Slippery Rock University

Racial disparities in the U.S. health care system is an issue that has become a focal point this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation's racial justice movement. But even before anyone heard of the coronavirus, Slippery Rock University students who took last fall's Politics of Race class had delved into the issue by focusing a research project specifically on racial disparities related to women's health.

Like most Slippery Rock University students, Angela Baker spent the second half of the spring semester learning in a virtual environment. And more often than not, that meant spending lots of time in a Zoom meeting room. However, when the semester ended, there was no reprieve from the online instruction for Baker. Only this time she was learning alongside NFL quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum. Baker, a senior physical activity and fitness management major from Cranberry Township, spent three weeks with the Cleveland Browns coaching staff as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coach Fellowship program.

The COVID-19 pandemic isn't the first time Slippery Rock University or the state of Pennsylvania had to respond to a global crisis that completely changed the way people functioned in their daily lives. During World War II, enrollment at what was then Slippery Rock State Teachers College dropped to just 187 students, nearly the same total as when the University first opened its doors in 1889. In the fall of 1944, all but two of the students were women.

People may have "heard" about herd immunity during the coronavirus pandemic, but a faculty-student research group at Slippery Rock University is actually showing what it means. Two professors and two students from SRU's Biology Department are developing a laboratory activity for non-major science classes at the University that demonstrates the suppressed spread of a viral disease after people get vaccinated.

Slippery Rock University students are finding ways to collaborate with community partners and share public health messages even while they are apart due to the coronavirus pandemic. Five students enrolled in the online master's degree in public health program are completing a practicum project this summer by working with Keystone Wellness Programs, a nonprofit health promotion agency serving Butler and Beaver counties. Together, they are leading social media campaigns to educate the Slippery Rock community on public health topics that include problem gambling, underage drinking and vaping.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the top priority for health officials in Pennsylvania was the opioid epidemic. The state's 36.1 rate of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents was among the top five in the nation. Recognizing this crisis, a faculty-student research team at Slippery Rock University is advocating for the treatment of opioid addiction through occupational therapy.

To share her research about urban green space, Sau Silwal had to create some space in her online presence for social media. Silwal, a Slippery Rock University graduate student majoring in park and resource management from High Point, North Carolina, will present during a Twitter conference, June 16, organized by the Social Science Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology.

One of the difficulties for people who have been on lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic was how to cope with the death of a loved one. Funeral services have been postponed and individuals were left to grieve in isolation. A study by a faculty-student research group at Slippery Rock University may have an answer to the grieving part of the equation via animal-assisted therapy, although their research focused on a specific population that has been isolated for entirely different reasons: prison inmates.

Did you hear the one about the philosophy researcher who liked stand-up comedy? That question is not a ploy to deliver a punchline. There indeed was a philosophy study at Slippery Rock University that looked at how stand-up comedy might be funnier depending on the performance space. In other words, a "tough room" might actually be the result of the room and not the audience.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the four-week period to plant lettuce in Slippery Rock ended May 23. However, a faculty-student research group at Slippery Rock University is planning to grow lettuce and other produce on campus year-round with yields two times faster than traditional agriculture. The method researchers will be using is called aquaponics, an integrated system that combines raising fish, or aquaculture, and the soilless growing of plants, or hydroponics. Variations of this growing method date back centuries, but only in recent decades has the term "aquaponics" been used as researchers better understand its viability.

he stakes have never been higher for retail companies to take a moral stance on issues related to public health and social justice. Customers have come to expect a certain level of corporate social responsibility, which is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable. An example of this is a popular case study that's continually analyzed by Slippery Rock University students in a 300-level class called Case Studies in Public Relations and Integrated Communications. For a research paper and presentation, students in the class choose a real-life public relations campaign to analyze from the perspective of ethics and overall effectiveness.

When artists and scientists come together, it's easy to see their differences, but when the two fields collaborate at Slippery Rock University, they work together in beautiful symmetry. As part of an ongoing Art and Science Series conducted by an upper-level Printmaking course, 14 students in the class last fall met with 35 students from a 200-level psychology course, called Personality. The immersive experience was titled the "Art of Personality." The physical outcome of the project, which is displayed in Bailey Library, was more than a dozen sets of 5-by-5-inch prints, each representing the "Big Five" traits based on a psychology theory of personality types.

If you dig a few inches into the dirt along Wolf Creek near Slippery Rock, it won't take you long to find what appears to be a simple rock. However, it could also be a 4,000-year-old artifact indicating the short-term occupations of indigenous people. This may seem far-fetched but it's exactly what a faculty-student research group at Slippery Rock University is finding.

Slippery Rock University has announced its dean's list for the spring 2020 semester. The dean's list consists of SRU undergraduate students who earned an adjusted semester grade-point average of 3.5 or higher, based on a schedule of at least 12 newly attempted and earned credits.

Samantha Hawk, a Slippery Rock University sophomore political science major from South Park, will be joining the SRU council of trustees as its next student trustee. Hawk was unanimously selected by an SRU committee to fill the one seat on the 12-member COT designated for a full-time SRU undergraduate student. The student trustee has the same voting privileges as other trustees.

