Registration Process

All Whittier College undergraduates are encouraged to present your high-quality research, scholarship, or creative work with the campus community at URSCA Day 2026.

There are two options for participating. You may apply for the URSCA Open Session or the  URSCA Conference Session.

Open Session

Submit your abstract to the URSCA Open Session if:

  • Presentation is required as part of Senior Seminar, First-year Writing and Project-Based Learning seminar, or one of your other courses.
  • You want to gain skill and experience presenting your work to others in a professional setting.
  • Abstracts submitted to the URSCA Open Session will be reviewed by the course instructor or faculty mentor.

Conference Session

Submit your abstract to the URSCA Conference Session if:

  • You have completed an independent study, fellowship project, senior capstone, or other project of high quality in your discipline.
  • You would like to feature conference participation on your resume/cv, graduate school and/or employment applications. Conference submissions are competitive and acceptance is based on the project’s academic or creative merit.
  • Your project is a course requirement but you want it to be considered for the conference session too, complete the Open Session Submission Form and check the box for dual designation.
  • Abstracts submitted to the Conference Session will be evaluated by the URSCA Committee and faculty subject experts.

Criteria

Eligible projects for either session include original student work completed last summer or the current academic year such as:

  • Senior capstone projects
  • Fellowship projects
  • Independent Study projects
  • Student-Faculty co-authored work
  • Course assignment (non-Senior project)

Presentation Formats

  • Oral presentation
  • Poster presentation
  • Creative writing presentation (fiction or poetry)
  • Digital media presentation
  • Performance or artworks

Presentation Duration

15 minutes/student (set up, presentation, Q&A) for oral, media, or performance presentations.

Poster Session participants will field questions and comments about their poster as attendees circulate through the venue for the duration of the Poster Session, approximately 45 minutes.

How to Register

  • Choose the session you would like to participate in and complete the appropriate application form below by March 18, 2026:
  • If submitting a group project, one student must be designated to submit on the group’s behalf. Only co-presenters should be listed on the registration form, but contributing members from the project should be recognized in the presentation if they are not presenting.
  • Your faculty sponsor (open session submissions) or the URSCA Committee (conference session submissions) will review your abstract and either approve it for submission or return it to you for revision. Note that you must submit a new form if revisions are required.
  • You will receive confirmation if your abstract is approved.

Next Steps

  • You will be assigned a presentation time based on your topic and/or discipline.
  • Finalize your remarks, performance, visual aids, or poster. Rehearse your presentation.
  • Invite your family and friends to attend URSCA Day 2026!