Coming this Spring Quarter, on May 21, Foothill College will host its annual Research and Service Leadership Symposium, or RSLS for short. “What the RSLS does is it draws our attention to the tremendous minds and the brilliance of our students,” said Foothill English professor Allison Herman, who has been a coordinator in charge of organizing Foothill’s RSLS since 2021. “It’s a university caliber conference, and yet it’s here at a community college.”
The RSLS gives students a unique opportunity to connect, not only on an academic level, but on a social level too.˛ Attendees can see friends and family members present, and support their classmates. “We always start by saying it’s a celebration or a showcase,” Herman said. “Since the pandemic especially, we’re still trying to come back to these community spaces, and it’s an all-day event where you’re literally surrounded by hundreds of people.”
Beyond the community building element, there is another notable aspect of the RSLS: it showcases what community college students are capable of. “I went to Santa Barbara City College, so I know what it’s like to go to a community college—the benefits,” Herman said. “But I also know there’s a bit of a stigma.” Remarking that Foothill President Kristina Whalen loves to tell the story of how, when she asks students presenting at RSLS if they can explain their research, their response is a resounding, “Yes, I can!” Herman observed, “I think there’s a sense that community college students aren’t bringing that academic prowess, but they are.”
Presenting at RSLS has enabled many students to realize their goals, just by being platformed at the symposium. For example, a project that worked to provide opportunities to high school students in order to increase the number of women in STEM was able to expand its success because it was presented at the RSLS. The initial project, Herman remarked, “started with a very small group [of students], very localized, at one high school.” Then, when the group presented their work at the RSLS, “they got the notice of many of our faculty and staff who thought, this is such a great program, we would like to help fund it,” Herman said. “They were able to grow their program, get more young women to shift into STEM fields in terms of their majors… and then to continue to build that bridge with [other] groups that were then going to continue that forward.”
Noting that the application deadline is March 30 (Monday following the end of the winter quarter) Herman remarked how, if there’s “anyone out there who’s thinking, ‘I can’t apply because I’m too busy with finals,’ we’ve erased that excuse.” Students interested in learning more or receiving project feedback can still sign up to attend the RSLS Application Success workshop, over Zoom, on Friday, March 27, 2026 from 12-1 p.m. (the last workshop before the deadline). When asked what she is most looking forward to this year, Herman observed, “I’m excited to see some new faces and new voices and maybe some new disciplines being featured that we don’t often see… I like to go with an open mind and just expect to be wowed.”
“This is the ninth year,” Herman observed, looking back on RSLS’s impressive history at Foothill. Noting that the symposium “was created by Ben Stefonik, one of our wonderful instructors here in psychology,” she then looked ahead to next year. “So, nine is huge, but the tenth is going to be extraordinary.” Observing that attendees will “have to come for both years to really appreciate it,” Herman remarked, “we’re definitely going to do something special for year ten!”
Will you be presenting at this year’s RSLS, or are there some presentations you’re already looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments below!