Slippery Rock University

When more than 220 Slippery Rock University students sang happy birthday to Cassie Bruno the week of her 14th birthday, it wasn't a celebratory party that brought the group together. Rather, the contingent of future health care professionals had gathered to listen to Bruno's mother, Jennifer, share her daughter's story and answer questions about their lives. The students were using the occasion, an Interdisciplinary Case Presentation hosted by the SRU Interprofessional Education Committee, to learn how best to work together across multiple disciplines to provide better care for patients, especially those like Cassie with unique needs.

A body of research dating back nearly three decades shows that self-esteem issues for children, especially for girls, surface when they are in elementary school. Four Slippery Rock University students are doing something to set local girls in the community on the right path -- and by doing so, are paving a way for their own careers in health professions.

It's common for college students to hear a lecture from a professional in the legal system or tour a correctional facility as part of a criminal justice class. But students at Slippery Rock University are taking that real-world approach a step further: they're meeting with inmates. Led by Yvonne Eaton-Stull, assistant professor of public health and social work, three groups of students from her Forensic Social Work course are partnering with psychologists from the State Correctional Institution in Mercer for a unique participatory learning experience. Both students and inmates meet in the prison for a project that organizers have dubbed "Learning Dialogues."

Slippery Rock University was represented both on the field and off at last week's World Series. In the dugout of the champion Washington Nationals was former SRU student-athlete Matt Adams; in the Nationals Team Shop was current SRU student Hunter Malseed, a sophomore sport management major from Harrisburg. Malseed worked Games 3, 4 and 5, Oct. 25-27, in the Washington Nationals Team Shop during Major League Baseball's marquee event.

Slippery Rock University will celebrate its annual Military Appreciation Week, Nov. 11-15. The week will begin with the SRU Veteran's Center hosting a Veterans Breakfast, 9 a.m., Nov. 11 in the Smith Student Ballroom. At 11 a.m., the Office of Alumni Engagement will host a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Russell Wright Alumni House. Both events are free and open to the public.

Fifteen Slippery Rock University student vocalists will take the Swope Music Hall stage at 6 p.m., Nov. 2 when they compete in the 27th annual Chad Williamson Memorial Vocal Scholarship competition.

Michael Shimmel, a Slippery Rock University senior political science major from Philipsburg, and Janco Swart, an SRU senior political science major from Oil City, have been selected to participate in the prestigious The Harrisburg Internship Semester program. THIS provides students the opportunity to work in all areas of state government while earning a full semester's worth of credits. Students also receive a $3500 stipend to assist with living expenses while they reside in the Harrisburg area. THIS invites students from each of the State System universities to participate.

Slippery Rock University will look to encourage more than 1,000 attendees to think beyond common environmental protection practices - such as reusable water bottles - and to become agents for change when it hosts the "Beyond Plastic: Can't Reuse it? Refuse it!" Symposium and Product Expo, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Oct. 24, on the third floor of the Smith Student Center. The event, co-sponsored by SRU's President's Commission on Sustainability and the League of Women Voters, is intended to help students find alternatives to using plastics in daily life as well as empower them with education.

Slippery Rock University's Dance Department will host its annual Faculty and Guest Artist concert at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Oct. 20 at Butler County Community College's Succop Theatre. The Faculty and Guest Artist concert is a collaboration of SRU dance and art students, faculty and nationally and internationally known guest artists.

Slippery Rock University Theatre will bring the spirit of revenge to its season-opening production, "Medea in Methland." Performances are at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 11-12 and 15-17 and 2 p.m. Oct. 13. All performances are in the University Union Multipurpose Room.

Nicole Dunlop, a Slippery Rock University junior corporate security major and president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association from Latrobe, was sworn in Oct. 9 as a member of the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education. Dunlop is one of three student leaders selected from Pennsylvania's 14 public universities to represent students on the board.

