July 2019

Bridget Pynn is a rising junior from Brooklyn, New York, and is majoring in occupational therapy. She spent her summer working on campus as an Orientation Team Leader. We talked to her about her experience. 

What did you do on campus this summer?

I spent my summer working on campus for New Student Orientation as Orientation Team Leader. Orientation took place during the last two weeks of June and was a great success. The Class of 2023 is ready for the Fall thanks to the amazing Orientation Assistants I was able to work with, and I’m extremely grateful for their dedication to the program. I absolutely loved being in the OTL role as it taught me so many things about the Orientation program, Scranton and myself and I’m so grateful for this opportunity!

What did you do when you weren’t working?

In my downtime, spending the summer on campus was great! There was always room to play frisbee on the Green and it was a relaxing change of pace from my busy day-to-day during the semester.

What advice do you have for anyone considering spending the summer on campus?

My advice for anyone thinking about staying on campus during the summer is to go for it! It can be a really great time to spend time on campus, especially if your friends are also on campus! The campus can be pretty calm during the summer so it’s an interesting change of pace from the busy day-to-day during the semester.

In mid-July, 14 University of Scranton student leaders joined nearly 200 other students from Jesuit universities across the country and from Belize for the four-day National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference (NJSLC) held at the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Michigan. The students, accompanied by track & field coach Ozzie Brown and me as their advisors, represented several departments across campus.

While in Detroit, the students participated in a number of leadership sessions, listened to a variety of impactful keynote addresses, learned about and engaged in a service project in the local community, explored the Detroit RiverWalk, and connected with their fellow Jesuit student leaders over meals, late-night activities, and in functional-area specific conversations. 

For some of our students, the interaction with others was a key aspect of the conference.

“My favorite part about NJSLC was getting to know people. We all come from different parts of the country, but we’re tied together through the Jesuit values. We are all so different, but those values bring us together and that was amazing to see,” said Bridget Pynn, a rising junior occupational therapy major representing the Center for Student Engagement. 

Jeff Colucci, a rising junior accounting and finance major and Student Government vice president, agreed.

“I had the privilege of attending the Jesuit Student Government Association (JSGA) luncheon which allowed me to learn more about Student Government initiatives at other schools, and I look forward to bringing ideas back to our campus this year," he said. "While this was a valuable learning experience, we also had fun and bonded as students at The University of Scranton."

The conference was certainly full of fun and connection, yet deep reflection about the work of student leaders was also central. Student Government president and biology and philosophy major Fahad Ashraf attended his second NJSLC this year, and he left it with a renewed sense of purpose for his role and the organization he leads.

“Through important conversations pertaining to different issues and areas on our respective campuses, we are able to celebrate ways in which our campuses excel, but also take note of where we might need some more work," he said. "After speaking with representatives from other student governments and hearing about their varying initiatives, I look forward to building on our progress and further expanding our focus on diversity and inclusion efforts in the coming year.”

Aubrianna Rice, a rising senior physiology major with a concentration in women’s and gender studies, represented the Cross Cultural Centers and also attended her second NJSLC. This year, Rice proposed, developed, and co-facilitated a leadership session with me about healthy relationship programming at Scranton. 

She reflected on how the “conference allowed me to make connections to other Jesuit institutions,” and also spoke of her decision to create and propose her session.

“My intention with presenting was to share our program with other schools so they could be inspired to create programming like it on their campuses. I am grateful for this fantastic opportunity to share what we do at Scranton with schools all over and also learn from what other schools are doing so we can continually improve our campus," she said.

Rice and I (pictured at left) presented on the first full day of the conference, which left plenty of time for feedback from session attendees.  Several individuals who attended their session approached Aurbi to tell her how much they appreciated the information they learned, and how excited they were to bring ideas back to their campus.

NJSLC was an incredible opportunity for students to learn with and from their Jesuit student colleagues from across the country and beyond, but also brought together a diverse group of leaders on our own campus.  We look forward to seeing the ways they come together to apply their learning n the coming year and beyond, continuing to set the world on fire and making our campus an even better place!

The University of Scranton and Penn State Law in University Park have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow Scranton students who meet program requirements to be eligible for admission to the law school after just three years at Scranton.

The “3-3 Accelerated Bachelor/JD Program” will allow Scranton students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Scranton and a juris doctor (JD) degree from Penn State Law in six rather than seven years. After completion of their junior year at Scranton, the program offers eligible students who are accepted to Penn State Law the ability to apply course credits earned in their first year of law school to their bachelor’s degree requirements at Scranton.

