Today@Sam Article

New Five-Year Report Highlights SHSU’s Research Success

Sept. 20, 2021
SHSU Media Contact: Emily Binetti

With over $60 million awarded to Sam Houston State University in external research funding over the past five years, the university has seen tremendous success in expanding new knowledge through research opportunities for faculty and students.

To highlight that success, SHSU’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs has published a new report. The Sam Houston State University Impact Report paints a vivid picture of the broad array of research activities, across all college sectors, from fiscal years 2016 to 2020.

“Our goal was to cast a wide net encompassing scholarly and creative accomplishments across campus, to think broadly about what research can mean and what it can achieve,” said Chad Hargrave, associate vice president for Research & Sponsored Programs. “While we have incorporated some hard quantitative data, we have also brought a qualitative lens, sharing the stories of who our researchers are and what goals they pursue in their diverse explorations.”

The report was authored by Erin Owens, professor in the SHSU Newton Gresham Library. She serves as the librarian coordinator for the Access & Interlibrary Services department and a scholarly communication librarian.

Two SHSU students also helped author the report—Tamara Parsons, a graduate student in the higher education administration MA program also completing an MA in history and Emily Van Eaton, a junior working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with minors in technical writing and American Sign Language.

Through features on students excelling in the scholarly or creative accomplishments of their field, the report demonstrates SHSU’s emphasis on student involvement in the research process.

“I felt that the inclusion of student research assistants in this project was just one more way to underscore our emphasis on the student research experience—it was a way to “walk the walk,” if you will,” Owens said. “And for me as the project lead, it felt only right that the students working with me were visibly credited for the research and writing work that they put into this project. I wanted them to be building their research portfolios for post-graduation benefits, just as SHSU strives to help so many other students successfully build theirs."

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