The elected student leaders at Slippery Rock University are set for the 2020-21 academic year, as the Slippery Rock Student Government Association recently announced the election results for its 2020-21 executive board. Joey Sciuto, a sophomore social work major from New Wilmington, was elected SGA president, garnering 65% of the vote. Student voting was conducted April 6-10 on CORE, SRU's online platform for student clubs and organizations.

Every year, Slippery Rock University recognizes contributions made by students, faculty, staff and community partners for their civic engagement. With that in mind, SRU recently honored three individuals with the 2020 President's Awards for Civic Engagement. The annual awards program is organized by the University's Office for Community-Engaged Learning. The OCEL recruited an independent committee of students, faculty and staff to review and select winners in three categories: President's Student Civic Leadership Award, President's Civic Engagement Ambassador Award and the President's Community Partner Award.

Delivering education became an immediate and enormous challenge for grade-school teachers and parents after schools were forced to transition from face-to-face instruction to online modalities. Enter Slippery Rock University education majors who came to the rescue in a variety of ways for several local school districts in the form of student teachers and a special partnership between SRU and the Slippery Rock Area School District.

Love your neighbor and ask questions. Those are words that Jaeden Chapman lives by. As a student in Slippery Rock University's Bonner Leader Program, Chapman found the perfect place to apply those directives: the Slippery Rock Community Library.

As companies like Nike and New Balance race to bring the best running shoe to market, athletes must keep pace with the variety of options available to them. Luckily, researchers at Slippery Rock University are taking steps to measure the benefits of the new footwear in an effort to share findings that shoe companies rarely share with the public. A faculty-student research team in the SRU Exercise Science and Rehabilitative Sciences Department is conducting a study of the latest carbon-plated running shoes to see how well they're helping runners hit their strides.

Slippery Rock University's Office of Student Engagement and Leadership recently announced its 2019-20 Rising Star awards, sponsored by AVI Fresh, SRU's contract food vendor. The awards, announced from OSEL's Instagram account, included several other awards recognizing students, faculty, staff and organizations for their impact on the campus community.

In previous years, Slippery Rock University conducted a Celebration of Achievement with an awards ceremony that recognized students and faculty and student for their outstanding contributions in the areas of academics, research, scholarship, creative activities and more. While the celebration will continue this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will come in the form of a video presentation rather than an on-campus ceremony. But that alteration won't deter from the tremendous achievements of the group of honorees.

Earlier this month, Slippery Rock University provided surplus personal protection equipment to local hospitals and first responders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the University is taking those efforts one step further by making its own supplies from scratch through the use of 3D printers. Eight 3D printers from various SRU departments have been used to create more than 100 face shields. The printers were delivered to the homes of faculty members for them to create plastic frames that, when affixed with 8.5-by-11-inch clear plastic sheets, produced the face shields.

When you think of a laboratory, do beakers full of bubbling liquids, white coats and goggles come to mind? Well, a new class at Slippery Rock University is changing that stereotype. In fact, its lab features cups of espresso, whipped cream and a brick-walled cafe on Main Street. Rather than going to a coffee shop to sip lattes and use the free Wi-Fi, students in the Food and Beverage Operations class at SRU are learning the restaurant industry and developing a partnership with owners of the soon-to-be-opened Rooster's Coffee Bar in Slippery Rock.

Whether it comes from an Army solider, a naval shipman or other member of the military, we've all heard that familiar refrain about heeding the "call to service." But what happens after they've completed their commitments or have retired from active duty yet still hear the call? If you're Maurice Lee, you answer by becoming a teacher through Slippery Rock University's Troops to Teachers program.

Jayla Brown feels right at home in a nursing home, which makes the recent visitation restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic difficult to fathom. It's not just because she worked as a nursing home aide when she was in high school, or that she comes from a family of nurses. For her, it's the feeling of helping others, hearing their stories and forming relationships that keep her grounded.

How does a university keep its students engaged during a time when classes have gone completely online and everyone is practicing social distancing? That's the question a team of Slippery Rock University staff and students recently asked themselves in an effort to keep students involved with the University during the coronavirus pandemic.

When incoming freshmen at Slippery Rock University signed up last spring for a new course called "Spotlight on the Past: Pandemic," they had no idea the 2020 spring semester class would also shine light on the present, with the current coronavirus outbreak resulting in a global pandemic. "My students must think I'm psychic," said Lia Paradis, associate professor of history, who teaches two sections of the 100-level liberal studies course. "It's just a bizarre coincidence that I am teaching this brand-new course right now."

Stephanie O'Donnell will be the toast of the town in Pittsburgh Saturday. O'Donnell, a Slippery Rock University freshman exercise science major from Irwin, was named the 2020 Miss Smiling Irish Eyes by the Pittsburgh St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. O'Donnell will be among the most honored participants in the city's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will take place 10 a.m., March 14, in downtown Pittsburgh.

The name of the Media Project Management course at Slippery Rock University describes exactly what students are doing during the semester: managing media projects. But this senior-level capstone course for communication majors is developing skills for more than just students because of an emphasis on service-learning. Community partners who are serving as real-world clients, and even the professor of the class, are also benefitting from their experience.