The College of St. Scholastica created the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence (CSCE) to facilitate research collaboration between faculty and students, and to provide more opportunities for individual research.

It showcases scientific, scholarly and artistic work and serves as a clearinghouse for information on scholarships and grants that make such work possible.

The CSCE mission is to encourage an atmosphere of excellence in scholarship for faculty and students

Opportunities abound at St. Scholastica for undergradute students to explore advanced studies that can propel discovery and prepare individuals for graduate school, careers and a lifelong love of learning.

All of the research, scholarly and creative activities in which faculty and students are involved enhance the intellectual climate at The College of St. Scholastica. CSS is effecting an evolution in thinking about research and scholarly works by building on past faculty and student endeavors.

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Undergraduates are involved in research, poster sessions and presentations at many discipline-specific conferences. In the past 12 years, approximately 160 students have presented their research at the annual CSS Undergraduate Research Poster Session, Posters on the Hill, the MN State Capitol or the National Conferences for Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Approximately 50 students have presented at conferences, while scores of others have performed in music or theatre productions.

Examples of other conferences are: American Chemical Society, the International Native American Studies, the Annual Society of Toxicology, and the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Students are informed about opportunities for research in all disciplines through information sessions and an electronic searchable database with over 300 sites.

Examples of student research 2006

Examples of student research 2005

Examples of student research 2004

Visit the McNair Scholars Program Web site.

Research and scholarly work is supported by scholarships and grants from the College, federal government and private foundations. With help from the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence, students can access everything from summer research fellowships and internships to art shows and essay contests. Click here to view examples that illustrate just a handful of the hundreds of opportunities over a spectrum of subjects that are available.

In the past decade, St. Scholastica faculty published approximately 35 books, 203 articles in refereed journals, 45 chapters in books, 114 conference presentations, 65 on-line publications and at least 114 performances in music, poetry, art or theatre.

Examples of Faculty Scholarship

Faculty Research Luncheon Presentations

Mentoring is implicit between faculty and students who work together on field-specific research. Further, mentoring is formalized through the McNair Scholars Program: 62 CSS faculty from all disciplines have worked with undergraduate participants (four have mentored 8-11 scholars and twenty-eight have mentored 2-5 scholars) over the past 12 years.

The Interdisciplinary Learning in Science, Math and Computing program provides selected students (50 over 6 years) in those disciplines with opportunities to complete research or internships, activities which are reinforced by their respective department chairs and coordinators. Learn more about this program in our scholarships and grants page.

This award is designed to recognize excellence of faculty and staff in endeavors traditionally labeled as scholarly, such as conducting and publishing empirical research, writing a theoretical or position paper for publication, or writing a book, or in creative activities that often have been excluded when referring to "scholarly" activities, such as directing a play, writing poetry or a musical composition, or producing a work of art.

The following have been awarded release time to conduct research;

• William Hodapp, professor of English (2005, 2006)
• Andrine Lemieux, assistant professor of psychology (2005)
• Jon Nelson, associate professor of physical therapy (2005)
• Dave Swenson, professor of management (2004, 2006)
• Tommy Boone, professor of exercise physiology (2003)

Center Contact

Kathleen Cargill, M.A.
Director, McNair Scholars Program
Director, CSCE
e-mail: kcargill@css.edu
(218) 723-5910