Today@Sam Article

Scholarly Innovation Summit To Celebrate Research

Aug. 17, 2022
SHSU Media Contact: Emily Binetti

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) at Sam Houston State University supports and fosters scholarship, research and innovation to encourage lifelong learning of the faculty and staff, enhances the educational experience of students, and provides service and benefit to the community.

One new way the ORSP team is hoping to build research awareness and galvanize more engagement in the funding process is through the Scholarly Innovation Summit – a new two-day event hosted on campus Sept. 28-29 that is open to the public.

Sarah Browning, ORSP's coordinator of research and faculty development, believes the new event is an opportunity to celebrate the efforts and successes of projects across campus and provide relevant workshops for scholarly endeavors.

“It is also a way to connect everyone in different disciplines and to foster more collaboration,” Browning said. “There’s a lot of great work taking place that folks in the next building over just aren’t aware of.”

In addition to presentations and workshops, the Scholarly Innovation Summit will include a keynote address by award-winning broadcast-journalist John Quiñones. The news veteran’s journey led from migrant farm work to more than 30 years at ABC News, the anchor desk at 20/20 and Primetime, and seven national Emmy awards. As host and creator of What Would You Do?, the highly-rated, hidden camera television show, Quiñones became “the face of doing the right thing” to millions of fans.

“One of the overarching goals of the event is to bridge the gap between all attendees and create opportunities for networking. John will be speaking to his personal experiences with mentorship and how that impacted his career and life trajectory,” Browning said.

Through the event, the ORSP also plans to build awareness of SHSU’s recent Carnegie classification as a Doctoral University of High Research Activity (R2) and federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Information will be shared on new available grant funding opportunities and a workshop will be delivered on ways to leverage the HSI and other institutional designations in the pursuit of grant funding.

Chad Hargrave, associate provost for research and chief research officer, believes the summit will help promote the impact of SHSU research and creative endeavors by creating opportunities for collaboration and innovation across campus and with the community.

“We have invited all possible stakeholders in the scholarly enterprise, including residents, business leaders, faculty, staff and students, and we hope the summit creates the space for these stakeholders to build relationships and create projects that will elevate the reputation of SHSU,” Hargrave said. “This has all the potential to be a first-class event, and I am extremely proud of the effort my team has put into making this happen. However, the impact of the event is completely dependent upon engagement from the academic community, so I sincerely hope all SHSU staff and faculty attend, enjoy the food and networking, and help make these an impactful two days.”  

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