Updating the Undergraduate Research Symposium

The college has an annual Undergraduate Research Symposium to promote the research and creative activities of its students.

This page explains the process for updating the information about the symposium on the web. First there is a brief overview of the relevant pages, events, and articles on the college website that need to be updated annually. This is followed by a proposed timeline for updating them.

Web Pages

The web pages concerning the Undergraduate Research Symposium are in one section of the chssundergrad web site named "Research Symposium": chssundergrad.gmu.edu/research-symposium. (This page of instrucctions is also in that section; note its URL above.)

The Research Symposium section has two main pages: a current page and a generic page. These pages alternate being the first page in the secction. The first page is the default page for the section. In resource groups and other places where there is a link to the Undergraduate Research Symposium, the link is to the section and not to a specific page. This means a different page will be delivered depending on page is first in the section. Why do we do that? Because at times of the year, the date/time/place of an upcoming event are relevant. At other times of the year, once the event is over, they are not.

Current page: When the symposium has been scheduled for the next year and relevant information decided on, during the cycle eacy year leading up to the symposium, the current page (/current) is the the first page in the section; it is the default page. This page shows all the information people need about the upcoming event.

Generic page: Once the symposium is over, the generic page (/generic) becomes the default; it is moved to be the first page in the section. This page has only generic information about the symposium but no specific dates or times. 

The Research Symposium section also has an Archive section. This contains data from the previous Research Symposiums. One page contains all the award recipients for 2009; that data should be entered into the Awards Application and the page deleted.

Events

There are two events concerning the Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Events Application.

  1. The deadline for submissions: chssundergrad.gmu.edu/events/1842
  2. The symposium: chssundergrad.gmu.edu/events/1333

When the event information is set for the next symposium, don't create a new deadline or event in the Events Application. Rather, find the existing ones and update the relevant informaton.

There are two reasons for doing this: First, you don't have to recreate all the information and links. Second, the deadline and symposium are associated with all department web sites in CHSSWeb. If you create new events instead of updating the ones from the year before, all these associations will be lost.

Articles

We recommend there be at two to three articles for each year's symposium: one brief one announcing the call for proposals, a second brief one encouraging people to attend the symposium, and one main article after each symposium. The main article is the record of the year's event with award winners, pictures, and links to all the presentations. The "For More Information" box of the main article should also link to the Research Symposium section and any other relevant articles or web pages concerning the event and the award recipients. News article examples:

  • chssundergrad.gmu.edu/articles/4050 (2012 article)
  • chssundergrad.gmu.edu/articles/2899 (2011 article)
  • chssundergrad.gmu.edu/articles/2286 (2010 article)
  • chssundergrad.gmu.edu/articles/1943  (2009 article)

Awards

At the Undergraduate Research Symposium, several awards are given. These awards and their recipients aren't on separate web pages. The are in the Awards Application. Information about the awards and about the recipients each year should be updated using the Awards Application. Some examples:

  • Best Overall Research and Scholarship: chss.gmu.edu/awards/222
  • Best Poster Presentation: chss.gmu.edu/awards/221
  • Best Oral Presentation: chss.gmu.edu/awards/223
  • Best Use of Technology: chss.gmu.edu/awards/224
  • Best Project Involving Language: chss.gmu.edu/awards/225

Timeline (assumes event is held in late April)

May: Post Event

News Article

  1. Write a news article about the just-concluded symposium. This article is the repository of all information on that year's event.
  2. In the "For more information box" of the article, include links to the section and any other relevant webpages or stories.
  3. If possible add pictures from that year's event to the show page for the article.
  4. See these articles for models, ideas:
    • chss.gmu.edu/articles/2899 (2011 article)
    • chss.gmu.edu/articles/2286  (2010 article)
    • chss.gmu.edu/articles/1943  (2009 article)

"Current" Research Symposium Page

  1. Find the first page of the Research Symposium section with the URL "/current".
  2. In the "For More Information" field, add a link to the news article about the just-concluded symposium (created in the step above).
  3. Rename the page "Undergraduate Research Symposium - current" until the following year when it becomes the default page.
  4. Leave the rest of this page as is until the following year when dates, times, locations are established.

"Generic" Research Symposium Page

  1. In the Research Symposium section, find the page named "Undergraduate Research Symposium - generic".
  2. In the "For More Information" field, add a link to the news article about the just-concluded symposium (created in the first step above).
  3. Delete the "generic" in the name so that the name is "Undergraduate Research Symposium".
  4. Move it so it is the first page in the Research Symposium section.
  5. This page is now the default page for Research Symposium until the next cycle. It will be the page you get with this URL: chssundergrad.gmu.edu/research-symposium.

Awards Application

  1. Add each award recipient to the respective award in the Award Application.
  • Best Overall Research and Scholarship: chss.gmu.edu/awards/222
  • Best Poster Presentation: chss.gmu.edu/awards/221
  • Best Oral Presentation: chss.gmu.edu/awards/223
  • Best Use of Technology: chss.gmu.edu/awards/224
  • Best Project Involving Language: chss.gmu.edu/awards/225

Fall: When Dates and Locations for Upcoming Symposium Have Been Set

Generic Research Symposium Page

  1. Find the first page in the Research Symposium section “/research-sympoisum/generic” .
  2. Change the name of the page to include the word "generic". The new name should be "Undergraduate Research Symposium - generic". (You give it a new name temporarily during the "off-cycle" for the symposium to distinguish it from the current convocation page.)

Current Research Symposium Page

  1. Find the "current" Research Symposium page in the Research Symposium section; it has the URL "/current".
  2. Update the information on the page to reflect the new time, date, and location of the symposium, as well as any new information about applying to present at the symposium.
  3. Review the rest of the information and update as necessary.
  4. Delete the "current" in the name of the page so that the name is "Undergraduate Research Symposium".
  5. Move it to be the first page in the Research Symposium section.
  6. This is now the page that will be the main link for Research Symposium for the new cycle. It will be the page you get with this URL: chssundergrad.gmu.edu/research-symposium.

Deadline in the Event Application

  1. Update the deadline for the symposium in the Events Application: http://chss.gmu.edu/admin/events/1333

In the Events Application, do not create a new event for the upcoming symposium. Find the existing event (#1333) and update the date, time, place. As notes, there are two reasons for doing this: First, you don't have to recreate all the information and links for the event. Second, the event is associated with all department web sites in CHSSWeb. If you create a new event instead of updating the one from the year before, all these associations will be lost.