SURCA FAQs for Global Campus Students

First, when you apply to present at SURCA you will indicate that you are interested in presenting virtually. To present virtually you’ll use video-conferencing software to share your work and answer questions in real time during SURCA.  You can present anywhere you have a stable internet connection.  When you present, your judges and the people who visit your poster will be able to hear and see you as you explain your work.  Likewise, you’ll be able to hear and see your audience, so you can have a live conversation with them during the event.

The Global Connections program coordinator is here to help all our remote presenters access their online presentation space, practice using the software and answer any questions they may have on presenting remotely. 

Yes, if you would prefer to travel to Pullman to present your undergraduate research there are funding options to help off-set the costs. The primary funding option for Global Campus students is The Global Connections Travel Grant.

Undergraduate, degree-seeking Global Campus students can be eligible for the Global Connections Travel Grant. This award is to help cover the costs of lodging, meals, transportation, and child or pet care associated with coming to Pullman to present at SURCA. The Travel Grant awards up to $250 for qualified Global Campus students. For more information, including how to apply, contact us at global.connections@wsu.edu.

There are four types of awards given to undergraduate researchers at SURCA: Crimson Award, Gray Award, Early Career Award, and Novice Researcher Award. Multiple types of awards may be rewarded during SURCA.

WSU Global Campus grants additional cash prizes to online students who earn an award at SURCA.  Find more information about the awards given at SURCA.

You do not need to have your research or creative activity completed before you can apply to SURCA. However, you should be well-prepared to discuss your research question—or the “why” behind your project, background information, and proposed methodology in your abstract and at the poster competition even if you don’t have your final results collected yet.

The possibilities are endless!  Research isn’t just done in a lab. Students have done research on emerging design trends, tourism in Hawaii, 3D printing, marriage patterns in different cultures, and teachers’ impact on undocumented students.  Creative activities have included writing musical compositions, designing city development plans, and experimenting with a new printing process.

For all the different types of projects from past SURCA competitions visit the SURCA website and select Abstracts History on the left-hand menu.

Yes, contact the Office of Undergraduate Research with any questions you have on participating in SURCA at UGResearch@wsu.edu. 

At many conferences, researchers will use a poster as a visual aid to help explain their work.  As judges and public attendees visit your poster during SURCA, you may reference it to help visitors understand your project.   

Your poster should include key information about your work such as the purpose, background information and methodology. SURCA awards are based, in part, on the quality and effectiveness of your poster.

If you are presenting remotely for SURCA, you can either mail your poster to the Global Connections program coordinator or have it printed at the WSU Pullman campus.  The Global Connections program coordinator will hang your poster at the competition on your behalf.

For more information and resources about creating a poster for SURCA visit the SURCA website.

You may consider approaching a faculty member who is an expert in the field you’d like to conduct a project in.  Or you may consider asking a faculty member who is already conducting research that you’d be interested in helping with. 

If you need help finding a faculty mentor, you can contact Dr. Pressley at UGResearch@wsu.edu for help.

Mentors do not need to be WSU faculty. Though the majority of our SURCA mentors are WSU faculty, depending the topic of your project, you may have an expert mentor outside of WSU. This mentor may be an industry expert or a faculty member from another higher education institution.

Yes!  Two Global Campus students won awards at SURCA in 2019. Learn more on our Global Campus blog. 

Yes, the Office of Undergraduate Education offers $1000 Undergraduate Research Awards to help with the soft costs, like your time, and hard costs, like equipment, to conduct your research.  Awards are given on an annual basis. Learn more about Undergraduate Research Awards.

Also, be sure to ask your department and college if they have any funding available to aid student research.

Here are a few abstract titles from projects Global Campus students have presented at SURCA:

  • The Invisible Struggle: Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness and Its Roots
  • Nature Relatedness as a Facilitator to Utilizing the Natural World as a Coping Strategy to Reduce Stress
  • The Impact of Ethical Priming Statements on Online Test-taking Behavior
  • Assessing the Impact of Online Proctored Exams on Student Performance
  • Coeur d’Alene Language Preservation Through Oral Tradition: Chief Child of the Yellow Root

Yes, you can still present at SURCA if you graduate the semester before the annual event.