In November 2009, Northeastern State University at Broken Arrow hosted the 11th annual Oklahoma State Reseach Day. This event was attended by some 1200 students from across the south central region and is a major event for the scholarly climate of Oklahoma. This year, the organizers invited UWRF TCIC Director, Dr. Tim Lyden to participate as the keynote speaker. Dr. Lyden presented his views on the definition and role a scholar at small comprehensive universities. The talk, entitled “Perspective Matters: A Scholar-scientist’s View from a Regional Undergraduate University in the 21st Century” focused on the challenges and rewards of seeking to balance one’s scholarship in the classic pattern of “research, teaching and service”. To address this topic, Dr. Lyden reviewed the evolution
and research projects of the TCIC, the application of research to undergraduate courses such as Anatomy and Physiology (Bio 341/342) and Animal Cell Culture (Bio 463) as well as the high impact role of UG student research as an educational paradigm. In addition, Dr. Lyden also discussed UWRF student involvement in developing their own research culture and community service through activities like SURSCA and NCUR presentations. The talk was very well received and generated numerous very engaged and interesting comments from Oklahoma students, faculty and administrators. The NSU press release for this event can be seen at http://www.nsuok.edu/News/Story/815/Default.aspx.
