The editorial team for the Journal of Research in Progress at Howard Community College (JRIP) hopes you enjoy the third volume of our publication. The team began as a STEM Faculty Professional Learning Community (FPLC) in the Fall of 2017 and has expanded to include many academic areas within HCC. This third edition of the journal includes original artwork inspired by the articles inside. The team wishes to thank the ARTS 250 (Digital Methods: Illustration and Compositing) students who created the artwork as well as their instructor Professor Jeremy Bomberg.

Our editorial team knew that there were students who had produced great research and artwork while here at HCC, and our goal is to celebrate that work in print. Students began the journey to publication back in November when they submitted abstracts to be reviewed by the editorial team. Students whose abstracts were approved based on the rigor, originality, and timeline to completion of their research were invited to submit complete articles for peer review. Students greeted this challenge with excitement and worked with their mentors to craft their articles. In a similar way, the students in ARTS 250, worked enthusiastically with Professor Bomberg to create original works of art that took their inspiration from the content in the research articles. Each student research article underwent peer review by at least one member of the editorial team, another student and a volunteer faculty and/or staff member at HCC. We want to extend a special thank you to all of the faculty mentors who advised and encouraged their students, and to the peer review volunteers for donating their time to the project.

In addition to serving as mentors for some of the student researchers, the editorial team was responsible for reviewing and editing articles as well and making design and layout decisions for the journal as a whole. The work began in earnest during the fall 2019 semester when faculty and students were on campus. Despite having to shift to collaborating remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was able to stay on schedule. As has been the case on past volumes, this has been an all-out team effort of which we are very proud.

Our team would like to send a special thanks to the HCC Foundation for their support and particularly our donor, The Kalhert Foundation, who contributed funds to allow this publication to happen. The editorial team and the students are grateful for your vision in recognizing the importance of undergraduate research at HCC and that public presentation of research work is a critical component of the research process.

Best wishes,

The JRIP Editorial Team

Students interested in submitting articles for next year’s volume of JRIP
should contact the editorial team at JRIP@howardcc.edu.
An electronic copy of this journal is available at
https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/jrip3