Major research projects in college used to be saved for graduate school. Not anymore.

Undergraduate research at UW-L continues to increase, jumping 7 percent in funded proposals and 21 percent in the amount of projects funded from 2007-08 to 2008-09. This academic year, nearly $150,000 is available to deserving undergraduate student researchers.

“Our motivated students are always looking for challenging projects to do and research is certainly one of those,” explains VJ Agarwal, Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. “We are seeing more undergraduate research proposals being submitted and funded each year.”

Agarwal says a successful undergraduate research experience opens many doors for students going to graduate or professional school, or even for those planning to enter the workforce right after college. “While being mentored by our faculty and staff, they develop meaningful professional relationships leading to strong recommendation letters and more,” says Agarwal. “Research also helps them with their critical thinking, analytical ability and just becoming more mature thinkers and researchers in their own right.”

Katelynn Williams, a senior from Madison majoring in economics and finance with a minor in French, travelled overseas last spring to research “The French Response to the United States’ Financial Crisis: An Economic and Social Perspective.” Williams followed French and American newspaper and journal coverage of the unfolding crisis during her semester abroad in Rennes, France. She developed a characterization of France’s societal and economic response to the unfolding events.

Williams says the experience has impacted her. “The research experience not only gave me an in-depth understanding of my topic, but also introduced the skills of article searching, succinct summarization, critical analysis of findings and writing for research dissemination along with the dedication necessary to conduct an individual research project,” she says. “The experience provided an excellent base for research skills I will use in the future as a graduate student.”

Williams encourages other students to pursue similar grants. “The projects teach an invaluable lesson in personal learning and allow students to develop an in-depth understanding of a specific area of interest that is hard to come by in the classroom,” she explains.

Associate Vice Chancellor Agarwal says the type of undergraduate research being done speaks highly of faculty-student collegial relationships on campus. “Excellence at UW-La Crosse is not an accident, but it is in part due to the serious engagement of our faculty and students in research and many other things,” he says. “A recent campus accreditation team found that UW-L faculty members first challenge their students and then help their students achieve those expectations. I have no doubt that our consistently high retention and graduation rates are in part due to this serious engagement in undergraduate research, internships and other scholarship endeavors.”

Once students complete their research projects, they can share their findings at the campus research celebration, the UW System Symposium or national conferences, such as the one held at UW-L in April. “Being able to become a co-author on a published paper is truly significant for students,” notes Agarwal, who mentors students. “Research experience also adds to their resume.”

Find out more about Undergraduate Research at UW-L at Undergraduate Research.

Jeff Taxdahl.

When Jeff Taxdahl walked across the commencement stage in 1986, the Internet as we know it today didn’t exist. Taxdahl didn’t even own a personal computer.

Now his career depends on both. It can because Taxdahl had his College of Business Administration solid education. And because he’s made an effort to stay up to date with technology and Web marketing trends.

“Learning never stops,” says Taxdahl. “When I graduated in ’86, the modern-day Internet didn’t exist. But, now I make my living on it.”

Taxdahl shared his more-than-20-years’ insight into marketing with up-and-coming CBA students at the 10th Annual Take an Eagle to Lunch Oct. 23. Sponsored by the Silver Eagles, the program pairs students with CBA alums and business leaders to talk shop over lunch.

Taxdahl is founder and owner of Thread Logic, a Jordan, Minn.,-based company that markets custom embroidered logo apparel nationwide via the Internet. In the past year, the company produced 67,000 pieces — hats, shirts and other softgoods — to 2,500 customers. Sales were up 37 percent over the previous year and the company is in the top 10 percent nationwide.

Despite that success, Taxdahl doesn’t assume he’s home free and has all the Web marketing answers. “I’m not going to tell you I have it figured out because I don’t have it figured out,” he told the eager students. “Once you think you do, you stop working.”

Taxdahl reads bankruptcy listings daily to keep him on task. “The difference between success and failure is a thin line,” he notes.

The strong business and marketing principles he learned on campus have steered Taxdahl to where he is today. Even though he’s not a techie, he’s survived well in an Internet-based business. “I’m not a technology guy,” explains Taxdahl. “But, marketing principles still apply. It takes a very specific marketing skill set to make this work.”

One important marketing technique Taxdahl has learned is getting his online company to rise in Google searches. “If you’re not listed on the first page, you’re dead,” he matter-of-factly states. “It’s not a build-it-and-they-will-come proposition. You must drive people to your site.”

Two-thirds of online searches are done on Google, continues Taxdahl. He’s found success in both natural and paid listings. But the key, Taxdahl says, is the look of the landing page searchers are directed to once they click on what they were looking for. Searchers want to immediately see what they’re searching for, not a company’s home page where they have to conduct another search.

