| 56 | MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
PERENNIAL SUCCESS RESEARCH REAPS REWARDS FOR ALUMNI DURING AND AFTER THEIR TIME AT MTSU Participating in undergraduate research can open up further opportunities in college and beyond. The alumni profiled here prove that a degree from MTSU is more than a degree—it is a résumé. These former grant winners share how MTSU’s Undergraduate Research Experience and Creative Activity (URECA) program helped shape their lives.
CLEVER CALCULATIONS Joe Gulizia’s academic journey has been a series of calculated choices. When you’re a first-generation college student, he says, you want to make “the financially correct decision.” So, for the Fairview native, it was community college first, then MTSU. He arrived with no itinerary—just good grades and an open mind— and then forged his own path to success at MTSU and beyond. Four URECA grants helped fund the journey and light the way.
THE ALUMNI PROFILED HERE PROVE THAT A DEGREE FROM MTSU IS MORE THAN A DEGREE—IT IS A RÉSUMÉ.
Gulizia won all four URECAs under the mentorship of Kevin Downs, associate professor of Agriculture: two for Honors research on ruminant nutrition and two more for research in poultry science. The poultry project wasn’t required, but it piqued Gulizia’s interest. Research got him excited about learning. It turned him from a good student to an excellent one. “That’s when my biggest growth happened,” he said. It required a major time commitment—he had to quit his job, a financial sacrifice the URECA grants offset—but the calculation paid off. Now Gulizia is pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees through Auburn University’s nationally ranked poultry science program, with a fellowship from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. He is
