Happy Spring!
As you can see, we had a big finish to a tough year! With the reduction in scale of our graduations, and two graduating classes to celebrate– 2020 AND 2021, we celebrated commencement many times throughout April and May. Seeing the faces of the grads and their families and friends never gets old though, and the weather cooperated beautifully for each ceremony!
In spite of the adversity of the pandemic, the semester began with the provisional accreditation of our new Physician Assistant program, and continued to build on that progress, reminding us that we have much to look forward to in 2021.
The Golden Ram spirit is alive and well!
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Scott Heinerichs, Dean, College of Health Sciences
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Speaking of Graduation... |
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The CHS students outdid themselves this year in the Mortarboard Decorating Contest. Take a look at these entries!
Winners were chosen six divisions:
WCU Spirit
Winner: Natalie Nettles, Nursing
Honorable Mention: Marissa Clemens, CSD
CHS Theme
Winner: Jessica Sharkey, Health, Respiratory Therapy Track
Honorable Mention: Carolyn Callahan, Kinesiology, HPE Track
Inspirational
Winner: Samantha Yothers, Sports Medicine
Honorable Mention: Jessica Majeed, Health, Respiratory Therapy Track
Beautiful
Winner: Cameron Ducey, Nursing
Honorable Mention: Haley Kircher, CSD
Humorous
Winner: Taylor Jacobs, Kinesiology, Exercise Science Track
Honorable Mention: Madelyn Dougherty, Nursing
Creative
Winner: Caitlin Hargraves, Nutrition
Honorable Mention: Hannah Weber, Kinesiology, Pre-PT Track
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CHS virtually welcomed Dr. Josie Campinha-Bacote, the creator of one of the most highly used models in the fields of cultural competence and cultural humility, to discuss how to bring cultural competemility into the classroom and other learning environments.
Dr. Campinha-Bacote is the President of Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates, an organization that provides clinical, administrative, research, and educational services related to transcultural health care and mental health issues. She coined the term cultural competemility, to reflect the process in which cultural humility permeates her model’s five constructs of cultural competence.
Dr. Kimberly Johnson (Nutrition) and Dr. Zee Baba (Health), collaborated to bring this final session to the Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Learning Community, funded by the Dean’s office and an Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant.
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CHS Scholarship Celebration |
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The pandemic prevented us from having our traditional "Scholarship Breakfast" event with students and families, but it did not prevent us from celebrating! Instead, we had a virtual event and we sent students t-shirts and white boards and asked them to respond with a photo of them and their response to the following,
"With this scholarship I will..."
The link below is a video of the creative student "selfies" we enjoyed at the online celebration on May 1.
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The building construction is moving forward and three of our departments are starting to pack for a summer move! We look forward to the first classes in the new space this fall. |
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The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) of WCU has recently earned the CDC Full Recognition status! This designation is reserved for programs that have effectively delivered a quality, evidence-based program that meets all of the standards for CDC recognition. Since 2017, WCU’s DPP, has provided no cost self-care education for WCU faculty, staff, and the community and funded senior and graduate students from several disciplines to attend a two-day certification training as Lifestyle Coaches, a necessary step to become DPP facilitators.
Congratulations to Dr. Patricia Davidson (Nutrition) and Dr. Melissa Reed (Kinesiology) for this important recognition.
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CSD Communication Sciences & Disorders
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CSD has started a podcast! Check out the first two CSD@WCU Podcasts with the link below. Soon to be posting on Spotify and Apple!
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MPH Program Update
Along with Program Director Dr. Stacie Metz, the MPH candidates put together a newsletter each semester to highlight students, activities special events. Click the image to the left to review the latest edition.
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As a product of the Gates Foundation grant award, Dr. Chiwo Tinago, with assistance from MPH students Ashley Cifarelli, Shannon Fyalkowski, and Victoria Pauline, recently published their work; Development and assessment of feasibility of a community-based peer support intervention to mitigate social isolation and stigma of adolescent motherhood in Harare, Zimbabwe. Congratulations to Dr. Tinago and students!
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Dr. Fran Cleland has been named the 2020 Pennsylvania University Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Society of Health and Physical Educators of Pennsylvania (SHAPE PA). The awards committee was congratulated Dr. Cleland for her "... outstanding teaching skills, professionalism and dedication to her students and the West Chester University community." |
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Congratulations to Dr. Julie Nair, and adjunct faculty Nancy Mirarchi for their recognition by Main Line Today as two of the "Top Nurses 2020" in the Education category. Nurses vote for peers via online ballot, in a variety of specialties, for this special recognition.
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Dr. Nancy Barker has been asked to serve as a mentor in a partnership with Apple and the American Academy of College Nurses (AACN) which recently launched the Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) Digital Innovators Program as part of their work to inspire the next generation of nurse faculty. This opportunity will enable 15 pairs of graduate students to develop a skillset in modern and creative approaches to educating the future nursing workforce. Participants will engage in virtual instruction on a monthly basis, collaborate with their team member, and prepare for a final showcase in August 2021 at the national GNSA conference. Dr. Barker has been working with Apple and AACN in conjunction with 2 graduate nursing students to develop an innovative teaching strategy utilizing technology.
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The Outstanding Dietetics Educator Award program recognizes the teaching, mentoring, and leadership activities of faculty in Accredited Dietetics Education Programs (ACEND®). One educator is selected from each of the five program types (DT, DPD, DI, CP, FEM) in each geographic region (a maximum of five awardees from each of the six geographic regions for a total of 30).
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Congratulations, Dr. Jeanie Subach, selected for the Nutrition and Dietetic Educator (NDEP) Award for
Outstanding Dietetic Educator.
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Congratulations, Dr. Sandy Sarcona, selected for the Pennsylvania State Dietetic Association (PAND) Award given to an Outstanding Dietetic Educator in the state of Pennsylvania. |
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The Ram Chef program, directed by Dr. Jeanie Subach, was highlighted on two local news channels. Channel 6 focused on the very successful online transition of the program, while the Fox29 story highlights the Ram Chef's garden as they learn to grow their own food. Ram Chefs are young adults with developmental disabilities who are working with WCU nutrition students to learn skills from farm to table. |
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Dr. Sandy Sarcona and her students provided four nutrition education programs for YMCA members from six-year-old children to seniors, along with individual nutrition counseling sessions. About a dozen members received three nutrition counseling sessions each from the student counselors who were supervised by Dr. Sarcona, a registered dietitian nutritionist. |
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Dr. Neil Curtis was inducted into the Pennsylvania Athletic Training Hall of Fame (PATS). The Hall of Fame honors members who have been BOC-certified for 25 or more years and made significant contributions to the field of athletic training in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dr. Curtis will be officially inducted at the PATS Awards Banquet in June. |
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This collaborative, interdisciplinary event was led by students from various Departments across the College and spearheaded by the Sports Medicine Department’s Athletic Training Club. The event was a great success, with 71 runners, over $500 in donations and nearly $300 raised from raffle tickets. A grand total of $1,460.75 was raised to benefit Cancer Research in Zimbabwe and to help support Dr. Tinago’s (HEA) family, who lost her father to cancer in early 2021. Mr. Tinago’s last text to his daughter read, “Thank you baby daughter all will be well!” In keeping with the CHS tag line “Be Fit, Be Well, Be Restored,” our college is proud to provide support and community in emphasizing all to be well.
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College of Health Sciences | West Chester University | 610-432-2825 | www.wcupa.edu/chs |
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