To be eligible for the 3-3 program with Penn State Law, students must have earned a minimum of 66 credits at Scranton prior to applying and have completed 75 percent of their 120-credit bachelor’s degree coursework by the time they begin law school. Students must also remain in good academic and discipline standing through matriculation at Scranton and meet other program requirements. Students must meet the eligibility criteria of Penn State Law in order to apply for the program and admission to the law school. Penn State Law will review applications and make the final determination regarding admittance into its JD degree program.

The memorandum took effect at its signing.

Scranton has a Pre-Law Advisory Program that helps students navigate the law school application process throughout their undergraduate years. The program also offers assistance to Scranton alumni who wish to apply to law school. The University offers a concentration in legal studies. Scranton also has 3-3 program agreements with Boston College, Villanova School of Law and Duquesne University School of Law.

In the past four years, more than 130 Scranton graduates have received acceptance into more than 50 law schools throughout the United States, including to some of the country’s most prestigious law schools.

For more information, visit Scranton’s pre-law webpage, or contact Matthew Meyer, Ph.D., pre-law advisor and associate professor of philosophy at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-5814 or matthew.meyer@scranton.edu.

Four University of Scranton students are among the five area college students gaining clinical exposure and an inside look at medical school thanks to a new program at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM). The Abigail Geisinger Pre-Medical Clinical Experiences Program was designed to be another way to increase the chances for talented local students to gain acceptance to medical school and to remain in the region to care for their neighbors.

University of Scranton alumnus Joseph Bannon, MD, a surgeon and clinical faculty member at GCSOM created the program with Michelle Schmude, Ed.D., GCSOM’s associate dean for admissions, enrollment management and financial aid and associate professor.

 “Geisinger is very much committed to our community and an important part of our mission is education,” Dr. Bannon said. “This program allows us to provide some of the best and brightest local college students and aspiring physicians a valuable clinical experience. At the same time, it enables us to showcase to our future physicians at an early age, the latest in medical innovation and technology and some of what the Geisinger Health System has to offer right here at home.”

Clinical experiences, including shadowing, are an essential element to a successful medical school application.

“To be competitive, a medical school applicant has to demonstrate a sincere interest in medicine, which typically means direct and indirect exposure to medicine. It’s very difficult for students to cold call physicians in the hopes one will agree to provide that experience. Physician shadowing is just one of the things our program will provide, along with structured sessions on topics like financial aid for medical school, the business of medicine and the intricacies of AMCAS, the American Medical College Application Service,” Dr. Schmude said.

The five-week program began July 8. Students attend the program daily and are assigned attending physicians at Geisinger Community Medical Center for shadowing and mentoring. The intent is to expose participants to a wide range of medical specialties. The students will also have the opportunity to attend regular conferences like Tumor Board, where physicians discuss interesting medical cases. Prior to accessing clinical areas, the students received rigorous training in HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding personal medical information.

Selection to the program is competitive. The students chosen must live in the counties within Geisinger’s footprint, be enrolled at one of three participating universities (King’s College, Wilkes University or The University of Scranton) and be academically qualified. “The most important qualification in choosing participants, however, is how well the student aligns with Geisinger’s mission, so we really look for a commitment to service, particularly a desire to serve our local communities,” Dr. Schmude said.

The four University students chosen to be among the first participants in the Abigail Geisinger Pre-Medical Clinical Experiences Program are listed below.

Parita Ray of Scranton is a junior biology major at the University. She agreed that the program’s mission resonates with her and said, “It’s also an amazing chance to shadow different specialties within medicine. I was having difficulty finding shadowing experiences just by calling myself, so I am very excited to take part in this program.”

Christina Carachilo of Carbondale is a sophomore neuroscience major at the University and, as an emergency medical technician (EMT), she already has some clinical experience. “I am with a patient until we drop them off at the Emergency Department,” she said. “I am really eager to see what happens after our patients go through those doors. I want to see the next step.”

Katherine (Kate) Musto of Pittston, is a senior biology major and full-tuition Presidential Scholar at the University. She has strong ties to GCSOM, having one brother now attending the school and another who graduated from GCSOM and is now a practicing primary care physician in West Wyoming. “I want to be a doctor practicing in my own community,” she said. “That’s why this program was such a draw for me.”

Mahad Muhammad of Mountain Top is a biology major at Scranton. “I’ve worked as a volunteer at Ultra Urgent and Family Care in Kingston, but mostly I only see the business side of medicine. I am looking forward to witnessing patient interactions and to be in room when medicine is practiced,” he said.

Beginning in the fall 2019 semester, The University of Scranton will offer a new major in business analytics, which was developed based on feedback from practitioners, business executives and companies regarding the skills they search for when recruiting recent graduates in this field.