That business model wasn’t even thought of when Taxdahl was on campus. It’s different from when he started out in sales too. “I can’t tell you the last time I was on a sales call; it’s been years,” he says. “Relationships still happen, they just happen via e-mail.”

Taxdahl says it’s key to get a solid base in college and then stay fresh in your expertise. He advises to not worry about trying new things and finding out they don’t work. “If you’re not failing, you’re not doing anything,” he explains. “Real learning happens only when you fail.”

He encourages those about to enter the work force to keep learning. “Be curious, ask questions,” Taxdahl says. “Find mentors to ask questions and bounce ideas off.”

Find out more about UW-L’s College of Business Administration at CBA.

Now she’s adding publishing a book to that list. “I Never Thought of That” is described as a thought-provoking, imaginative, reflective, spontaneous, humorous book.

The book is a tool for enhancing communication in a non-threatening, relaxed atmosphere. Although it’s a great resource for treatment and therapy groups, counseling sessions, discussion circles and leadership empowerment workshops, it’s also a book to read for fun.

“This book is a fun icebreaker to quickly establish rapport with a group,” says LaDawn Edwards who teaches public relations at Mt. Mercy College and English at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa. “Sometimes I open it and read a page when I just need to smile.”

When conducting a 7:45 a.m. class for university students, it’s important to find a way to engage them, explains Barta, who often used open-ended prompts to engage them, such as “if books were people and people were books …”

“I’m grateful to my students for their insightful, creative, spontaneous, humorous, outrageous and sometimes bizarre responses to these open-ended thoughts,” notes Barta.

To find out more or to order a book, visit Lulu.

Campus authors wanted for Celebration of Campus Authors
Deadline to participate is Friday, Dec. 18

If you’re an established campus book author, that is, you’re a member of the UW-L faculty or staff and have had two or more book titles published, UW-L’s second annual Celebration of Campus Authors is one venue to showcase your work.

Faculty and staff who have had two or more books published are encouraged to complete the Call to Participate form at Participate. Information about last year’s celebration is available at Authors.

Radiation therapy students and the director each received $5,000 scholarships.

Each year, radiation therapy students who are student members of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) apply for Varian Radiation Therapy student scholarships. The $5,000 scholarships are awarded annually to 19 students enrolled in radiation therapy programs across the country.

This year, five of the scholarships were awarded to members of the UW-L Radiation Therapy Class of 2010. The recipients were Bridget Baroni, Alecia Ellingstad, Katie Esch, Shawn Morgan and Michelle Walters.

They received their scholarship certificates and met representatives from Varian and the ASRT Nov. 2 at the national ASRT conference in Chicago.

Program Director Melissa Weege won a $5,000 Elekta Radiation Therapy Educator Scholarship for a second time and received the award at the conference.

Pictured, from left, are: Alecia Ellingstad, Katie Esch, Shawn Morgan, UW-L Program Director Melissa Weege, Amy Heath, ‘05 (a past scholarship recipient and program clinical coordinator), Michelle Walters and Bridget Baroni.

Additionally, two 2009 graduates were published in the professional journal Radiation Therapist, a bi-annual publication of the ASRT. Alumna Tara Peterson published her senior research paper, “TMI with Helical Tomotherapy: A Replacement for TBI?” Alumna Alyssa Gust, a radiation therapist at the Billings Clinic in Billings, Mont., published the article “Making the Impossible, Possible: Working with Anxious Patients.”

To find out more about the radiation therapy program at UW-L, visit Radiation Therapy.

Those who have unearthed arrowheads can now turn to a handy guide to help identify historical information about the artifacts.

The newly produced laminated guide folds up to the size of an ordinary road map. It includes images and details about more than 70 of the most common point forms found throughout the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The point images — in color and full size — allow seekers to lay their find directly on an image similar to what they have found. Each point lists its probable age,  chert type it was made with, where the specimen is typically found and other archaeological information. The guides are geared for archaeologists and archaeologist-wannabes in the field, labs or classrooms.

UW-L Archaeology Professor Joe Tiffany compiled the new guide, “A Guide to Projectile Points of Iowa.” Along with teaching at one of the few comprehensive undergraduate archaeology degree programs in the country and the only one in the Midwest, Tiffany is also director of UW-L’s Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center (MVAC). He says there is always interest in archaeological findings. 

“Just about every day we get an e-mail or someone dropping in with a question about a point or artifacts they have found,” Tiffany says. “They want the object identified and the story that goes with it — what were the people like who made the point, when did they live, what did they eat, and so on. The guide will provide answers to many of these common questions.”

The guides are $9.95 and available at the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center on campus or from the University of Iowa Press Univ. of Iowa Press.

Find out more about MVAC at MVAC.