Slippery Rock University

Researchers at Slippery Rock University are at the forefront of preparing national standards for recreational therapists who use equines in their practice. Thanks to a grant from the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification, a research team at SRU is collecting and analyzing data from a survey that was sent to more than 20,000 certified therapeutic recreational specialists. The team also brought experts to campus to create guidelines for using equines that will be recommended to the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, the only national organization representing recreational therapists.

Slippery Rock University has announced its dean's list for the spring 2023 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.

Cierra Mitchell, a Slippery Rock University senior political science major from Pittsburgh, has been selected as a member of the SRU council of trustees, the highest governing body of the University. Mitchell fills the one seat on the 12-member COT designated for a full-time SRU undergraduate student. This means Mitchell has the same voting privileges as the other trustees.

Slippery Rock University will conduct its 2023 spring commencement ceremonies, May 5-6, at the Morrow Field House. A total of 1,685 students are eligible to be recognized as graduates in the following ceremonies: 6 p.m., May 5, graduate studies; 9 a.m, May 6, the College of Business; noon, May 6, the College of Education, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Rock Life program; and 3 p.m., May 6, the College of Health Professions and the College of Engineering and Science.

There will be a new voice representing Slippery Rock University students for the 2023-24 academic year. Ella Bloom, a sophomore political science major from East Berlin, was elected president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association earlier this month. More than 630 students voted through CORE, SRU's online platform for student organizations and activities. The election determined the president, as well as an executive board and 25 senators of the available 43 seats that make up the governing body that represents SRU students.

Slippery Rock University recognized several students at its Celebration of Achievement ceremony, April 11, in the Smith Student Center, highlighted by the announcement of SRU's nominee for the Syed Ali-Zaidi Award for Academic Excellence.

Watch members of the Slippery Rock University community salsa, foxtrot and waltz the night away at "Dancing with the SRU Stars," 7 p.m., March 30 in Stoner West Dance Studio Theater. SRU's version of the popular television show "Dancing with the Stars" will feature students as the dancers, paired with SRU professors and staff members as the "stars." Instead of a Mirror Ball trophy, the student from the winning couple will be awarded a scholarship and their dance partner will earn the title of SRU Star Dancer.

The Slippery Rock University Theatre Department will present productions of the play "Hand to God," 7:30 p.m., March 3-4 and March 7-9, and 2 p.m., March 5, at the Stoner East Black Box Theater. Tickets are available online at sru.edu/tickets or at the door prior to each performance. The cost is $12 for SRU students and $14 for general admission. This comedy is for mature audiences only.

Oh, the places you'll go if you attend the Slippery Rock University Theatre Department's production of "Seussical the Musical," April 21-23 at the Miller Theater in the Performing Arts Center. SRU student cast members will take audiences on a musical journey through a collection of stories from the classic Dr. Seuss anthology. There will be four performances: 7:30 p.m., April 21; 7:30 p.m., April 22; 2 p.m., April 23; 6 p.m., April 23. Tickets can be purchased online at sru.edu/tickets or at the door one hour before each show. Tickets are $12 for SRU students and $15 for general admission.

Slippery Rock University Dance Theatre will present two showings of its Emerging Artists Dance Concert, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 3, and 4 p.m., Feb. 4, at Miller Theater in the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at sru.edu/tickets. The concert will feature the choreography of SRU junior and senior dance majors, guest choreographer Helen Simoneau and the late modern dance pioneer Martha Graham. There will be a diverse range of styles, techniques and genres of dance on display, including traditional modern dance and contemporary dance.

Slippery Rock University has announced its dean's list for the fall 2022 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.

Two Slippery Rock University students interned with local manufacturers as part of the state's Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Program. Through this program, SRU interns learn manufacturing industry protocols, receive safety training, and are challenged by mentors to develop methods of assessing and optimizing manufacturing processes and reducing building energy, water and waste, all of which to lower operating costs and make companies more competitive in their markets.

The Slippery Rock University Theatre Department is hosting a mainstage musical production "Head over Heels." Daily performances are 7:30 p.m., Nov. 17-19 and Nov. 21, and 2 p.m., Nov. 20, at the Miller Theatre inside the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available online at sru.edu/tickets or at the door prior to each performance. The cost is $12 for SRU students and $15 for general admission.

Two Slippery Rock University musicians earned spots to perform alongside musicians from all over the world as part of a wind ensemble this summer in the Czech Republic. Victoria Lewis, a senior music education major from Warren, Ohio, and Joey Caponera, a 2021 SRU graduate with a degree in music education, performed at World Association of School Bands and Ensembles Youth Wind Orchestra, July 18-24, in Prague.

Olivia Kaminski admits she didn't know what imidacloprid was before agreeing to conduct research at Slippery Rock University studying its effects on human cells. But it's possible that she, and anyone who eats non-organic produce from the grocery store, has eaten foods containing imidacloprid, the most widely used insecticide in the world.

In addition to his job as a chef at a local restaurant, Elijah Saesan is cooking up some geometric manifolds as a student researcher at Slippery Rock University this summer. A junior mathematics major from Rice's Landing, south of Pittsburgh, Saesan is working closely with Kirk McDermott, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, on a faculty-student research project funded by SRU's Summer Collaborative Research Experience grant program, which helps introduce undergraduate students to the world of academic research. Instead of working with ingredients in a kitchen, Saesan is plotting graphs on paper and analyzing parameters with the help of computational software. This helps him find new examples of three-dimensional manifolds creating hyperbolic geometry. In mathematics, manifolds are topological spaces, and they are more difficult to visualize than, say, a dinner recipe.