According to research by PwC, more than 300,000 job postings in business analytics are expected by 2020. Salary estimates of business analysts range between $65,000 to $130,000 based on postings listed by indeed.com.

Students pursing a major in business analytics will develop hands-on skills in using advance analytical techniques such as data mining, predictive analytics and statistics to evaluate large amounts of data collected from e-commerce transactions and social media to help inform business decisions. Courses for the program include data mining, introduction to Big Data, business forecasting models, database management systems and customer relations management analytics.

The University began to offer a minor and concentration in business analytics in 2017. The University also offers a specialization in business analytics in its MBA program. Currently, just over a dozen colleges in the U.S. offer a bachelor’s degree in business analytics.

The program will be housed in the University’s Operations and Information Management Department of the Kania School of Management. Business programs offered at Scranton are accredited by the rigorous standards of AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). Less than 5 percent of business colleges worldwide hold AACSB International accreditation, which is widely considered the gold standard mark of excellence for business schools.

For additional information, contact the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 888-727-2686 or email admissions@scranton.edu.

Two University of Scranton first-year students were awarded scholarships from the FealGood Foundation for their essay submissions following a fall-semester campus visit by 9/11 first responders.

The Ellacuria Initiative, as part of its 2017-19 theme of health, sponsored a campus visit by Rich Palmer, a first responder and a corrections officer on 9/11; Tom Wilson, a first responder and member of the New York Police Department on 9/11; and John Feal, a first responder and a construction demolition expert at Ground Zero on 9/11 and founder/president of the FealGood Foundation. They spoke to students in a first-year seminar “Making Meaning of 9/11,” taught by Teresa Grettano, Ph.D., associate professor of English and theatre, and in a counseling and human services course on “Crisis Management,” taught by professor Gerry Barber, director of the University’s Counseling Training Center. They also lunched with students majoring in criminal justice and delivered an evening lecture to University students and faculty. 

In response to his visit, Feal ran an essay contest in which students were asked to reflect on 9/11 and what they had learned from it. On behalf of Palmer and Wilson, the FealGood Foundation awarded two $500 scholarships to first-year students Gianna Costanzo, Bensalem, and Makaela Dionne, Newton, New Jersey, both of whom were enrolled in Dr. Grettano’s first-year seminar.

The University of Scranton community health education students made it to the final round of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) 2019 National Student Case Competition. The competition, which took place at the society’s annual conference in Salt Lake City in the spring, provided undergraduate and graduate students of health education the opportunity to display their developing expertise.

Scranton students who participated, all of whom were community health and education majors, were Kelly Reilly, Hicksville, New York; Sinead O’Brien of Hillsdale, New Jersey; and Hazel Skarbek of Glenside.

For the competition, teams of two to three students were challenged to solve a real-world health issue using the competencies required for a school or community health educator. Case scenarios were provided to teams two weeks before the competition. Students presented their response to the scenario to judges in a 25-minute closed forum without the aid of technology. The Scranton students advanced to the final round of the competition, but did not win a first-, second- or third-place prize.

University of Scranton professor Debra Fetherman, Ph.D., program director for community health education, also presented at the conference.

This was the first time Scranton students participated in the national competition.

Charles E. Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency at The University of Scranton, awarded the 2019 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Undergraduate Upper-level category to Elizabeth McManus from Brookfield, Connecticut, a senior biochemistry, cell and molecular biology (BCMB) major with a minor in computer science; the 2019 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Undergraduate Foundational category to Isaiah Livelsberger from New Oxford, a first-year international studies and philosophy major; and the 2019 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Graduate category to occupational therapy students Kerry Ann Randall from Unionville, Connecticut, and Megan Schane from Cresco.

The Weinberg Memorial Library inaugurated the prize in 2011 to recognize excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge of the methods of research and the information gathering process, and use of library resources, tools, and services. In 2017, the prize was named for Professor Emerita Bonnie W. Oldham, who founded the prize at the University. Winning projects in each of the three categories receive a $500 prize.

McManus, winner in the Undergraduate Upper-level category, submitted to the competition her project “Preventative and Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines,” completed in her capstone course BCMB 490. For her research, she used the library’s curation of disciplinary resources to research and prepare a project culminating in a 35-minute presentation on the topic of vaccines to prevent and therapeutically treat cancer. At first reporting she was “overwhelmed” by the amount of information out there on this topic, she realized she needed to adapt her research strategy by using the database MEDLINE/PubMed to seek out review articles; her goal in doing this was to develop “a more substantial understanding of the topic” by filling in “the gaps in [her] knowledge.” McManus said, “By first establishing a wide breadth of knowledge on the topic, I prepared myself for the depth of research that followed.”

