02.04.23 Annual Faculty and Student Research Forum

01. PURPOSE 

01.01 This policy and procedure statement sets forth guidelines for conducting the annual faculty and student research forum (RF) in the College of Health Professions (CHP). 

02. POLICY 

02.01 The foundation of these guidelines is primarily based on the (1) Texas State University Mission Statement, (2) CHP Vision Statement, (3) CHP Mission Statement, and (4) CHP Faculty Committees’ document charge for the RF. 

a. Vision Statement: The Texas State College of Health Professions will be a nationally recognized premier center for educating professionals in a broad array of healthcare fields, increasing the knowledge, research, and community coalitions necessary to enhance and restore the health and well-being of the whole person and of society. 

b. Mission Statement: The College of Health Professions educates and prepares healthcare professionals in a student-centered learning environment. The College excels in teaching, scholarship, and service while responding to health care needs of the global community. The College unites faculty, students, the health care communities, and consumers in coalitions that support the academic, scholarly, and service aspects of health care. 

c.  The committee’s charge shall be to plan and make arrangements for the CHP Annual RF. 

03. PROCEDURE 

03.01 Overview: 

a.  The RF Chair of the RF Committee will schedule a planning meeting in the fall semester (usually early November).  The committee is composed of CHP faculty members, which are appointed by the Dean (annually) upon recommendation of the respective department chairs.  The committee will elect a Vice-Chair, or a member may volunteer, for the role.  The Vice Chair will also be the chair-elect, if the current RF Chair is stepping down after the present year.  Additionally, if the RF Chair is stepping down after the present year, he/she will remain as a past-chair for at least the next year to serve in an advisory role until the cycle turns over.  In the event that the Vice-Chair cannot become the next RF Chair, the Dean will appoint a new RF Chair.  This committee reports to the Associate Dean for Research. 

03.02 Scheduling and Preparation (fall semester) 

a. The following agenda should be addressed at the initial planning meeting in the fall semester. 

1) RF Chair will welcome new members and present a basic overview of the RF (including example poster/oral abstracts, schedules, and other documents from past RF’s). 

2) Selection of a Vice-Chair, if needed. 

3) Set the date for the RF in the spring (historically, the RF has been in late March or mid-to late April to accommodate the clinical/internship schedules of various units).  The committee should attempt to set the RF date with consideration for the CHP Annual Awards Ceremony date that is also held in the spring (typically, April). 

4) Selection of an appropriate venue for the RF, i.e., virtually or on campus.  If virtual is selected, then the RF will be conducted via the learning management system of the university (currently Canvas). The committee should consider audiovisual needs and proximity for students and faculty for an on-campus venue. Both campuses will be considered. 

5) The RF Chair will confirm the selection of a date and venue with the Dean’s Office.  Additionally, when oral presentations are included as with a campus venue, the Vice-Chair will invite the Dean of the CHP (or an appropriate substitute) to open the RF with an introduction and welcome. 

6) Upon confirmation of the date and venue with the Dean’s Office, the RF Chair will publish the information about the CHP-RF by a college-wide email (usually sent by the Dean’s Office).  The email will include a “Call of Abstracts” that will include a committee-agreed-upon abstract deadline (usually in March).  The announcement should also be posted in visible areas, to include the Canvas RF site, and placed in department chair mailboxes.  The email should be sent by December 1 to allow faculty the possibility of inclusion in their spring syllabi. 

7) Set a RF meeting date for early spring semester. 

03.03 Scheduling and Preparation (spring semester) 

a. The following agenda should be addressed at the spring RF committee meeting. 

1) The RF Chair will send out a reminder email during the first week of the semester. 

2) The RF Chair will explain the process for evaluation of poster/abstracts. 

3) The RF Chair will explain the online abstract/poster submission process to the committee and the in-person display of the posters in the Avery Building on the Round Rock campus. The RF Chair will create a public CHP Research Forum Learning Management System (LMS) project site on Canvas available and viewable to all participants and committee members. Abstracts are required to be uploaded by the primary author to the Assignment tab on the Canvas site by the posted submission deadline. Instructions for abstract and poster submission will be included in the “Call for Abstracts” document and may be accessed at the Home tab of the CHP RF Canvas site. Moreover, authors will receive from the RF Chair the instructions and the required criteria for creating a printed poster that will be displayed on the day of the RF in the Avery Building. 

4) As abstract submissions are uploaded to the CHP Research Forum Canvas site, the RF Chair, or his/her designate, will review the abstracts prior to distribution to the committee members for evaluation. Once the submission deadline has passed, the RF Chair will unpublish the Assignment tab on Canvas site allowing only committee members to have access. 

5) The RF Chair is responsible for the organization and distribution of the abstracts after the deadline for “Call for Abstracts” to each committee member.  Briefly, each committee member will evaluate the submitted abstracts using the “Rubric for Evaluating Abstracts” (see #7).  Committee members will be allowed approximately 1-2 weeks to evaluate the abstracts (early March). 

