WFMZ Reporter Rosa Duarte interviewed Dr. Amy Scott, associate professor of business, regarding the wage gap between men and women.

See the story here.

 Emily Stephens (center right, holding award) is pictured with representatives of the sponsors of the Healthcare Heroes Event. From left: Tom McNamara, executive director of communications at DeSales University, a supporting sponsor; Kerry Robison, director for provider relations at Highmark Blue Shield, a major sponsor; Stephens, and Sandra Murphy, provider services director at Capital Blue Cross, a major sponsor. 

“I am very proud and kind of overwhelmed,” said Stephens said after winning her award. “There are so many people that deserve this award. I am very grateful that I get to continue to work in the field that I love.”

The Lehigh Valley Business Healthcare Heroes awards program honors individuals and organizations that are making a significant impact on the quality of healthcare in the Greater Lehigh Valley.

The event was held at DeSales University.

Dave Seip, instructor in criminal justice, teaches a class where students process a mock crime scene much like real world investigators.

Members of DiScoUrse, a selective, 12-member writing society, read samples of their work from throughout the past year to a full crowd at its annual showcase April 8.

The array of pieces read included short stories, poems, and creative non-fiction, some of which are set to be published in the University’s literary magazine, Weal, later this month.

“The showcase is very important to the society because it gives the community a chance to see what we do and how we spend our time,” said junior Adam Zielonka, who will be the president of DiScoUrse for the 2015-2016 academic year. “Our writers are fantastic at the work they do, whether that’s poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction—some people, I think, excel at all of the above.”

Eightnew members of the club were also inducted at the event, with five of them replacing outgoing seniors and three of them being graduating students earning admission as honorary members. To win entry into DiScoUrse, students were required to submit pieces of their writing to the club’s advisors, Juilene Osborne-McKnight, associate professor of English, and Dr. Stephen Myers, professor of English.

Osborne-McKnight and Myers started the club in 2009 to offer aspiring writers a constructive environment of like-minded students and the opportunity to publish their work. Members now benefit from exclusive meetings with published writers brought in to read at the English department’s annual poetry festival, local writing seminars and lectures, and the annual showcase event. 

“A great deal of the value of the poem happens orally and sonically, so it’s tremendously important to actually hear what’s being written,” Myers said. “Robert Pinski, the former poet laureate, talked about how the poet uses their whole word producing mechanism, with the production of air and the diaphragm and expelling it, and the mouth shaping the words. He talks about it as playing a musical instrument, so this is how we hear the individual musical instruments of the people performing.”

In preparation for the upcoming meeting in Philadelphia -- which will feature a visit by Pope Francis -- the Salesian Center for Faith & Culture will be sponsoring a video series related to Marriage & the Family.

"A Fortnight for Marriage" is a series of six short films featured at the international HUMANUM conference, followed by discussions facilitated by DeSales University faculty. The events will take place April 21-23 and April 28-30 at 7:00 pm in the Gambet Center at DeSales University in Center Valley.

The topics of each session are as follows:  The Destiny of Humanity, April 21; The Cradle of Life & Love,  April 22; Understanding Man & Woman, April 23;  A Hidden Sweetness;  April 28; Challenge & Hope for a New Generation,  April 29; and Marriage, Culture & Civil Society, April 30.

All of these events are free and open to the public. No tickets are required. For more information, contact Lore McFadden at the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture at DeSales University at 610-282-1100, ext. 1244, lore.mcfadden@desales.edu  or visit us at www.desales.edu/salesian.

Established in 2000, the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture’s mission is to promote the interaction of faith and culture, in a mutually beneficial engagement, through academic initiatives that focus on the authentic integration of social concerns and gospel values.

Two faculty members at DeSales University will be featured in two episodes of Lifetime’s show Bring It!. The episodes will air Friday, April 24 and Friday, May 1, at 9:00 p.m.

Bring It! features the Dancing Dolls of Jackson, Mississippi, an elite hip-hop majorette dance troupe with girls from ages seven to 17. The series showcases the Dolls and their dedicated moms as they prepare for competitions, parades and other dance events.

John Bell, head of the performing arts division at DeSales, and Tim Cowart, chair of the dance department, were filmed for the episodes in which the young dancers performed and then auditioned for a chance to win a full scholarship to DeSales University. 

Said Cowart, “The dance auditions had the Dancing Dolls competing against each other for the chance to earn a scholarship. Overall, it took them a while to adjust to my style of dance, which is much different than what they’re used to, but they worked hard and we all had a great time getting to know one another. John and I were happy to have the opportunity to evaluate these talented dancers and to be able to offer something of significant value to them.”

The episode featuring the girls’ solo-performance auditions airs on Lifetime April 24, with the audition results show airing on May 1. The series is produced by Pilgrim Studios (Craig Piligian and Derek W. Wan are executive producers).

