engineering Technology), Katharine Covino (English), Eric Budd (Economics, History, and Political Science), and J.J. Sylvia IV (Communications Media). Congratulations to all!

The reception was the last meeting of Professor Kisha Tracy's Writing II class this semester, in which attendees celebrated the Heritages of Change exhibition, and heard from current students about their new mini-exhibitions that will be exhibited next spring. This is also a reception to thank you for those who helped with the exhibit in any way - from the students in my Spring 2021 Writing II class who contributed their work to the Deans' Anti-Racism fund to the coordinators at each of the sites who helped make them all happen, to other Writing II instructors who asked for tours, and, if our Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA) mentors who felt comfortable visiting in person.

Students in Professor Ronald Krieser Genetics Lab conducting RNA interference to inhibit the expression of their target genes. Learn about our School of Health and Natural Sciences here.

Some crime scene investigation in Professor Krieser's Genetics Lab this afternoon. Learn more about our School of Health and Natural Sciences here.