The annual Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) provides a space for students from any discipline to show off their expertise, through performances, presentations, and poster showcases. The three-day event, held in a variety of campus venues, presents a unique opportunity for attendees and participants, whether their futures lie in academia or elsewhere.
Landen Hashimura (’24), a 2024 SOURCE presenter and cultural and environmental resource management graduate, saw the potential of the conference firsthand. He hopes other students get as much out of the symposium as he did.
Nutrition master’s student Kivima Acevedo (‘25), left, talks about her research project with a classmate at the 2025 SOURCE Conference on the Ellensburg campus.
“The world isn’t made of textbook problems,” he said. “The reason we go to school to study is so we can go out and solve big-picture problems, regardless of what field you’re in. Research is the best way to get ready for that, and SOURCE is a fantastic opportunity to get started on that while you’re still earning your bachelor’s degree.”
In addition to offering students the chance to show off their research, SOURCE pairs them with capable faculty mentors, in order to guide their process and help them develop the best possible product.
These mentorship opportunities often lead to longer conversations about ways in which the participants can improve not just their own research but the conference as a whole.
Former Office of University Student Research Director Hideki Takei spent two years overseeing SOURCE, and while he has taken on a different role at CWU, he knows that the collaborative network at the core of the conference will maintain its momentum far into the future.
“Since SOURCE is an ongoing collaboration between faculty, students, and the university as a whole, it’s only going to get better and better every year,” the current co-chair of the IT Management department said. “We take feedback seriously, and are always working to give our students the best possible way to present their hard work.”
New Leader, Same Focus
As Tishra Beeson settles into her new role as Interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies, she has been able to apply her understanding of SOURCE from a faculty perspective as she begins planning for next year’s conference.
Every spring, SOURCE gives dozens of undergraduates a chance to present their research to the CWU community. Presentations range from traditional scientific research to humanities-based projects — and everything in between.
“As faculty members, we teach certain skills and competencies that we want our students to walk away with,” the former Health Sciences department chair said. “SOURCE is one of those exceptional opportunities where you get to see all of those things come together in a practical setting. Students take what they’ve learned inside and outside the classroom, put it together under the guidance of faculty mentorship, and then share it with an incredibly receptive community.”
Since each year’s presentations are filed with the Library of Congress, participants can rightfully claim to be published academics as a result of their engagement with SOURCE. The conference regularly sees presentations from undergraduate and graduate students, as well as some high school students via Running Start.
Beeson also sees potential in bringing alumni into the fold to offer additional mentorship and support.
“We welcome alumni participation, both as attendees and as mentors, panelists, and judges,” she said. “Our alumni are an important part of our community, and we love to foster connections across several generations of Wildcats.”
Beeson believes presenting at SOURCE is often just the beginning of a student’s expression of their work, opening the doors to further conference involvement at the local, state, and national levels.
“I often see students who present at SOURCE go on to deliver those presentations at other conferences, based on the work they’ve started with their faculty mentors here at CWU,” she said. “It really serves as a launching pad to a bunch of different opportunities, depending on what the student’s aspirations might be. The chance to articulate a project from conceptual design all the way through impact can represent incredible value to a student’s next steps in their career or advanced study.”
Start of Something Great
Kaleb Javier spent seven years at CWU from 2010 to 2017, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics in 2014 before pursuing a master’s in cultural and environmental resource management.
Shortly after presenting at SOURCE toward the end of his undergraduate program, he was invited to take his presentation on the road.
“One of my mentors taught me that every talk is a job talk, so you need to approach every public speaking opportunity with some preparation,” Javier said. “The summer after my first SOURCE, I went on to present at the Western Economics Association in front of economists who’ve been in the field a long time. Having that SOURCE experience helped me prepare for taking my show on the road.”
After graduation, Javier took his talents to Stanford University as a research fellow, until he began pursuing his PhD at the University of California-Berkeley in 2020. With his doctorate in sight, Javier knows that the skills he gleaned from CWU and SOURCE have been an invaluable resource along the way.
“The number one thing I’ve found that makes a job interview go well, and makes an application really strong, is that ability to talk about the work you’ve done with fluency and passion,” he said. “SOURCE gave me an early opportunity to develop that skill, and to pursue my own work outside of faculty-guided classes. It’s important to employers to see that you can finish a job in a timely manner, and SOURCE is a great way to show that you can do that.”