Our Crowdfunding Groups
The New Start Summer Program provides an opportunity for incoming freshmen to take classes, work with peer leaders, and engage in various academic and extracurricular programs to make their transition to UA successful. For many students coming to UA, presenting original research at a conference is not even on their radar. New Start seeks to encourage academic engagement through its Academic Conference, an annual two-day conference that allows participants to showcase their own research. Now in its 24th year, the Academic Conference includes three awards: best Innovation, best Research, and best Analysis. Your support will allow New Start to add a scholarship for the fall semester to these awards as a way to encourage academic engagement. You make it possible to reward students in their first opportunity to be a part of an academic and research community!
Last year, 10 students total (from three panels) won an award at the Academic Conference. Your gift will help us add scholarships to the awards for the students who win this year!
The New Start Academic Conference began in 1993 as a way to introduce students to life at a Research I institution and to get them to consider themselves a part of that academic life.
This year, New Start will host its 24th Annual Academic Conference!
Last year, the Academic Conference hosted 36 sessions across two days of the conference. Scholarships will help us provide a reward for students who go above and beyond making their session excellent!
89.10% of New Start 2014 was retained to their sophomore year! Each year, New Start retains students at a rate higher than the student body at large!
At the 2015 Academic Conference, 138 students presented as a part of a panel - that's almost half of the students in New Start!
