Matching majors with scholarships

Everyone has a story as to why they chose the major they did. Some stories are long, some are complex, others are comical and others straight-to-the-point.

For Adam Kulp, it’s personal.

Kulp is one of roughly 600 biology majors at Bloomsburg University. And he came to campus three years ago with a promise. Studying biology is Kulp’s first step toward making a difference in the life of his sister, who battles Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, an incurable disease of the central nervous system. His goal is to someday treat or possibly cure his sister’s disease.

Kulp’s promise is supported by Bloomsburg University. He is among the hundreds of students annually who receive scholarships for tuition assistance, research stipend, conference travel or another academic venture. Kulp is a Biology and Allied Health Science Scholarship recipient.

As an institution, we understand the strong relationship between scholarships and students’ academic interests. Tying scholarship opportunities to specific academic programs and opportunities will contribute to our successes in retention, a term that describes efforts to welcome new students and ensure continuing students return and continue to graduation. It also helps with recruitment by using scholarships to help grow programs deemed high in quality and capacity.

New retention initiatives include:

• Calling continuing students who had not scheduled classes
• Calling continuing students who had fewer than eight credits scheduled
• Creating class schedules for transfer students as they were identified
• Compiling tracking reports that will guide future enrollment management efforts by providing a historic perspective

As a public institution, we take great pride in our ability to develop the potential of each student. We can attest to the success of our focused efforts on providing quality student services, retention programming efforts, and other means to prepare each student for graduation.

It is the Bloomsburg tradition. It is what has helped us become who we are and will allow us to remain a great choice for future students.

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IOM: One of a Kind

Each of Bloomsburg University's 54 undergraduate and 18 graduate programs are unique and special in their own way. And our audiology department’s Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IOM) path, a graduate training program in clinical neurophysiology led by Qing Yue, associate professor of audiology and speech pathology, may be the most unique.

It is the only program of its kind offered in the nation.

IOM involves the identification and monitoring of neurological structures during surgery to prevent injury/complications to the nervous system and provide surgical guidance. Students obtaining a doctorate in audiology specializing in IOM graduate with not only an academic understanding of IOM practices and technology but clinical application as well.

In medical centers across the country, IOM training is mostly done on the job. However, with a doctorate from BU, graduates enter the workforce fully prepared. As its own area of specialty within audiology, the IOM path has more than 10 graduate courses tailored to academic and clinical application of all IOM equipment used today. Students with backgrounds in biology, engineering or premed are encouraged to apply for the IOM program.

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