Honorable Mention awards in the Undergraduate Upper-level category were presented to Anna Maria Giblin, a junior history major with a philosophy minor and a legal studies concentration from Berwyn, who submitted her paper, “The Jungle,” completed in the course HIST 350: An Environmental History of the United States; and to senior occupational therapy majors Catherine Moloney from Hockessin, Deleware; Gabriela Lins from Ocean, New Jersey; and Kaitlin Kenyon, Centerport, New York; who submitted their group paper “The Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Upper Extremity Rehabilitation Post-Stroke,” completed in the course OT 494: Evidence Based Research.

Livelsberger, winner in the Undergraduate Foundational category, submitted to the competition his paper “Empty Aid,” completed his WRTG 107: Composition course. To complete his research, Livelsberger relied on initial instruction in brainstorming topical keywords, database searching and information evaluation provided by both his professor and a faculty librarian who visited his class, as well as support at the Research Services desk. What set his research apart, however, is the way his initial position on his topic changed through the research process, developing a more critical stance on the topic of the effects of humanitarian aid on recipient countries as a result of the new information he found. Through researching and writing this paper, Livelsberger “learned that research is a dynamic, intense process” and “discovered the seemingly unlimited information [he] can use as a university student through the library to develop educated opinions.”

An Honorable Mention award in the Undergraduate Foundational category was presented to first-year biology major Justine Duva from Glenmoore for her essay “An Investigation into the Effects of Skin to Skin Contact with Newborns” completed in her WRTG 107: Composition course.

Randall and Schane, winners in the Graduate category, submitted to the competition their project “Adaptive Equipment Through the Ages: A Historical Review of Occupational Therapy,” completed in the course OT 501: Leadership in Occupational Therapy. For this project, Randall and Schane made heavy use of library resources which they accessed through the online library research guide for this course. Resources used include the library’s databases including ProQuest Health and Medical Complete, CINAHL, and PubMed; books including those that were held on print reserve and at the Research Services desk, books from the circulating collection, and ebooks; journals both in print and online; and periodical literature only available in microfilm. They also took advantage of support from the faculty librarians both in class and at the Research Services desk, as well as Interlibrary Loan services. In their description of research, Randall and Schane conclude, “We could not have completed our paper without the library, the online and physical data, and the space to use its computers, scanners, printers, and quiet spaces. The library is an irreplaceable resource on campus with wonderful staff which has shaped us into better students and researchers as we prepare for our professional careers.”

Honorable Mention awards in the Graduate category were presented to occupational therapy graduate students Jenna Gulics from Hopelawn, New Jersey, and Lisa Crivelli, Avon, Connecticut, respectively, who submitted their project, “A Historical Review on Early Intervention in Occupational Therapy,” completed in the course OT 501: Leadership in Occupational Therapy; and to Lindsey Hayde from Center Valley, a graduate student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, who submitted her project, “Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist to Post-Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse Handoff Using a Standardized Screen,” completed in the course NURS 790: DNP Scholarly Project II.

Prize winners were honored at a reception held in the spring semester in the Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

For more information about the Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize, contact Donna Witek, information literacy coordinator at The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library, at 570-941-4000 or donna.witek@scranton.edu.

The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) recognized The University of Scranton’s student chapter as one of just five Outstanding Student Chapters in the nation for the 2018-2019 academic year. Officers of the University’s IMA student chapter for 2018-2019 were: Kyle Hayes of East Norwich, New York, president; Kyle Ascher of Garden City, New York, vice president; Nicole D’Alessandro of Warminster, secretary; and Nicholas Constantinou of Amherst, New York, treasurer.

The University’s IMA student chapter, formed in 2017, had 22 members for the 2018-2019 academic year. Through the chapter, University students participated in IMA’s national student case competition and its national student manuscript competition. Students also participated in IMA’s student leadership conference. The organization ran multiple events during the academic year that included meetings facilitated by faculty and professionals about ethics, careers and interpersonal and negotiation skills, among other topics. The chapter participated in two community charity events and went on off-campus site visits to IMA headquarters in Montvale, New Jersey, and Gertrude Hawk Chocolates.

Students also participated in a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam information session. IMA’s Endorsement of Higher Education initiative recognizes programs that meet rigorous educational standards, enabling students to pursue and earn the CMA credential. The University’s undergraduate accounting program was endorsed by IMA in 2017.

IMA will formally recognize Scranton’s student chapter at its national Student Leadership Conference in November is Charlotte, South Carolina.