#BUAlert: Afternoon undergraduate commencement ceremony will be held as regularly scheduled at 2:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts. Everyone (including the graduates) must enter Haas through front doors.

Hey, it’s me! Well you, four years from now. I know you think college graduation is so far away, but let me tell you … it will be here in a blink of an eye. I know, because that’s exactly how I felt at this time four years ago.

And here we are, Jenna. Days away from graduating college, and I never thought this day would come this soon. I still clearly remember being anxious to graduate high school. And yet, again with the butterflies of wondering what’s next in store. No worries. It’s going to be okay. I know, because I’ve made it this far.

Bloomsburg University will celebrate the graduation of nearly 500 students next month with 69 graduate students and 430 undergraduate students receiving diplomas during three ceremonies in Mitrani Hall, Haas Center of the Arts. Graduate commencement will take place on Friday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m. Undergraduate commencement will be held on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 10 a.m. for COE and COLA, and at 2:30 p.m. for the ZCOB and COST.

Top honor graduates will be recognized for having earned the highest grade-point average in their college. They are: Jennifer L. Pehowic, Zeigler College of Business; Carissa R. Jones, College of Education and College of Liberal Arts; and Autumn L. Helfrich, College of Science and Technology.

One step closer for these Class of 2018 members as they were honored this month during the First World Graduation Ceremony by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The bi-annual First World ceremony is celebrated each December and May to congratulate the achievements — academic and leadership roles — of BU’s multicultural students at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels.

First World Honorees: Jimmie Brown, Stefon Brown, Jessica Cesaire, Brianna Davis, Abu B. Kaba, Emili LaBoy, Amber Maxwell, Chriscene Turner, Bitania Yemane, Shameriah Diggs-Washington, and Ke’Yanna Wilson.

Bloomsburg University’s Act 101/Educational Opportunity Program celebrated its 25 fall graduates, as part of the Class of 2018, with a graduation banquet in the KUB Ballroom. Irv Wright, faculty emeritus and former associate dean of academic achievement, served as keynote speaker.

Act 101/EOP, coordinated through the Department of Academic Enrichment, provides support and opportunities for success to students traditionally under-represented in higher education. Act 101 provides access to higher education and support for highly motivated students who exhibit the potential for success, but who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and lack the educational preparation necessary to be admitted to BU.

Second-year students in the Bloomsburg University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders master’s degree program in Speech-Language Pathology were recently honored during a White Coat ceremony at Rolling Pines Golf Course and Banquet Facility in Berwick.

The White Coat ceremony celebrates the transition from full-time, in-class work to full-time, clinical externships. Coats were presented to students by Shaheen N. Awan, Ph.D., department chair; Shelley Scarpino, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Patricia Lawton, associate professor.

Bloomsburg University and the Central Columbia School District are renewing an agreement guaranteeing admission for Central Columbia students after graduation. The agreement, first signed in 2009, guarantees admission to a BU bachelor’s degree program for Central Columbia graduates who complete a specific list of requirements.

“We have many academically talented high school students living in the region surrounding our campus,” said President Bashar W. Hanna. “Some already choose to enroll in Bloomsburg’s outstanding degree programs and remain close to their homes and jobs. This agreement assures Central Columbia students who working hard in high school will guarantee admission to BU.”

Construction of the new 131,876-square-foot Arts and Administration Building is taking place on the site of a former parking lot adjacent to Centennial Hall. Lobar Inc. is the general contractor for the project, which will cost an estimated $33,173,000 million. Completion date is scheduled for August 2020.

On the lower level the art department will have its metal and wood shops, photo and theatre labs, a student studio and plaster room. The first floor will house admissions, financial aid and the registrar, the language lab and six classrooms. The second floor will include offices and studios for the art and art history department, languages and cultures department, and the history department, while the top floor will house the offices of marketing and communications, human resources, administration and finance and procurement and purchasing.

A typical mass communications internship tends to be in marketing or some type of media; but not for Andrew Fox, who ended up taking a different route this past summer with Mack Trucks, Inc. Fox, a Bloomsburg University senior, didn’t build trucks either. Instead he spent his internship writing scripts, shot lists, filming, editing, producing and directing small films for training and operational purposes in the company’s training department.

This fall, Fox received word he won the Top Dog Award for Continuous Improvement. In addition to creating award worthy films, he had the opportunity to learn more about the corporate side of company operations.

A $700,000 gift from the estate of John Enman, Ph.D., professor emeritus of geography, will further support students, faculty and programs in the Department of Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences (EGGS).

“Dr. Enman’s gift will go a long way toward helping the EGGS department provide the best possible Husky Experience for students and faculty,” said Bloomsburg University President Bashar W. Hanna. “As a member of our BU family, Dr. Enman was committed to helping students and fellow faculty in any way he could. We are eternally grateful for his generosity and the lasting impact his gift will have on the students and faculty in the department he loved.”

A 10-week summer research experience in the Gulf of Mexico opened the eyes of one Bloomsburg University senior to not only a new field of chemistry but to a potential career path as well. Lauren Barrett, a senior dual environmental geoscience and chemistry major, was among a select few undergraduates from across the country chosen to participate in Texas A&M University’s Observing the Ocean program.

There the students were introduced to new ocean observing technologies and used data from ocean observatories, buoys and time series to investigate the ocean. Students worked with Texas A&M mentors in laboratories and on seagoing projects developing analytical skills for multidisciplinary oceanographic research.

One sees chemistry as a path to law school and the other, a journey to a doctorate degree in synthetic chemistry. Both are set to graduate Bloomsburg University this spring as among the few chemistry graduates — less than 425 in the country — walking with American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) certification.

Kimberly Hollister and Allison Martin capped their junior year this past spring by passing the ASBMB National Accreditation exam, enabling BU to exceed the national average by eight percent. Nearly 1,000 college students took the exam, some 417 (42 percent) achieved certification with 122 students (12.3 percent) achieving certification with distinction, as announced by ASBMB last month.