Few people would confuse Shawn Davis for fictional billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, but like the DC Comics fictional superhero, the Slippery Rock University assistant professor of parks, conservation and recreational therapy also spends some his time playing the role of a "Batman." A cofounder of a collaborative called the Climbers for Bat Conservation, Davis is bringing together a unique combination of groups - rock climbers, land managers and bat biologists - in an effort to better understand the furry flying mammals. As part of his efforts, Davis will speak to rock climbers tomorrow, Oct. 5, at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, in Slade, Kentucky, in the first meeting of the CBC east of the Mississippi River.

Nature's restorative effects on the human brain is not a recent discovery. Many college students have cleared their minds by taking a walk outside before returning indoors to write a term paper or study for an exam. However, a collaborative research project at Slippery Rock University is using science to back up a nature-based wellness intervention known as ecotherapy.

When student teachers instruct a class as part of their "college-supervised instructional experience," their professors or other supervisor will visit the host school to observe the instruction and make sure instruction is being delivered effectively. These periodic reviews provide student teachers with valuable feedback. But what about their supervisors? How can they provide better feedback? Those are questions being asked by a faculty-student research team at Slippery Rock University, led by Monique Alexander, assistant professor of elementary education and early childhood. The group is conducting a study titled "Supervision as Inquiry: A Self-Study of Evolving Supervisory Practices."

Nearly 15 years ago, Brian Crow started researching hazing among athletes. Since that time, Crow, a Slippery Rock University professor of sport management, has become recognized as an expert in the field. Despite his strong interest in the topic, it wasn't until Crow met a particular parent of a hazing victim that he became gripped by the severity of the issue. In 2016, after becoming a board member of HazingPrevention.Org, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for hazing prevention and awareness, Crow met fellow board member Lianne Kowiak, whose son, Harrison, died after a 2008 fraternity hazing incident in North Carolina.

Without question, social media has revolutionized the way in which people receive, interpret and remark on news and information. With in-the-moment reporting, living in a real-time news cycle is second nature for today's college students. Imagine the puzzled look on the face of someone from only 20 years ago if you were trying to explain what social media is, what it does and how there are college courses on the topic, like one offered this semester at Slippery Rock University. Textbooks for the class at SRU, called Social Media, are considered obsolete, because, well, it's social media.

A classroom assignment at Slippery Rock University often involves a group activity, but there's only one place on campus where that activity could mean getting group members to walk across a wooden plank before they swing from a rope -- by the way, did we mention the plank is suspended 30 feet above the ground? Those are just two examples of what students can experience on SRU's recently built challenge course.

It is said that hula, the popular dance developed in Hawaii, expresses all that the dancer sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches and feels. For two Slippery Rock University students, hula and other forms of dance from Hawaii, Asia and the Pacific could not be fully learned, or appreciated, without having such a multisensory experience in person. Led by Melissa Teodoro, associate professor of dance, two SRU dance students -- Kate Lehr, a senior dance major from Pittsburgh, and Kathryn Monsell, a senior dance major from Lewistown -- attended the Asia Pacific Dance Festival Intensive, July 22 to Aug. 4, at University of Hawai'i at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii.

A new program that Slippery Rock University is launching this fall will provide access to education and opportunities for civic engagement through a nationally recognized service model that has been adopted by an exclusive network of institutions. SRU is one of only 64 institutions in the country to sponsor a Bonner Leader Program, in which students receive a combination of an institutional scholarship and a paid student leadership position for leading a community-service partnership for the institution.

As the number of smoke-free college campuses across the country - 2,375 as of July 1 according to the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation - continues to rise, so to does the alternative to "lighting up": electronic cigarettes. The use of vaporizers such as e-cigarettes and other inhaling devices has become increasingly common on college campuses in recent years. And while the aerosol plumes emitted by someone using an electronic vaping pen are not the same as the smoke from tobacco cigarettes, the associated risks are still a concern. Count health officials at Slippery Rock University, as well as students who are studying the effects of e-cigarettes, among those concerned.

