3rd Annual Gonzaga University
Leadership Studies
Student Research Symposium
“Be inspired”
March 27-28, 2015
Call for Proposals
About the Conference:
The third annual Gonzaga University Leadership Studies Student Research Symposium will take place on
the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington on March 27-28, 2015. The aim of this
conference is to explore emerging questions and/or completed research and service projects currently
occupying undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students in leadership studies at Gonzaga University.
The conference is intended to stimulate dialogue and critical reflection of the multiple perspectives of
our students, our programs and the complexity of the field of leadership studies. The conference is also
intended to highlight the theory and practice of leadership studies research methodologies currently
alive in our programs.
Organizers of this conference are committed to encouraging leadership student scholars and
practitioners from various academic programs to participate in an all-inclusive dialogue about leadership
studies at Gonzaga University.
Proposal Submission:
We invite your submission of paper presentation, virtual presentation, round table discussion and/or
poster session proposals. Organizers welcome proposals that broadly cover both traditional and
experimental approaches to leadership research. Specifically, we are interested in emerging conceptions
or ideas that you think are good possibilities for formal research, research-in-progress, and findings from
completed research. Deadline: Submissions will be accepted through February 15, 2015.
This year’s conference is open to current Undergraduate Comprehensive Leadership Program (CLP)
students, Communication Leadership, Organizational Leadership, and Doctoral students and candidates
at Gonzaga University. Students and candidates may submit either a full paper, virtual presentation,
round table discussion and/or poster session proposal.
When submitting your proposal, please be sure to indicate whether your submission is for a paper
presentation, virtual presentation, round table discussion and/or poster session proposal. Your
proposal for this symposium will include an abstract, limited to 150 words, that should include a
summary of the purpose and key question(s) regarding your project, as well as a 50 word bio. For online
submission of your proposal and specific criteria, please see the guidelines and suggestions regarding
presentations (for all formats) at www.gonzaga.edu/leadershipsymposium
Proposal Tracks in Student Research in Leadership Studies:
We ask that applicants craft their proposals and submit to one of the following four tracks:




Conceptualization of Research in Leadership Studies & Communication – Students who want to discuss a
research design are encouraged to apply to this track. The research is in its inception and one who
submits to this track has an emerging idea, conceptualization, or design to discuss. Perhaps guiding
questions or working hypotheses might be explored or discussed.
Research-in-Progress in Leadership Studies & Communication – Students interested in this track have a
working research project they wish to discuss with the audience. Questions one might consider are: What
are exciting methods used in your research? What are preliminary findings that seem intriguing or
puzzling given one’s original research questions? What have been research challenges; how have you
overcome those challenges?
Completed Research in Leadership Studies & Communication – Share with the audience findings of your
completed research. What was/were your original research question(s)? What were key findings or
themes? What are the implications of your research? What suggestions do you have for others, post
research?
Service Projects – Share with the audience a service project you created and/or led. Why this group, this
project? How did you find out about this group? What were your service goals? What were your
outcomes? What suggestions do you have based on lessons learned serving others?
Presentation Formats:
Please choose one of the following formats in which the presentation will be structured:




Paper Presentations: A “paper presentation” is understood as a formal presentation supported by either
completed research or scholarly expression of research. A 15-minute synopsis of the project for each
presenter will be given followed by a 5-minute time of questions and answers.
Roundtable Discussions: For this format we want participants to propose discussion topics they would be
willing to facilitate. In the proposal, one would suggest a topic and present a short introduction including
a rationale for the topic and possible discussion/conversation questions. If a proposal is chosen in this
track, the student would introduce the topic to the audience with a few guiding questions, and then
facilitate the conversation.
Poster Sessions: For this format students are invited to present a 36” x 48” poster that examines a
leadership theory through the discussion of a service-learning experience, a research project, or a
research question. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the symposium in Jepson lobby, with
a 1-hour block for questions on Saturday. An abstract for the poster must be submitted online. In
addition, posters must be able to stand on a table top on their own (e.g. be trifold style).
Virtual Presentation: Online presentations and interaction will be possible and should be formatted as a
paper session as described above. Please submit a proposal for an online session to the online submission
at www.gonzaga.edu/leadershipsymposium.
To submit your proposals and learn more about the 3nd Annual Leadership Studies Student Research
Symposium, please visit www.gonzaga.edu/leadershipsymposium
Faculty contacts for proposal questions:
CLP- Dr. Josh Armstrong – armstrongj@gonzaga.edu
Communication Leadership – Dr. Pavel Shlossberg – shlossbergp@gonzaga.edu
Organizational Leadership – Dr. Lazi Topuzova – topuzova@gonzaga.edu
Doctoral Leadership –Dr. Kem Gambrell – gambrell@gonzaga.edu
Faculty contact for general questions:
Dr. JoAnn Danelo Barbour, Chair, Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies – barbourj@gonzaga.edu