Office of Community-Based Learning Announces Faculty Fellows

The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) announces the third cohort of its CBL Faculty Fellows Program. The purpose of the program is to recognize, reward and support exemplary faculty who are eager to fully integrate CBL as an intentional pedagogical strategy into their courses and/or curricular-based projects. CBL is an academic experience which involves students working with individuals, groups, or organizations in ways structured to meet community-defined needs. The Faculty Fellows program seeks to expand, strengthen and institutionalize CBL at the University as a demonstration of its commitment to Jesuit values and the common good.

The CBL Faculty Fellows Program began in the academic year of 2022-2023.

"This faculty cohort represents the potential for community partnerships which will engage a variety of students and faculty throughout the university in new and different ways. These faculty bring to life the University's vision to provide a superior, transformational learning experience, preparing students who, in the words of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius Loyola, will ‘set the world on fire’. Each year increasing the depth and breadth of CBL partnerships strengthens our commitment to the Scranton community and those it serves,” said Debra Fetherman, PhD, CBL Faculty Coordinator, Professor and Department Chair of the Health and Human Performance Department.

The 2024-2025 academic year CBL faculty fellows are listed below, including their department and what course or project they will focus on.

Dr. Laura R. Chapman, Communication Sciences & Disorders and Speech-Language Pathology

Laura R. Chapman, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Speech-Language Pathology, in the Department of Health and Human Performance, will focus on integrating CBL into the course CSD 403: Introduction to Speech and Language Disorders in Healthcare. She will work with a community partner to aid in the development and implementation of programming related to optimizing cognitive wellness for older adults in the community. She plans to engage her students in collaboration with the community partner to develop education, resources, and practices related to improving and maintaining cognitive wellness, with the hopes that it will foster a several-week workshop led by students that community members who are concerned about their cognitive wellness can participate in for free.

Dr. Rita A. DiLeo, Health Administration

Rita A. DiLeo, DSc, MPA, RT(R)(ARRT), BSP, Assistant Professor of Health Administration, will lead a CBL project as part of the graduate course HAD 509: Administrative Issues. This course challenges graduate students to integrate business methodologies, apply core competencies, and exercise critical thinking to solve a complex problem faced by a healthcare organization. As part of this project, students will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment for a not-for-profit entity to thoroughly understand the issues at hand. Based on their findings and leveraging knowledge acquired throughout their graduate studies, students will cultivate a practical solution that equips the healthcare organization with a well-structured and actionable plan. Furthermore, tools produced by the students such as the educational and marketing materials can be used by the organization on an ongoing basis.

Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell, Physics and Engineering

Nathaniel A. Frissell, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering, will focus on a project entitled “Bringing the Amateur Radio Hobby to the Blind and Visually Impaired of Lackawanna County.” His inspiration for this project comes from how amateur (ham) radio is an accessible, well-suited hobby for blind and visually impaired people. He will collaborate with University of Scranton Electrical Engineering and Physics students, members of the University’s W3USR Amateur Radio Club, members of the Murgas Amateur Radio Club based in Wilkes-Barre, volunteer radio amateurs who are blind/visually impaired, and University of Scranton Occupational Therapy faculty and students, all to teach interested clients of the Lackawanna Blind Association the necessary skills to engage in the amateur radio community. This will include the knowledge required to pass the Technician Amateur Radio License exam and the skills needed to communicate with other amateurs from a home radio device.

Professor Christiane McDonald, Communication Sciences & Disorders and Speech-Language Pathology

Christiane McDonald, M.S., CCC-SLP, Faculty Specialist of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Speech-Language Pathology, in the Department of Health and Human Performance, will focus on the project “Speech & Language Milestones, Development, and Differences” as a part of two of her courses, CSD 200: Foundations of Speech & Language Development, and CSD 203: Developmental Speech & Language Disorders. The two foundational CSD courses focus on understanding typical speech and language development, and the various developmental disorders which may affect an individual’s speech. The classes also include the study of language differences, and how they relate to culture, dialect, and bilingualism. Thus, the intended CBL project will focus on identifying local minority families and engaging CSD students in offering them support, which will include information about developmental speech and language milestones, recognizing signs and symptoms of delays, and recognizing language differences. She and her students will also provide information about how to enhance a child’s skills, guide parents if they need a referral, and promote and celebrate the benefits of bilingualism for children.

Dr. Stacy M. Smulowitz, Communication and Media

Stacy M. Smulowitz, Ph.D., ABC, Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Communication and Media Department, will focus on integrating a CBL component into the course COMM 330: Advertising Decision Making, as well as the University’s student-run Advertising Club. She will engage her students in a semester-long group project that is aimed at creating advertisement and marketing content for a local non-profit or small business. Each student group will operate as an ad agency competing for the business of

the client. The client will visit frequently throughout the semester with the students to enable progress on their campaigns, and at the end of the semester, the students will pitch their materials to win their business. Each student team will provide the clients with a marketing communications-based advertising campaign that includes multimedia digital files that the client can use.

“Now in its third year, the CBL Faculty Fellow program is fostering a cohort of scholars who are engaged with community projects and issues. Each year it’s exciting to engage with the faculty group and help support their work with their students and community partners. We look forward to all that will be learned by our students through the faculty engagement and the positive impact CBL makes in the community,” said Julie Schumacher Cohen, Assistant Vice President for Community Engagement and Government Affairs and Chair of the CBL Board. For more information on CBL at the University visit www.scranton.edu/cbl