6) All abstracts submitted will be considered by the committee. Selection of abstracts will be based on academic merit and content. Abstracts must be 250 words or less in length. The committee reserves the right to reject any abstract. The committee will notify the abstract’s primary author by email as soon as possible (usually early March) if any changes are recommended or if the abstract is unacceptable (e.g., spelling and grammatical errors, does not meet the word count criteria, or contains incomplete data and/or results). The primary author will be notified by email in early March if the abstract is accepted. 

7) Committee Member Guidelines for Review of the Abstracts 

The purpose of the peer review process is to evaluate the scientific merit of the researcher’s study or the Educational Literature Review while assessing its suitability for a poster presentation. It’s likely most abstracts will be accepted upon review; however, some need to be revised due to improper formatting, spelling errors, or the lack of flow or readability and the lack of a results section. Committee members will use the following guide when reviewing their abstracts, after the review is complete, the committee member will email the primary author if the abstract has been accepted or needs revisions. Committee members will provide the primary author with a due date for submission of the revised abstract. Please copy the RF Chair on your email to the primary author. 

The following are some suggested DO’s and DON’Ts when reviewing the abstracts: 

 Do: 

1. Be kind, honest, professional, and constructive. Constructive, specific feedback is integral to improving the paper if the authors are given the opportunity to revise. 

2. Read the abstract at least once before starting your review. 

3. Consider the quality of writing of the abstract. If the writing is poor, ask that the author(s) work with an experienced researcher as they prepare their revised manuscript.  

4. Check for spelling and grammatical errors.  

5. If applicable, evaluate the statistical analysis to the best of your ability. We do not expect all committee members to have expertise in every type of analysis.  

6. Make sure the conclusions are supported by the data presented. 

7. If the abstract needs revision, provide bullet points for feedback; limit each to a single thought. Avoid long paragraphs as it is challenging for authors to respond to multiple points within a single paragraph. 

 Don’t: 

1. Be rude, condescending, or belittling of the work presented. 

2. Make a decision prior to reading the manuscript. Keep an open mind and judge the abstract based on its merits. 

3. Make personal comments about the authors’ credentials, qualifications, or ability to perform the research in question. 

4. Make general, vague statements that are difficult to respond to.  

5. Attempt to rewrite the paper for the authors.  

6. Make a recommendation without justification. 

 Make your recommendation via email to the primary author and the RF Chair using the appropriate terminology: 

• Accept – The abstract has no issues and is ready for creation of the poster and subsequent poster presentation. 

• Minor Revisions – The abstract has a few minor issues that need to be revised prior to acceptance for creation of the poster. 

• Major Revisions – Hopefully, no abstracts will be classified in this category; however, if so, then the abstract would be rejected.  

Here are specific areas to focus on when reviewing the abstracts: 

 The following sections must be included to meet formatting criteria. 

1. Background: Why was the study done? Does this section succinctly describe the rationale for the study and the hypothesis being tested? 

2. Methods: How did the authors perform the study? Are the methods clearly described? 

3. Results: What was discovered?  

4. Conclusions: What is the take-home message? Are the conclusions supported by the data? 

8) Per the Call for Abstracts document, all authors are required to use the College of Health Professions’ (CHP) Poster Template for the design of their poster. The poster template may be found at http://www.health.txstate.edu/Research/CHP-Poster-Template.html.  All posters must be presented on standard conference size posters (e.g., 24in x 36in or 36in x 48in). If the poster is not created using the Texas State CHP template or on a standard conference poster size it will not be judged. Whether the RF is conducted exclusively online or in-person, all primary authors will submit (electronically) a PDF copy of their poster using the CHP poster template to the RF Canvas site by the posted deadline for poster submissions. 

9) The committee reserves the right to designate the most appropriate venue for each abstract (for instance, an oral platform request may be asked to be presented by poster). If this occurs, the author(s) will be notified promptly to allow for timely changes. 

10) The RF Chair will determine the “recognized” posters by tallying the total points on the committee’s Qualtrics evaluation rubric shown below: 

The posters chosen for recognition will be forwarded to the vice-chair for recognition certificates, award ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place for each research category, and letters to be prepared and signed by the Dean. 

11) The RF Chair/Vice-Chair will create a schedule for the RF after the deadline for abstracts.  The committee will have time to comment on the schedule and make changes. The schedule will be publicized by a confirmatory email to each abstract author/co-author, faculty advisor, and general faculty upon final confirmation by the committee. 

12) The committee will review any other items for discussion/decision, especially venue arrangements and RF assignments (audio/visual needs, timekeepers, securing space, poster display equipment, hallways for poster demonstrations, post- forum recognition certificates, and newspaper/photographs on RF day, etc.). 

13) Set a RF committee meeting date approximately one week prior to the RF date. 

14) At the final RF committee meeting before the RF, the RF Chair will update the committee members of any last minute changes and/or recommendations. 

