*** DEADLINE EXTENDED to Friday, February 9 ***

The Big Orange STEM Saturday (BOSS) planning committee and the UT Libraries invite university faculty, staff, student leaders, and members of the East Tennessee scientific community to participate in the 7th annual BOSS conference at UT’s John C. Hodges Library.

BOSS is a free conference presented annually by the UT Libraries for middle school and high school students interested in pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) majors and careers. The event is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

We encourage you to share your expertise and enthusiasm for the STEM fields by presenting a 30-minute “breakout” session on a topic of your choice. Presentations will run from approximately 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. All presenters will stage their sessions twice for different groups. Lunch is included for all presenters.

The theme for this year’s BOSS is “From Teaching to Doing: Making STEM Hands-On.” Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• diversity in STEM
• medicine/nutrition
• agriculture/veterinary science
• aerospace engineering
• STEM career preparedness
• student-led panels
• developing technologies
• STEM opportunities in unexpected places
• computer science and/or computer programming
• Humanities and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, or STEAM)
• everyday STEM
• making math fun

Breakout sessions must include an interactive, hands-on component suitable for middle and high school students. All STEM or STEAM-related proposals that include an interactive component will be given consideration.

Proposals should include the author(s) name(s), title(s), and a brief abstract not to exceed 100 words along with a separate description of the interactive activity.

Submit proposals via our submission page; proposals sent via email will not be accepted.

Deadline for submission is Friday, February 9, 2018.

If you have questions, please contact Thura Mack, Coordinator, Community Learning Services & Diversity Programs, UT Libraries (tmack@utk.edu or 865-974-6381).