Galloway, N.J. — A campus-wide celebration, encompassing various academic programs and departments within Stockton University, launched Monday, April 7 with a kickoff breakfast and an all-day event featuring live and poster presentations.

The Scholarship, Teaching and Research Symposium (STARS) includes five weeks of expos, symposiums, award ceremonies and other achievement events.

In his welcome remarks, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Gerry Lorentz said the celebration affirms the concept that teaching and research are “deeply intertwined practices” on Stockton’s campus through the teacher-scholar model. Lorentz encouraged the campus community to learn more about the research being conducted by students, faculty and staff.

“Our greatest educators are also active researchers, and our best researchers remain dedicated teachers,” Lorentz said. “In this model, students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but co-investigators in a shared journey. Learning, at its best, is a process of ongoing discovery for all involved.

“Each presentation, panel, and conversation that is part of this symposium is an opportunity — an invitation to ask new questions, to reconsider what we know and to imagine what is possible when scholarship and teaching work hand in glove,” Lorentz continued.

This was demonstrated by the presentation part of the celebration. Students, faculty and staff presenters, like students Mikaili Philbert and Rebecca Arleth, were available to answer questions about their research and to make sense of the numbers, graphs and other bits of information that can be confusing to untrained eyes.

Philbert, who worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Nordia Scott, presented on the impact of learning disabilities on academic resilience, learning styles and grade point averages among minority/underrepresented college students. 

Philbert was already drawn to the topic as someone who identifies as a minority student, but she found herself more interested when she identified a significant research gap — most research in this area centers on K-12 students. So, she decided to focus her research on college students. 

“The focus is more on developmental disorders and how you would diagnose learning disabilities in primary or secondary school, so I wanted to make sure that college students had a resource as well,” Philbert said. “I definitely think this opportunity allowed it to be more accessible. It's very easy to get in your own world while you're doing your research that is very focused and very specific to the people that you speak to. So, definitely providing a better visual for all of the results is very accessible.”

Arleth worked with Professor of Physics Joseph Trout and fellow student Lauren Winterbottom to analyze materials used in aviation safety materials using an atomic force microscope.

In addition to the facts and figures, Arleth was able to explain, in layman’s terms, how her team worked to examine life rafts and evacuation slides for their effectiveness and durability. 

"What we're doing is pulling this data to analyze the different characteristics of the materials to improve aviation safety. We want to see what makes these materials effective and if there are any aspects we can enhance. That way, we can help better understand the material and improve safety of aviation slides and rafts," Arleth said.

“We know that all this, especially in physics, looks crazy with all of the numbers and graphs, but when you break it down, it's really interesting, and we can definitely make it so that it's easy to understand,” Arleth continued.

April will feature student research from the schools of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well as final reflections from retiring faculty members in the Board of Trustees Room. May 6’s Celebration of Service in the L-Wing Art Gallery will conclude the STARS Celebration.

 – Story by Loukaia Taylor

 – Photos by Lizzie Nealis 

---