A firm handshake often concludes the hiring process for employers and job candidates. For students at Slippery Rock University, getting hired will begin with the Handshake, an online platform that connects students with employers. SRU partnered with Handshake to launch the new service earlier this month, helping students search for on- and off-campus jobs and internships.

Slippery Rock University expects to start the fall semester with a freshman class that is similar in size to last year's, albeit one that reflects an improved academic footprint. The average high school GPA of the incoming Class of 2023 is 3.46 with the percentages of freshmen who ranked in the top half (72.6%), quarter (35.5%) and tenth (12.6%) of their graduating high school classes all reflecting increases year over year.

Among the more than 400 volunteers welcoming first-year students to Slippery Rock University on move-in day, Aug. 22, was SRU President Bill Behre, who stood by the curb outside of Residence Hall A where he greeted families as they arrived and gave directions as to where to unload students and belongings. Move-in day, which included more than 1,100 residential freshmen and transfer students that started arriving at staggered times between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., is part of SRU's Week of Welcome. Classes begin Aug. 26 but WOW programming, organized by SRU's Office for Student Success, continues through Sept. 3.

Pronoun usage can be tricky, especially when a person's gender is unknown or a hypothetical person is referenced, like in a job description. Should "he" be used as a generic pronoun or should the author use "he/she"? Can "they" be used as a singular pronoun even though the word is most often used as a plural pronoun? Researchers at Slippery Rock University are studying the effects of gender inclusive and exclusive pronoun use to help answer those questions.

Cory Haser has a history of adding new dimensions to his experience working with computers, having previously developed software that uses three-dimensional models. He is getting an opportunity this summer to push his 3D modeling skills to whole new level. Haser, a Slippery Rock University senior computing major from Zelienople, is part of a faculty-student research project with Nitin Sukhija, SRU assistant professor of computer science, and Elizabeth Bautista, manager for the Operations Technology Group at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.

Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark are known for their progressive human development policies, which is why a faculty-led group of students from Slippery Rock University visited Bergen and Tromso, Norway, May 14-27, to discover for themselves what these countries are doing differently for their citizens.

A group of Slippery Rock University students visiting Cartagena, Colombia was so excited to be there they were literally dancing in the streets. Granted, that sort of thing could be expected since they were members of SRU's Afro-Colombia Dance Ensemble Six members of the ensemble made the June 18-27 trek as part of a faculty-led program with Melissa Teodoro, associate professor of dance and a Colombia native.

Actors portray fictional characters in theater productions, but for a Slippery Rock University student attempting to develop a theater camp for high school students, her role is anything but pretend. This summer, Naomi Bates, a junior dual dance and theatre major from Slippery Rock, is conducting faculty-student research with Deanna Brookens, assistant professor of theatre, to determine the feasibility and subsequent development of a summer program at SRU to train high school students interested in theater.

To the unknowing observer, the rock wall shouldering the Trans-Canada Highway, where the road sidles the banks of Kama Bay near Nipigon, Ontario, is just that, a rock wall. But for a faculty-student research team at Slippery Rock University, the site demands a much closer look. Fortunately for Logan McIntyre, a junior dual environmental geoscience and modern languages and cultures major from Volant, she doesn't have to travel to Canada to check the rocks out. Instead, she is looking at dozens of rock samples from the outcrop, each the size of a postage stamp, magnified 200 to 500 times on a computer screen at an SRU laboratory and under a scanning electron microscope at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The samples came from a 1.4-meter slab of diabase igneous rock taken from the Kama Bay outcrop in 2008 by Michael Zieg, SRU professor of geography, geology and environment.

Leave it to a Slippery Rock University student to use a metaphor about smoothing rocks to describe the daily grind of a summer research project. "The last rock is the most polished," said Ashleigh Schuler, a senior dance major from Williamsport. "I'm just smoothing out the edges as far as my dance technique and artistry as well as my educational understanding of the dance field that I'm about to enter." Before starting her final year at SRU this fall, Schuler is honing her craft with the top college ballet dancers and instructors in North America at the Cincinnati Ballet Collegiate Intensive, June 17 to July 26.