UW-La Crosse was fortunate enough to host the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in 2009. Over 2,600 people attended the event that year, which promoted undergraduate research in a wide array of fields and disciplines. UW-L is proud to announce that we have been chosen to host the 2015 NCUR event on campus.

NCUR was founded in 1987 as a way to advance the research of undergraduate students.  It has become a conference that circulates annually from campus to campus across the country.  

According to Dr. Ronald Dotterer, Professor of English at Salisbury University and a governor on the board for NCUR, "Attendees are students and faculty, and administrators from approximately 350 to 400 colleges and universities from virtually every state and some foreign countries." NCUR is a growing program aimed for the success of furthering research.

"NCUR is the largest conference for presenting student research in the United States," said Dotterer, "and it has a 26 year history of doing so."  UW-L is very proud to be apart of it for a second time.

The process of becoming a host for the NCUR is not a simple task. According to the NCUR website, guidelines and applications must be completed in order to apply to be a potential candidate. Another large factor in being chosen to facilitate a NCUR conference is the ability to accommodate the immense amount of people in attendance.  Luckily, UW-L has very accessible and large buildings throughout campus, which are able to house numerous participants and attendees. The newest building on our campus, Centennial Hall, only adds to our campus' hosting abilities.

A statement from the NCUR website reads, "We believe that undergraduate research is the pedagogy for the 21st century. As an increasing body of evidence makes clear, inquiry-based learning, scholarship, and creative accomplishments can and do foster effective, high levels of student learning at a variety of public and private postsecondary locations, including doctoral and research institutions, comprehensive universities, and liberal arts colleges."

The benefits for participating and becoming immersed in such high-level learning are immense. If students are interested in attending the upcoming conference at UW-L or would like to participate in researching, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creativity, which is located in Graff Main Hall.

"In my opinion, the Undergraduate Research & Creativity program is one of the most valuable resources available to UW-L students," said Matt Sitek, an undergraduate research participant of 2009, "This opportunity provided me with the motivation, not to mention the funds, to travel to Bolivia to complete my research and get a jump start on writing my senior thesis. I was also able to present my research to peers, professors, state senators, congressmen/women, and even to Wisconsin's Governor due to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creativity's sponsorship of events like Posters in the Rotunda and Celebration of Student Research & Creativity."

Overall, NCUR provides students with an outlet to increase and develop strengths of research in a hands-on, scholarly manner, and UW-L is a great place for students to do so.