Annual Mentored Learning Conference
The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences invites undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the Annual Mentored Student Research Conference by the Mary Lou Fulton Chair. The conference is a full day event designed to showcase mentored student learning. It is an opportunity for students to present and explain their research to the public. Students from all departments in the college are encouraged to participate by preparing a poster illustrating the hypothesis, process and results of their research.
The upcoming conference is April 5, 2012.
The schedule for the day is as follows:
7:30-8:30 a.m.: conference participants are responsible for hanging their poster(s) in the Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom. Submitted posters, hanging materials, and staff support will be available for participants in the Ballroom by 7:30 a.m. If a poster is not hung by 8:30 a.m., that poster might not be considered in the judging process.
8:30 a.m.: judging process begins.
9 – 11:50 a.m.: conference opens to the public for the first poster session.
12 noon – 1:20 p.m.: complementary luncheon for student participants and faculty mentors (please RSVP for this during the online registration process)
1:30 – 3 p.m.: second poster session.
Although some students will need to leave the conference for classes and prior engagements, students are encouraged to attend as much of the conference as they can.
The deadline for poster submission is Monday, March 26, 2012 at 12:00 noon.
Poster Guidelines
Creating a poster
What program should I use?
Most students create their posters in Microsoft PowerPoint. If you have know how to use and have access to programs like Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe InDesign, feel free to use them if you wish. Note that you will need to convert your poster into a PDF file before submitting (directions below).
Dimensions
When you create your file, set the dimensions at 44 inches wide and 33 inches tall. In PowerPoint 2010, this can be done by going to Design --> Page Setup. For earlier versions of PowerPoint, it will be under File --> Page Setup (depending on the version, it may be called Document Size, Page Size, Document Setup, or something similar). There will be a place to enter in the desired dimensions (44 inches wide and 33 inches tall). Do not let PowerPoint "fix" the dimensions you enter if it asks to.
Once you have determined the size, you can layout the elements of your poster exactly the same way you would a PowerPoint slide, using text boxes, inserting images, selecting fonts, colors, backgrounds, etc.
Fonts
When choosing fonts for your poster, ensure they are easy to read in large blocks of text. Avoid fonts that are hard to read or distracting from the actual content of your poster. Also remember that as the poster will be very large, a 24 pt font size or larger will be the easiest to read.
Images
When selecting images for your poster, remember that they are going to be printed on a large poster. Ideally, the images on your poster need to be 300 dpi (dots-per-inch) or higher. Anything smaller than that will be blurry and distorted upon printing. Images found on the internet are generally 72 dpi and therefore insufficient. If you need to find images, search for royalty free images on sites such as
iStockPhoto.com or
BigStockPhoto.com. These sites have a large selection and most images are only a few dollars each. Remember to only purchase images that are 300 dpi or higher. There are also some images (mainly of BYU campus and students) available at
BYU Photo.
Content
While creating your poster, note that each poster must have:
1. Student name(s).
2. Faculty mentor name(s).
3. Department name.
4. A title that matches the title entered on the registration form.
5. A BYU seal somewhere on the poster. To download a high-quality version of the BYU seal, go to identity.byu.edu, click on the picture of the BYU seal and then select "Files." Choose the logo you prefer and ensure you select the "Large" size and either the Mac EPS (for Mac computers) or PC EPS (for PC computers).
Converting your poster into a PDF
Note: simply changing the file extension name to “PDF” does not convert the file to a PDF.
To convert your poster to a PDF from PowerPoint 2010:
1. Go to “File.”
2. Click “Save as" or "Save as Adobe PDF”
3. In the “File name” box, type the name of your poster.
4. In the “Save as type” box, select “PDF.”
5. Click “Save.”
6. Open the PDF to ensure the file saved properly. If it did not convert properly and you need assistance, contact the FHSS Design Team at fhssdesign@byu.edu.
To convert your poster to a PDF from earlier versions of PowerPoint:
1. Go to “File” (or the Microsoft Office button)
2. Point to the arrow next to “Save As” and then click “PDF or XPS” (note: clicking “Adobe PDF” instead of “PDF or XPS” will often require you to download additional software).
3. In the “File name” type or select a name for your poster.
4. In the “Save as type” box, ensure “PDF” is selected.
5. Click “Save.”
6. Open the PDF to ensure the file saved properly. If it did not convert properly and you need assistance, contact the FHSS Design Team at fhssdesign@byu.edu.
If the program you are using does not give you the option of saving your file as a PDF, it will sometimes let you "print" it as one.
1. Go to "File" (or the Microsoft Office button)
2. Point to the arrow next to "Print."
3. On the drop-down menu, choose "AdobePDFWriter" or "CutePDFWriter."
4. Click print, type in the file name and save it to your computer.
5. Open the PDF to ensure the file saved properly. If it did not convert properly and you need assistance, contact the FHSS Design Team at fhssdesign@byu.edu.
How to submit a poster
To submit a poster, login with your net ID and password to the conference registration page:
http://fultonchair.byu.edu/Registration.dhtml.
To register you will need:
- An abstract of your poster
- A PDF of your poster
- The names and net IDs of your co-investigators
The registration page is also where you will register you and your co-investigators for the 12 noon luncheon.
Help
If you have any problems with your poster design, converting file formats or uploading, please contact the College Design Team at fhssdesign@byu.edu for assistance. Please note they will not be able to design or create your poster for you.
It may also help you to look at these instructions:
Template/PDF Instructions
How to make a poster in Illustrator
Power Point Template
You are also welcome to look at archived conference posters from previous years in the Harold B. Lee Library's
ScholarsArchive.
Archiving Your Poster
The Office of Digital Content Management in the Harold B. Lee Library has given Mary Lou Fulton Conference participants the option of digitally archiving their posters in BYU's online institutional repository.
Archival will permanently preserve these posters as part of BYU Library’s digital collections and also make them Open Access for all Internet users. Open Access publications are viewed and cited much more frequently than those available only in hard copy; this is one of the best ways to increase the efficacy of research. In addition, the archived poster will continually be available for reuse. If there is ever a need to reprint a previously constructed poster, the process is considerably simplified by archival. If you would like to have your conference poster archived please visit
the BYU ScholarsArchive for more information.
Printing a Poster
Once you submit your poster, the college will take care of all printing and printing costs.
You will receive an email confirmation number when your poster is printed that will help you identify your poster at the conference. Do not lose this number; you will need the number to retrieve you poster for display on April 5.
If you do not receive a confirmation number within one hour of submitting your poster, please contact the FHSS Design Team at fhssdesign@byu.edu to ensure they have received your poster file.
Judging
A committee comprised of representatives from the college will select first place winners from each department. Depending on the number of posters submitted in each department, they may also select second, third, and fourth place winners. The criteria for evaluating the posters are as follows:
Quality of Research
Overall Poster Clarity
Visual Appeal
Displaying a Poster
The posters will be organized by number and transported by the Dean's Office staff to the Ballroom in the Wilkinson Student Center.
Students will need to come to the Ballroom on April 5, between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to hang up their posters.Help will be available to attach the hardware and hang the posters. Posters hung after 8:30 a.m. might not be in the judging process.