Tyler Anderson is certainly "dialed" in to his summer internship this summer at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Anderson, a Slippery Rock University senior dual dance and modern languages and cultures major from Allison Park, is among a select few college students working this summer through DIAL, the Diversity in Arts Leadership internship program, administered by the Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that advances the arts and arts education.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States and the anniversary of the news reaching Texas on June 19, 1865. But refuge and freedom from bondage was realized for many former slaves who reached Pennsylvania decades prior on stops along what is known as the Underground Railroad. A Slippery Rock University student heard about such settlements in his community and decided to investigate further for a research paper that became more than just a class assignment. Stone Helsel, a junior secondary education: social studies major from Mercer, conducted research about two settlements in Mercer County in a way that was similar to a historian or doctoral student's scholarly pursuit: delving into local archives, visiting physical sites and even checking his work with experts as sort of a peer-review process.

Slippery Rock University has announced its dean's list for the spring 2022 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.

Awareness of culture and context are important in any classroom, but they particularly need to be assessed by music educators who might consider incorporating anything from Beethoven to Beyonce in their programming. Faculty-student research projects at Slippery Rock University are examining the social and emotional aspects of music education, as well as the differences between types of school districts for which programming is implemented.

Those who use medicine to treat high blood pressure must be aware of the harmful side effects. Researchers at Slippery Rock University, however, are using one type of blood pressure medication for its beneficial side effects. They aren't ingesting the drug but rather creating compounds with it that could treat completely different ailments such as bacterial infections. A faculty-student research team in SRU's Chemistry Department recently identified an opportunity to find different types of antimicrobial agents after they decided to expand upon other scientists' research about the drug hydralazine.

There are many ways to ease the ongoing stress to the world's supply chain, and one way is by developing better manufacturing techniques, especially ones that can be used by small businesses. A faculty-student research team at Slippery Rock University is working on a project using a conveyor belt 3D printer in a process known as additive manufacturing. Using computer-aided-design software and a 3D printer, the additive manufacturing process deposits layers of materials in precise geometric shapes to create an object, rather than traditional means of subtractive manufacturing, such as metal cutting, wood carving or plastic shaping.

Pre-kindergarten programs such as preschool, day care and Head Start are critical to a child's development. Michelle Amodei, a Slippery Rock University associate professor of elementary education and early childhood, has been studying this aspect of early childhood development for years. And when administrators at Grove City Area School District approached Amodei with concerns of lack of participation in pre-K programs by their students, she offered to take up a research project with the help of one of her students who graduated from Grove City Area.

Thirteen senior cadets from the U.S. Army ROTC program at Slippery Rock University received their branch assignments and they will soon be commissioned as officers with the rank of second lieutenant, including 11 who will participate in SRU's commissioning ceremony, May 6, in the Smith Student Center Ballroom.

More than 1,600 eligible graduates are expected to receive their degrees as Slippery Rock University hosts its spring 2022 commencement ceremonies, May 6-7, at Morrow Field House. The graduate studies ceremony is 6 p.m., May 6, followed by three undergraduate ceremonies May 7, with the College of Business at 9 a.m., the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education at 1 p.m., and the College of Health, Engineering and Science at 5 p.m.

Cadets from Slippery Rock University's Army ROTC program were recognized for their outstanding achievements and leadership at the Frontier Battalion's 2022 Spring Awards Ceremony, April 28, at the Slippery Rock Township Building. The Frontier Battalion consists of cadets from SRU and Clarion University.

Students in an electrical engineering class at Slippery Rock University are becoming less robotic in their learning by building robots from scratch. A semester-long project that combines several skills could have involved memorizing inputs and outputs of circuitry and computer code to program robots, but humans learning differently. A better approach is through competition and hands-on experiences.

Brooklyn Graham, a Slippery Rock University junior political science major from Kittanning, will be joining the SRU council of trustees as its next student trustee. Graham was selected 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. After a campuswide application and interview process, SRU President William Behre approved the Student Trustee Selection Committee's recommendation and forwarded it to the Office of the Chancellor of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, with Graham's appointment approved by the state's board of governors at its April 14 meeting. Graham was officially sworn in during a ceremony, April 27, at Old Main.

Coming to a speedway soon: Rock Racing. No, this is not some competitive sport for cavemen, but rather a new club at Slippery Rock University that is preparing for a green flag to drop on an upcoming intercollegiate auto racing circuit. This venture will take at least a year, but the Rock Racing Club at SRU has taken an important step by acquiring a car that was purchased by SRU's School of Engineering.

Slippery Rock University's Office of Student Engagement and Leadership presented its 2021-22 Rising Star and Distinguished Leader awards, April 20, at the Smith Student Center. The Rising Star and Distinguished Leader awards are presented to students who positively influence change, effectively communicate, inspire others, delegate and empower their organizational members. Rising Star awards are given to underclass students, and Distinguished Leader awards are given to upperclass students. These awards are presented to students who successfully balance academic life and make the most of out of organizational leadership opportunities.