Northwestern State University will participate in the first annual University of Louisiana System Academic Summit to be held Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20 on the campus of McNeese State University. This celebration of academic excellence at UL System universities will encompass the previous system-wide service-learning conference, a student art exhibition and an undergraduate research day. Faculty, staff, and student leaders from the nine schools in the University of Louisiana System will participate.

“The four prongs of the Academic Summer that will be highlighted are art, service-learning, undergraduate research and professional development,” said Steve Gruesbeck, director of Service-Learning at Northwestern State. “Service-learning presentations from a variety of disciplines will be given by faculty and students alike. This is a great conference for showcasing the incredible work in which our students and faculty are engaged both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Service-Learning Day, Undergraduate Research Day and a juried art competition will take place on April 19 and a faculty development session will be held April 20. A reception and gallery talk for the art competition will take place from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, April 19 and will include entertainment by a student steel band. Northwestern State will send five undergraduate researchers as presenters and students from the university’s Department of Fine and Graphic Art have submitted pieces for consideration in the juried art show.

Featured sessions will include “Generational Crossroads: When X, Y & Boomers Collide!” by Eric Rowles, president and CEO of Leading to Change, and “The American Alligator: From Marsh to Medicine” by Dr. Mark Merchant, professor of biochemistry at McNeese State University. The National Council of Undergraduate Research Faculty Workshop will be led by Dr. Katherine Whatley, provost of Berry College.

For more information, visit the University of Louisiana System website at ulsystem.net and type Academic Summit into the search function to access an overview of the program.