This week, the Middle States Visitation Team members are on campus as part of BU's reaccreditation process. The team will host open meetings in Andruss Library's Schweiker Room with faculty, staff and students. Middle States institution wide accreditation is required by the U.S. Department of Education. This accreditation is necessary for BU and its students to be eligible for any form of financial assistance from the federal government, including grants, scholarships, and federally guaranteed student loans.

• Monday, March 25, at 2 p.m. – Open Staff Meeting
• Monday, March 25, at 3 p.m. – Open Faculty Meeting
• Tuesday, March 26, at 4 p.m. – Open Student Meeting
• Wednesday, March 27, at 11 a.m. - Exit Summary (Visitation Team will present findings)

BU President Bashar W. Hanna has named Diana Rogers-Adkinson as the university’s new provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs following a nationwide search. She is currently the dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Studies at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo. As dean, she oversees seven departments, and 14 auxiliary units including Lift for Life Charter School, the University Autism Center, a Reading Recovery site and the Regional Professional Development Center for school districts in southeast Missouri. The college serves 3,100 undergraduate and graduate students.

“It is an honor to join President Hanna, the faculty and staff at Bloomsburg University,” said Rogers-Adkinson. “I was impressed by the overall commitment to students and quality programs during my time on campus. The faculty and staff are enthusiastic champions for their programs, and I look forward to supporting their work as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.”

Healthy Husky will host next week Fresh Check Day — a concept created by The Jordan Porco Foundation to bring the campus community together to "check-in" on the mental health and wellness of college students. Fresh Check Day will take place on Thursday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in KUB Multipurpose A&B in collaboration with the McDowell Institute for Teacher Excellence in Positive Behavior Support. The check-in will feature interactive exhibits combined with food, prizes, and giveaways. The booths feature peer-to peer messaging in a positive, community-focused setting.

That night Scott Prendergast, of Minding Your Mind, will join us at 6:30 p.m. in the KUB Ballroom to discuss depression and mental health. He will discuss his own personal experiences with depression throughout his high school and college years and how he turned his world around by incorporating positivity into his life.

Since they were small, BU students Kasey and Alyssa Theurer have watched their grandmother and aunt serve as volunteer Seeing Eye puppy raisers. Now the twins are serving as raisers themselves through the Seeing Eye Puppy Club through the Juniata Club, part of the 4-H organization. The club breeds and raises puppies to become Seeing Eye dogs. It also trains Seeing Eye dogs to guide blind people; instructs visually handicapped people in the proper use, handling, and care of the dogs; and conducts and supports research on canine health and development.

“My aunt and my grandma have been volunteer puppy raisers for 20 years,” says Alyssa.“I’ve seen what they do, and it’s a good thing. I always wanted to do it, and now I can.”

It came down to 15 minutes. That’s what each of the three finalists of the annual Bloomsburg University/UPS Sales Competition were left with to land their final scenario of professional sales, face-to-face with a UPS role player. In total, 34 students put their sales talents to the test.

Britny Keyes, a senior, won the competition after finishing second last year. Alexandra Bukowski took home second place, and Jaclyn Hatton was the other finalist. In addition, the competition offered four different professional development sessions and a career far, as well as a networking event with industry professionals to include UPS, Tom James and Gartner.

Freshmen and seniors complete the 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement online survey by April and be entered into a drawing to receive one of these gifts: $100, &50, $25 Amazon gift cards; BU cell phone card holders; BU coffee mug; BU drawstring bags; BU iPod armband holders; BU koozie can holders; BU lanyards, PopSockets cell phone grips; BU smartphone power banks; BU spirit flags; BU travel mug.

Through its student survey, NSSE annually collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about first-year and senior students' participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.

BU’s College of Education in collaboration with Professional U recently hosted its annual Collaborating to Assist Teacher Candidate Hiring (CATCH) Conference for nearly 130 current student teachers. More than 100 education professionals representing 45 school districts — some as far away as Alaska — were on hand recruiting the soon-to-be graduates.

In addition, the conference offered a morning panel with administrators followed by three tracks of alumni teacher panels, focusing on early childhood/elementary, middle level and secondary level. Students then prepared for the Education Expo through round table discussions: How to “sell” your experience to recruiters.

Danielle Hoover discovered a passion for helping people on her first-ever mission trip as a 12-year-old. It’s been a love of hers ever since. Interestingly, after a few years between missions an important aspect of Hoover’s life at Bloomsburg University played a useful role in her latest trip.

“It’s one thing to hear about the struggles of a country like Haiti, but it’s completely different to experience it,” said Danielle Hoover, a junior English major. “One experience that really stuck with me, is serving the community meals. The way the members of the community asked us to serve them is to serve their children first. If we were to run out of food before all of the adults were served that was okay to them, because their children got to eat that day.”