June 2006

Life faculty and staff set record for Research Conference

A record number of Life University faculty and staff were present at the annual Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference (ACC/RAC) this March, far surpassing the University's previous representation and outpacing participation by every other chiropractic college.

Life University was represented at the chiropractic profession's primary research event with 16 poster presentations and eight platform presentations.

"Everyone who had something accepted is going to the conference in Washington, DC," explained Matthew McCoy, DC, director of the Department of Sponsored Research and Scholarly Activity before the event. "We are going to have the biggest showing this institution has ever had."

Dr. McCoy and others credit faculty participation in the on‑campus Research Colloquium as the springboard to these impressive results.

"We asked all those who did a poster for the Colloquium to submit their work to ACC/RAC for consideration. Sometimes our department was there pushing and cajoling and supporting (and perhaps sometimes even annoying) the faculty and staff researchers," McCoy said. "They really worked one‑on‑one with me, Dr. Hoiriis (assistant department director) and other faculty who had been through the process before. The results were really kind of amazing. We thought maybe half would get accepted but didn't expect that nearly all of our submissions would be accepted."

"After seeing what they were capable of when they participated in the Research Colloquium, the faculty and even staff researchers started to believe in their own abilities and gained confidence in their research skills," said Ekaterina Malakhova, DC, MD, program manager in the department.

In addition to one‑on‑one support, the research department also hosted several ongoing initiatives to further educate faculty about research practices. Kathy Hoiriis, DC, hosted a Lunch and Learn program with presentations every other week about research, teaching and learning.

The first 15 minutes featured a volunteer presenter and the remaining time was left for discussion of the material presented. The Lunch and Learn featured each RAC platform presenter doing a practice session of the material to be presented at the conference, with observers offering constructive feedback.

The department also introduced a Journal Club that involves participants in reading and reviewing a selected academic article and meeting to discuss it. Ongoing support also included help in locating literature and assistance framing project ideas and design.

Dr. Malakhova will take the lead in helping locate appropriate grants for funding. The revitalized department is also working directly with students to involve them in the process, with student research scholarships recently expanded from three to five. Students awarded scholarships receive a one‑third tuition discount for the quarter.