MCC's Scholars' Day program aims to highlight the accomplished and talented scholarly work and research of all MCC students, faculty, administrators, and staff and to provide the entire MCC community with a single venue that highlights and celebrates our culture of academic excellence. Our Scholars' Day program begins with an academic conference, with presentations in a variety of formats (such as posters, panels, individual presentations, artistic presentations, and performances). We encourage students, faculty, and staff from MCC to participate as presenters, and we also invite the entire community, within and beyond MCC, to attend the event as our guests. It is followed by a keynote address, delivered by a high-profile scholar, on a weeknight after the conference.
Scholars' Day is open to submissions from all disciplines, from the arts to the hard sciences. The common thread among presentation topics is scholarly research, which incorporates published literature. Projects suitable for Scholars' Day may include: analyses of existing works of art, literature, science, or technology; creations of new methods of doing something related to topics studied at MCC; or the actual collection and analysis of data pertaining to a research question. (These may be presented as posters, talks, or commentated performances.) Student presentations often originate as work done in class on term papers or projects; and although presentations targeted for Scholars' Day generally go somewhat above and beyond the expectations of the classroom, they might just be excellent works produced entirely as in-class projects. Presentations can also originate as independent work outside the confines of class requirements.
The work submitted as a Scholars' Day proposal need not be extraordinary. Although scholarship awards are given to a select few Scholars' Day presenters (generally for quality, complexity, originality, and skillful presenting), one needn't have an award-winning project to be accepted for presenting. Proposals should reflect the kind of work that generally goes into producing an "A" paper or project.
Faculty presentations are typically tangential to or completely independent of one's teaching, but they might also be analyses of pedagogical methods. We hope that faculty presentations (which are liberally accepted) strive for a level of scholarship that models the sort of inquiry or analysis one might expect at a conference of our community college peers, yet remain intelligible to our students.
We are planning to hold Scholars' Day events in person.
To submit a proposal, that is, to apply to become a presenter at Scholars' Day, simply visit our Scholars' Day Application page. (Please note: applications are generally accepted from November through March; the link is inactive at other times.)
If you are a student, you will need a faculty sponsor, so secure that support before applying.
We also request an abstract (one paragraph long, summarizing the entire work), which should be submitted with the application.
Students, faculty, administrators, and staff at MCC are invited to submit proposals to showcase their work. Student submissions require faculty sponsorship; however, the sponsor does not co-present with the student if that student's presentation is being considered for a scholarship award. We are looking for proposals from the entire spectrum of scholarly and creative work associated with the MCC community.
Have an idea for Scholars' Day that doesn't seem to fit within the parameters outlined here? Let us know what you're thinking and we'll see how it can fit with Scholars' Day! There are strict requirements in place for the scholarship-eligible presentations, but other work by students, faculty, administrators, and staff is welcome as well. Please contact chair Jason Anderson (janderson@monroecc.edu) with questions.
All applicants will receive an informal email followed by a formal letter (also by email) from the Scholars' Day Committee after the proposals have been reviewed and final decisions made.
The complete schedule for Scholars' Day will be posted to this website as soon as it is finalized. It will also be publicized in the MCC Daily Tribune.
There is not a required poster size, however we recommend using a 48x36-inch poster as it is a standard size for presenting at academic conferences. Many students reuse posters from other conferences or presentations to avoid the cost and trouble of reprinting. Faculty sponsors may assist students by sending posters to the MCC printshop for printing, specifying the size, and selecting color printing. You may alternatively choose to print your poster at a local print shop. Additional information on creating poster presentations can be found at the MCC Library's guide to presentation posters.
The Scholars' Day Review was a faculty-juried journal showcasing the exceptional presentation papers of student scholars who participated in Scholars' Day. It was published from 2013 to 2015 and is digitally archived in the SUNY Digital Repository.
The MCC Foundation will be happy to receive financial support from any group or individual on behalf of Scholars' Day.
Please address your questions to Chair Jason Anderson (janderson@monroecc.edu).