Table of Contents – Spring 2019

The Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC) is an annual multidisciplinary conference that enables student scholars to present their research, network with other students, and attend professional development seminars. FURC has been held since 2011 and has featured more than 2,100 student presentations with participation from a broad array of institutions within the state. Survey data indicate that FURC is the first conference presentation for the majority of participants and that participation in the conference is associated with several positive outcomes. This article describes the history, structure, and planning of the conference and as well provides survey and outcome data that may assist other states and geographic areas as they consider forming their own conferences.

The ability of undergraduate students to write for scholarly audiences is contingent upon their capacity to recognize that scholarship is a kind of conversation. For a student, writing an academic book review is a near ideal yet generally underutilized opportunity to learn this lesson. Through analysis of previously published book reviews coproduced with students, the authors identify actionable practices to transform the process of writing book reviews from an undervalued, lone activity into a viable form of undergraduate research. Publishing coauthored book reviews may aid students seeking admission to graduate school and faculty seeking promotion. In the end, writing book reviews with students is an opportunity for faculty and librarians to pass along the important lesson that scholarship is an important, inclusive conversation.

The authors discuss their study of the Peer Research Consultant (PRC) program at California State University, San Bernardino. During the 2016–2017 academic year, 13 courses, with 853 students enrolled, participated in the PRC program. Program participants completed pre and post-measures assessing demographic information, perceptions of skill level, and perceived gains following program participation. Students who participated in the PRC program showed an increase in overall course grades (M = 3.11) compared to those who did not (M = 2.82; p < 0.05). Similar findings were observed among under-represented minority (URM) students who participated (M = 3.05) and those who did not (M = 2.73, p < 0.05). Program participants reported high satisfaction with the program and improved confidence in skills