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

Putting Careers into Professional U

A recent survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found that 84.7 percent of students attend college to obtain a well-paying career in a field they love. Bloomsburg University established Professional U to help our students reach this goal by enhancing their excellent academic preparation with practical experience. We are now building upon this initiative by bringing the Career Development Center, in addition to academic internships, into Alumni and Professional Engagement under the leadership of Lynda Michaels.

Professional U brings together students, talented alumni and organizational partners in a variety of fields to offer a distinct advantage for our students. In a relatively short time, Professional U has established a network of opportunities for our undergraduates, including career road trips, job shadowing and academic internships, while providing support and activities to customize experiential learning within each of the four colleges.

Likewise, our Career Development Center has earned a well-deserved reputation for helping students explore their interests, discover their potential, investigate their employment and graduate school options and prepare for their job search. Combining the Career Development Center’s tools and services with Professional U’s initiatives establishes opportunities for every student to have at least one career-related experience each year. Quite simply, it gives our students a head start on professional success.

I am pleased to announce this new collaboration and look forward to the outstanding career preparation, networking opportunities and professional experiences it will provide for our students.

#ProfessionalU