Chris Lehman, also a producer for Pilgrim on Bring It!, is a graduate of the DeSales University television and film program, and suggested the collaboration. 

Said Bell, “The entire DeSales Dance Department jumped at the chance to audition the young women of Dancing Dolls.  Clearly, they’re very talented, though we were intrigued to see how their skill sets would translate into broader, more traditional genres of dance.  We were really impressed at the potential that the auditions revealed. The girls may have been outside their usual wheelhouse, but they totally committed to the opportunity and threw themselves whole-heartedly into the experience.”

About Bring It!

"Bring It!" is produced for Lifetime by Pilgrim Studios. Executive producers for Pilgrim are Craig Piligian and Derek W. Wan. Eli Lehrer, Mary Donahue and Colleen Conway Grogan executive produce the series for Lifetime. Eight one-hour episodes of the series have been ordered for this season.

DeSales MBA is proud to count Ms. Terry Capuano among its                 graduates.  As Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of    Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), Terry provides strategic direction for LVHN and is accountable for all aspects of its inpatient and outpatient services, including 13,500 staff and $1.9 billion in revenue.  She has overseen the implementation of 50 business plans, including new health centers, children’s health and specialty programs, and is responsible for operations on five main campuses and 12 outpatient centers.  Quite an impressive set of responsibilities!

In 1995, Terry attended an MBA information session at LVHN – Cedar Crest and liked what she heard – the DeSales program offered classes close to home, AND there was a mixture of “seasoned” professors who shared their personal business experiences in the classroom.  She quickly realized that the MBA would be a perfect supplement to her two clinical masters’ degrees – and off she went!  Terry was quick to note the MBA value-add: “The MBA augmented my experience to position me positively for the administrative role I held then, and to prepare me for the position I hold now.”

The DeSales MBA program continues to offer quality, accessibility, and a mixture of experienced professors who enthusiastically share their practical and relevant knowledge in the classroom.  In sharp contrast to 1995, when Terry started her MBA, today’s MBA student can take classes at eight physical locations - as well as completely online. Terry notes: “There was no online option when I was in the program, and, because of my non-business background, I needed all of the foundation courses - but it was well worth it.  The program today makes the journey even more viable – flexible venues (face to face, online, hybrid), more course offerings, multiple start times and an (optional) accelerated foundations course – This kind of  flexibility is invaluable to healthcare professionals.” 

Terry earned an MSN from the University of Pennsylvania and a BSN from East Stroudsburg University.  Adding the DeSales MBA to her impressive background and educational accomplishments has clearly made a difference.

We congratulate Terry Capuano on her highly successful career in healthcare, and thank her for her active support of the DeSales MBA program at LVHN.  We are proud to claim Terry as a key alumna and friend. 

DeSales University has named Tim Neiman, head coach of the baseball team, and Vince Berkes, dispatcher for public safety and police operations, the 2015 Employees of the Year.

Neiman received the Professional Staff Employee of the Year award and Berkes received the Support Staff Employee of the Year award. Both recipients were selected for their years of commitment and service to DeSales University and were recently honored at the University’s annual Service Awards Dinner.

The Employee of the Year awards are given annually to a professional and a support staff member in recognition of outstanding service. Recipients distinguish themselves through their commitment to the University; exemplify the values for which the University stands, and service that demonstrates such characteristics as effort, skill, positive attitude and creativity in the work place.

Currently in his 26th season, Neiman (right) has enjoyed distinguished success during his coaching tenure at DeSales. At the commencement of the 2015 season, he has led his teams to a combined .642 winning percentage, amassing a total of 627 wins, placing him 42nd among all NCAA Division III coaches in all-time victories.

Neiman led the Bulldogs to the 2003 NCAA Division III College World Series in Appleton, Wisc., where the team finished ranked #8 in the nation. Since 1994, his teams have won 11 conference championships and appeared in nine NCAA Regional Tournaments, earning him conference Coach of the Year honors 11 times and the NCAA Mid-East Region Coach of the Year award in 2003.

The Pennridge/Quakertown sports hall of fame inductee is also active outside of DeSales, serving on the board of trustees for Quakertown’s St. Luke’s Hospital and working as a commentator for Service Electric’s broadcasts of Reading Phillies games.

Neiman has received inquiries throughout the years to become a coach and scout for the Milwaukee Brewers, and to take over other college programs, but says DeSales’ family-oriented environment is why he chooses to stay.

“I really absolutely love it here, and if you find a place you love, you ought to stay,” he says. “I can’t imagine myself being anywhere else… Maybe the Yankees.”

Neiman and his wife, Rosanne, have four children--Jason, Kristy, Nolan, and Deron--and five grandchildren. According to his players, Neiman lacks little in his sense of humor, and is a Siberian husky enthusiast, as his two dogs, Zimmer and Torre, make appearances at practices.

