Undergraduate and Graduate
Research in Business
Students can enrich their educational experience by conducting research on a wide variety of business topics. Participating in undergraduate and graduate research can provide opportunities for you to:
- Develop a range of transferable skills
- Improve your communication skills
- Sharpen your critical and analytical thinking skills
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Develop mentoring relationships
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Develop creativity, problem-solving, and intellectual independence
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Find opportunities to present and publish your ideas
- Explore career and graduate education options
- Test your determination and perseverance
- Cultivate an understanding of research design and methodology
Funding opportunities for research are available from on-campus sources, including the College of Business and the Office of Student Research and Innovation.
Resources offered by the Office of Student Research and Innovation:
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Student Travel Award grants: highly competitive mini-grants for up to $1,000 (international travel) and $750 for domestic travel.
- Undergraduate Research Enrichment Funding grants: approximately 10 projects are funded up to $3,000 to support research projects conducted by undergraduates with faculty mentor support.
- Presentation opportunities at the Annual APSU Research & Creativity Forum and Graduate Research Extravaganza.
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Print posters for presentations, organized on-campus displays of research and creative activities, and directed summer activities for free.
To learn more about other research opportunities and funding, visit the Office of Student Research and Innovation.
Recent Research Activities in the College of Business
In April, Austin Peay State University College of Business faculty and students traveled to Destin, Florida, to attend the Society of Business, Industry, and Economics (SOBIE) academic conference. The annual event, hosted by the University of Northern Alabama, brought universities together to promote peer-reviewed research and student research at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Representatives from more than 40 universities across17 states attended the event.
APSU business students Benjamin Ferrell and William Edison worked with Dr. Susan Cockrell and Dr. Di Paolo Harrison to publish “The Influence of Financial Performance on Marketing Expenditures Among U.S. Hospitals Participating in the Medicare Program,” in Health Marketing Quarterly – a B-rated journal according to the Australian Business Deans Council’s Journal Quality List. That means the final paper was accepted at one of the field’s more prestigious publications.

College of Business students presented their research at the Society of Business, Industry, and Economics (SOBIE) conference in Florida in April 2019. Participants included Savannah Vezeau (student presentation award recipient), Phillip Burch, Coya Davis, Matthew O'Brien, Elizabeth Morgan, and Amanda Mills (advisor, Dr. David Grimmett), Steven Royall (advisor, Dr. Amye Melton), and Matthew Heard (advisor, Dr. Dong Nyonna).
Undergraduate marketing students Sarah Robinson, Rachel Wheeler, Kirsten Nicholson,
Rebekah Lambert, and Katie Palmer presented research projects completed in partnership
with Dr. Terry Damron at the Institute for Global Business Research Conference in
New Orleans in April 2019.
Bailey Carruth (‘18) and Dr. Terry Damron presented "Promoting Innovative Product
Adoption via Facebook" at the Atlantic Marketing Association Conference in New Orleans.
Along with Ashleigh Knoll (‘18), Carruth worked with Marketing Instructor Terry Damron
to produce the research during the Spring 2018.