03.04 RF Day (spring semester) 

a. The Rf will follow the schedule as confirmed by the committee (for on campus venue operation). 

1) The agenda for the day of the RF typically includes in this order: (1) welcome and introduction by the CHP Dean and RF Chair (only when oral presentations are included), (2) platform oral presentations by student, faculty, or a combination (if platform oral presentations are included), (3) simultaneous poster presentations (typically posters are manned for an hour in the A.M. and then left on display until the close of the RF day), in the Avery Building and (4) closing remarks by the RF Chair. 

2) If the RF is conducted exclusively through the RF Canvas site, an email will be sent out from the Dean’s Office one to two days prior to the start of the RF alerting all faculty and students of the days the posters will be available for viewing online by logging onto the RF Canvas site. Since the RF Canvas site is a “project site”, all participants and those interested in viewing the posters will need to “self-enroll” to the Canvas site link provided by the RF Chair and distributed by the Dean’s office. The posters will be arranged on the Canvas site according to the following committee designated predetermined categories: 

(a) Faculty Research – defined as original research conducted by one or more faculty researchers. The primary author is required to be a CHP Texas State faculty member.  

(b) Faculty/Student Collaboration – defined as original research conducted by one or more faculty researchers and one or more graduate or undergraduate students. The primary author is required to be a CHP Texas State faculty member or student (graduate or undergraduate). 

(c) Graduate Student Research – defined as original research conducted by one or more graduate students enrolled in a CHP graduate degree program. The primary author is required to be a Texas State CHP graduate student. 

(d) Undergraduate Student Research – defined as original research conducted by one or more undergraduate students enrolled in a CHP undergraduate degree program. The primary author is required to be a Texas State CHP undergraduate student. 

(e) Educational Literature Review - The purpose of a literature review is to collect relevant, timely research on a chosen topic related to the health professions and synthesize it into a cohesive summary of existing knowledge in the field. This category is open to graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in a CHP degree program. The primary author is required to be a Texas State CHP graduate or undergraduate student. 

3) If the RF is conducted in-person the printed posters will be displayed  for 1 day (usually on a Thursday) during the mid-morning hours to midafternoon in the Avery Building on the Round Rock campus. The committee members will be available on the day of the RF to accept the posters from the primary author(s) and direct the author(s) to the space where they are to hang their poster. The CHP will provide equipment to display and hang the posters; however, the primary author is responsible for hanging their poster(s) and removing the posters at the close of the RF day. In addition, the posters will be digitally displayed for viewing on the Research Forum Canvas site. 

4) The committee can arrange for university photographs/newspaper coverage of RF. 

03.05 Post-Forum (spring semester) 

a. The following agenda items should be addressed once the RF is complete and before the end of the spring semester. 

1) Recognition of each poster presentation, oral platform presentation, and overall participation (co-authors, faculty advisors, etc.) by a letter from the RF Chair and Vice-Chair (example letters will be maintained electronically by current RF Chair).  The “recognized” abstracts will also receive a certificate from the dean. 

2) Recognition of each RF committee member by a letter or email from the RF Chair and Vice-Chair. 

3) The RF Chair will submit a final report to the dean and associate dean before the end of the spring semester.  The report should include the number of student and faculty abstracts submitted/presented, outstanding abstracts as ranked by the committee, and recommendations of successes/failures of the RF. 

4) The RF Chair is responsible for maintaining electronic and/or written files with respect to allowing a transfer of leadership and historical past minutes to the incoming RF Chair. 

5) If there will be a change of RF Chair (by stepping down or by dean appointment), the past RF Chair will initiate a meeting with the incoming RF Chair Elect (usually the Vice-Chair) on the upcoming RF.  If possible, the past RF Chair will remain on the committee in an advisory role for one year post RF Chair responsibilities (at the least, the past RF Chair will be available for consultation by the current chair). 

03.06 Calendar 

a. The following calendar is approximate with respect to past CHP RF’s 

1) November (initial RF planning meeting, which may be conducted via Zoom or face-to-face); approximately mid-November the first Call for Abstracts/Announcement will be emailed from the Dean’s office. 

2) January (RF 2^nd Call for Abstracts/Announcement via mail from the Dean’s Office) 

3) February (Reminder Call for Abstracts/Announcement) 

4) March (Evaluation of Abstracts, notification of author(s), preparation for RF event) 

5) Mid-to-late April (RF Day) or if online RF days of viewing 

6) April/May (Post Forum Recognition) 

7) May (Final Report to CHP Dean) 

8) Summer/Early Fall (if necessary, transition to new RF Chair) 

04. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CHP/PPS 

04.01 Major responsibilities for routine assignments associated with this PPS include the following: 

a. The RF Chair of the committee shall review this PPS E2Y. 

b. The current RF Chair will be available for consultation with respect to any information associated with this PPS. 

05. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT 

05.01 This CHP/PPS has been approved by the following individuals in his/her official capacity and represents College policy and procedures from the date of this document until superseded.