We are well on our way

I have been traveling over the past few weeks – to Austin, Los Angeles and, most recently, to Philadelphia.

One week, I was away from campus to attend the annual meeting of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Austin. I serve on the AASCU board and was just appointed to the executive committee. I ended that trip in Los A
ngeles, where I spent a long weekend with my mom, who turns 94 this week.

This weekend I attended the annual fall meeting of the Pennsylvania Council of Trustees (PACT) at the State System Center City campus in Philadelphia. Bloomsburg will begin offering degree programs in this centrally located facility with state-of-the-art classrooms in summer 2016.

Back on campus and in Philadelphia, we marked a major accomplishment for Bloomsburg University, the launch of the public phase of It’s Personal: The Campaign for Bloomsburg University.

Events were held on the Quad, in a beautifully transformed Nelson Field House, and at the Benjamin Franklin Institute to celebrate our great university and the milestone of raising more than $37 million of our $50 million goal. Over 400 donors and friends of Bloomsburg University enjoyed outstanding and meaningful performances by our Concert Choir and a group of current students and alumni from our theater program.

We are well on our way to meeting our $50 million goal to support our students through academic and athletic scholarships, to recruit and retain our great teacher-scholar faculty, to provide experiential and career-focused learning experience through Professional U, and to take advantage of emerging opportunities to enhance our university, such as the Greenly Center.

This week I look forward to meeting with the CGA Senate and having dinner with the CGA Executive Committee at Buckalew.

#CollaborativeLearning #SenseOfCommunity #CoCurricularLearning

Adding the impact to experiential learning

Michael Boguski’s reflection on his experience at Bloomsburg University is common to accolades heard from many of our successful alumni. It starts with receiving a high-quality education at an affordable price. It leads into discovering long-term benefits and lifelong friendships and expands to building professional networks that result in success.

And then it becomes personal.

Boguski ’85 and his wife, Beth, recently committed $1 million to the Bloomsburg University Foundation to support several university initiatives. He says it was the variety of experiential learning opportunities he received as a Bloomsburg student that made the biggest impact.

As a first-generation student, this business administration graduate and president of Eastern Alliance Insurance Group knows firsthand the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity given to you.

And through this support, Mike and Beth are helping to ensure students have the financial ability to take advantage of plenty of opportunities during their time at Bloomsburg.

The Boguskis’ gift will help support many high-impact experiential opportunities, such as internships, job shadowing and capstone experiences provided through our Professional U program. The gift will also assist with ongoing efforts for our growing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Magnet School and the Henry Carver Fund, Bloomsburg University’s annual fund.

Experiential learning opportunities are an important part of the student experience that complement the outstanding classroom learning provided by our dedicated teacher-scholar faculty. Through this gift, the Boguskis have made it possible for students to gain the real-world experience that gives them a competitive advantage.

#SenseOfCommunity #CollaborativeLearning