2015 President’s Strategic Planning Grants

During the 2015 spring semester, requests for Letters of Intent for the 2015 President’s Strategic Plan Grant awards were solicited. Eight Letters of Intent were received. Members of the Strategic Planning and Resource Council (SPARC), in consultation with me, asked that four of those Letters of Intent expand to a full proposal for review in the fall semester.

SPARC thoroughly vetted those four proposals for the 2015 President’s Strategic Plan Grant awards and presented their recommendations to me. I have selected three projects that will be funded.

Those projects are:

• Bloomsburg University Center for Strategic Communications Services — is an applied research learning center for students that provides a full range of public relations and marketing communications services to regional businesses and non-profit organizations. The University-based, student-focused Center is a win-win for both students and the community, as students gain access to professional opportunities and local organizations tap into student skills. Center participants, comprised of students from multiple academic departments, will sharpen expertise in public relations, marketing communications, management, sales, development and entrepreneurism by working with regional community leaders.
• English-Spanish Summer Enrichment (ESSE) Program — a two-week early outreach residential summer program for area Latino high school students. Participants will live on campus while attending courses targeting the improvement of their English language skills as well as the nurturing of their appreciation for their cultural and linguistic heritage.
• Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Research in Collegiate and High School Student Athletes — officially launched in September 2015 aimed at addressing the topic of concussion (mild traumatic brain injury) in conducting research to better understand this phenomenon, provide support and service to the medical community in return-to-play/return-to-learn decisions, and conduct translational activities that contribute to clinical application of knowledge. The medical community has focused efforts to address the need to better understand the diagnosis, treatment, and management of mTBI as a result of sport at all levels of participation.

#CollaborativeLearning #SenseOfCommunity #CoCurricularLearning

Welcome back Huskies!

It’s become tradition for me to do a welcome back video to kick off the new academic year, joining the ranks of presidents from universities and colleges across the country who are featured on YouTube.

I’m not sure which president or school can be credited with the first one, but I’d like to think Bloomsburg University is among the pioneers.

This latest version is the sixth time I have worked with the Office of Marketing and Communications and Instructional Media Services to produce an entertaining and informative greeting for our returning and incoming campus community. The welcome video is an important communication tool for me.

As the university’s 175th anniversary celebration continues this fall, my attention has been piqued many times this year at how our school has evolved since its earliest days. Modes of communication have changed with each era, particularly in our recent chapter in history.

Social media is now a major player, of course, and during my tenure has rapidly become a preferred method of communication among our students, along with text messaging and email. This generation faces distractions from devices vying for their attention. Video helps me to break these barriers.

Lifestyles were very different in the days of our first principal Henry Carver, when the main manner of communication was the written letter. Harvey Andruss had it easier 50 years ago — just letters and telephone calls.

Even my predecessor Jessica Kozloff, who hosted a regular cable TV program, “Here and Now,” did not have to deal with Facebook, Instagram or Twitter during her presidency, although she is active in social media now. I admit, I have conceded to social media ... joining Twitter earlier this year.

As I have become more comfortable in front of the camera — something not as easy as one might think — our videos have ventured out of the studio and become more creative. With each version, the bar of expectations has risen. I enjoy the challenge. It’s a project I look forward to each year and hope the campus community does, too.

And in honor of our #BU175 celebration, a look back at ...

• Welcome Back 2009 
• Welcome Back 2010  
• Welcome Back 2011  
• Welcome Back 2012  
• Welcome Back 2013  

#BackToHuskyLife