TCU students, faculty and alumni were greeted with over 20 displays showcasing the work of TCU students upon entering the doors of the J.M. Moudy South Visual Arts and Communication Building.

Undergraduate and graduate students presented their research, creative projects and videos at the annual Schieffer College Research and Creative Festival at the end of the spring 2022 semester.

The festival involved about 40-50 students competing both individually and in groups.

The Research and Professional Development Committee of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication has organized the special event for the past eight years. 

Director of the committee, Dustin Hahn, says that the event is the perfect opportunity to showcase the work of the students within the department. 

“One of the core tenets of academia and TCU certainly is research, and what we do in research is an opportunity to showcase much of the intellectual work that our students are doing in both the in-creative productions and the traditional research scholarship,” Hahn said. “So, it’s really, it ends up being a celebration, connection, and just an exciting thing to have. It invigorates creative and intellectual thinking of different ideas that really stand at the core of what we do.”

The committee determines four category winners, while TCU students, faculty and alumni nominate both an individual and group winner. 

Undergraduate students compete for the title of the Undergraduate Traditional Research Scholarship Winner and the Undergraduate Creative Winner. Graduate students compete for a title from both the strategic communications department and the communication studies department.

All winners are awarded a $250 cash prize and their projects will be displayed in the lobby of Moudy South.

Much consideration and preparation goes into the festival.

The Research and Professional Development Committee of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication said that the team has been prepping for this day since the early fall semester of 2021.

Members of the team promote and communicate the event in various places around campus in the weeks leading up to it. 

The team must consider planning for judging rubrics and determining the number and variation of awards. They also provide students with equipment for their displays, such as boards and easels. 

Through trial and error, the festival has continued to expand and develop over the past few years. 

The festival has shifted from once showcasing students’ work through PowerPoint presentations to displaying their research through colorful posters and boards.

They continuously look for new ways to make the festival engaging to both the TCU community and spectators outside of campus grounds. 

The newest addition was the inclusion of a QR code. Anyone with a mobile device could scan and vote on who they thought had the most captivating presentation and display.

“It's the place [research] that we get to discover new ideas--to identify insights and to observe truth that exists out there,” Hahn said. "It's a core to what we believe in and what the university stands for academia as a whole.”