Celebration of Scholars

Celebration of Scholars Call for Submissions

The annual Celebration of Scholars event at Northwest Missouri State University exists to showcase, inspire, and connect the scholarly, creative, and innovative achievements of our students and faculty. Rooted in our commitment to “Every Student, Every Day,” this campus-wide event highlights the diverse ways Bearcats learn, create, and lead—through research, applied knowledge, artistic expression, service, and innovation. By fostering curiosity, collaboration, and community engagement, the Celebration of Scholars showcase empowers students and faculty to share their work, build professional readiness, and contribute to a culture of excellence that defines Northwest.

This year’s showcase will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Submission Application Form

The Celebration of Scholars showcase is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at Northwest and may include work completed during the 2025-2026 academic year or before. Faculty and staff are encouraged to recommend the showcase to students and to sponsor their best work, and students are encouraged to submit their work.  If you have a student working on a project and believe they will have a completed or mostly completed project to present by April 1st and you are willing to sponsor that student, please encourage the student to submit their work or submit a nomination. We especially encourage you to ask graduating seniors who are working on final senior projects to think about this.

Submissions will be open until 5 pm on Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Submissions for Fall 2025 are officially open! Get ready to share your work this spring. Students may apply directly, or faculty, staff, community partners and even peer students can nominate students to participate.

The annual showcase gives the University community a chance to see the interesting work students are completing across disciplines, and it gives participating students an audience beyond the classroom. In past years, students have presented creative writing, original research, and analytical papers. They have also given speeches, conducted panel discussions, and displayed original works of art and visual summaries of their projects. They also have presented dramatic readings and played or analyzed music, and some have presented other original work or projects completed in class or during internships. 

The selection committee is open to new and innovative approaches in what students want to present and how they would like to present it!

2025-2026 Celebration of Scholars Planning and Selection Committee

Showcase Your Work

This year, the Celebration of Scholars is growing! We’ve added new categories and presentation formats so more students, programs, and disciplines can participate. If you have a project, performance, innovation, or creative work—there’s now a place for it.

How Participating in the Celebration of Scholars Benefits You

• Showcase research, creative work, performances, service projects, or entrepreneurial ideas.
• Add a “Conference Presentation / Exhibit” section to your resume or LinkedIn profile.
• Create portfolio material for internships, jobs, or graduate school applications.

• Gain confidence in public speaking and presenting to diverse audiences.
• Practice teamwork by highlighting collaborative projects.
• Demonstrate innovation and creativity to future employers.

• Presenting at Celebration of Scholars mirrors a professional academic conference.
• Abstracts and project descriptions can often be included in applications as evidence of scholarly activity.
• Faculty mentors can later serve as recommenders.

• Share your work with peers, faculty, alumni, and community members.
• Begin building a reputation as a leader and innovator at Northwest.

• Being part of Celebration of Scholars highlights your initiative and commitment to excellence and outstanding submissions will be recognized

SUBMISSION EXAMPLES

 Academic & Applied Research

• Class research projects, independent studies, proposals, or capstones
• Research Posters or Posters combined with a Presentation
• Papers or manuscripts (published or in progress)
• Business analysis, video presentations, entrepreneurship, and innovation pitches

Creative & Performing Arts

• Visual and gallery works (2D and 3D)
• Digital and media arts (graphic design, visual media, audio/video)
• Music, theatre, dance, and performance recitals
• Creative writing, literary readings, or storytelling

Professional, Experiential, and Community-Based Work

• Internship and fieldwork reports
• Service-learning and community engagement projects
• Technology prototypes, software, coding, digital portfolios

Showcases, Demonstrations & Media

• Demonstrations or interactive exhibits
• Film, audio, and multimedia work (radio, video, documentaries, sound design)

Here’s what you need to do to participate

• After you find a faculty member to be your sponsor, fill out the application form. (Faculty are quite happy to do this, and it doesn’t have to be the faculty for whom you completed your work.)
• If you are presenting with other students who worked on the same project, please put all of your names on a single form. If you and a friend want to present different projects but at the same session, please submit separate forms and indicate your preference to present at the same time.
• Submit the form. Available online until 5:00 PM March 10. Late submissions will not be considered. Please enter your submissions as soon as possible.
• Poster Printing: Career Services will cover the cost of those submitted by March 10. 
  • Email your poster file to Mail & Printing Services (MAILCPY@nwmissouri.edu) and include that Career Services is covering the cost of the poster for Celebration of Scholars. The Mail and Printing Supervisor knows to expect submissions. Students will receive an email when it is ready for pickup at Mail and Printing Services, which can be found next to UPD.

Past Showcases

Browse past programs to see the projects and presentations that have shaped this event. Building on this foundation, the 2026 Celebration of Scholars introduces expanded categories and new ways to participate.

• 2025 Program 
• 2024 Program 
• 2023 Program 
• 2021 Program 
• 2019 Program