Before his current position as a dispatcher for the University’s police department, Berkes served as DeSales’ chief of police from 1992-2010. Since stepping down as chief, Berkes has also served the department as a patrolman and a corporal.

Berkes (right) started at DeSales in 1989 on a part-time stint, but has since seen the University develop throughout its different stages. He became a major factor in the growth of the police department throughout his 18-year tenure as chief of police, implementing an emergency management system, the University’s first surveillance cameras, emergency call centers around campus, and a student-run EMS program.

Berkes brought experience from other police departments to DeSales, but knew upon arrival that Center Valley was where he wanted to stay.

“I worked for other outside police departments and I left those to come here because I saw what the future was going to hold for it,” he says. “The way it grew was unbelievable.”

Among Berkes’ favorite memories as police chief include working alongside the FBI and Secret Service, but he says his interactions with students top the list.

Berkes and his wife, Debra, have two children—Chad and Tracy—and three grandchildren. In his free time, Berkes enjoys attending ice hockey games with his kids and camping with his family.

Dr. Sean Griech, PT, DPT, OCS, COMT, Assistant Professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program recently completed the requirements for certification as an orthopedic manual therapist (COMT) with Maitland-Australian Physiotherapy Seminars (MAPS).

The approach emphasizes clinical decision making, advanced orthopedic clinical practice, as well as accurate techniques of assessment/treatment.  Currently there are less than 30 therapists in the state of PA with this certification.

On April 17, 2015, 24 Doctor of Physical Therapy program students, faculty, staff members and friends participated in the Relay for Life hosted by DeSales University to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Together the DPT team raised $1,355 to help find a cure. Overall, the event raised more than $21,000 for cancer research.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy program is pleased to announce that its second cohort of graduate students has been selected and will begin classes in fall 2015.

Additionally, the first group of students to be enrolled in the class of 2021 undergraduate 3+3 program have also been selected.  We are very excited to welcome this outstanding group of individuals to the DeSales family!

The Physician Assistant Education Association recently profiled the DeSales Free Clinic. Click here for the article.

The DeSales University ACCESS program in partnership with the Officer David M. Petzold Memorial Foundation will host its 6th annual CrimeFITE (Forensics Investigator Training Experience) camp June 15-17, an interactive seminar aimed at inspiring and educating attendees considering a profession in Criminal Justice.

The camp, limited to 20 openings for high school students on a first-come, first-serve basis, is held from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Cost is $150 per student and lunch is included.

This year’s CrimeFITE will feature lectures from members of a S.W.A.T. team, a digital forensics expert, an attorney, an investigator, a coroner, and a first-responding officer. The camp will also have several hands-on training sessions throughout its three days, including a mock crime scene analysis, forensic interview training, and a K-9 unit drug-search simulation.

“We hope students can take away an experience that is fulfilling to them, and that they can make a contact they would not normally make,” said Leala Kuchera, academic advisor at the DeSales University Easton campus. “All of the presenters hand out business cards. We’ve had a couple of students reach out to local police stations and do ride-alongs.” 

The camp began in 2010 in honor of Officer David M. Petzold, a former DeSales University ACCESS student and Upper Saucon Township police officer who was killed in the line of duty. DeSales University is now the site of the Lehigh County-run David M. Petzold Digital Forensics Laboratory.

“The Petzold Foundation wanted to give back to the community and give kids experience in the criminal justice field,” Kuchera said. “This is our 6th year, and it’s been very successful so far. It fills up every summer.” 

In addition to CrimeFITE, DeSales offers other summer activities for youths including:

 The Summer Video Institute   offers professional training in digital filmmaking for ages 13 and up; the Summer Theatre Institute   offers professional theatre training for high school and college students as well as a junior program for grades four through eight; and the Summer Dance Intensive offers professional dance training for ages 14 and up. For more information click the program links or call 610.282.1100, ext. 1247 

The Athletic Department   offers camps in various sports, including baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and field hockey. For more information, click here.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival will offer its children’s show Rapunzel as well as Shakespeare for Kids, a high energy, one-hour production designed for children ages 4 to 10 to actively experience Shakespeare's vibrant language and characters. Click here for more information. 

David J. Kubacki, president of Nativity Preparatory School of Wilmington, Del., will deliver the commencement address during the 47th commencement exercises at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 16, on the campus mall between McShea Student Center and Trexler Library. (In case of rain, commencement will be held in Billera Hall.)

Click here for Commencement weekend details.

During the ceremony, DeSales President Fr. Bernard O’Connor, OSFS, will confer degrees upon 488 graduating students, including traditional undergraduates, graduate, and ACCESS students. In addition, students who graduated in January 2015 are invited to walk in the May ceremony as the January ceremony was cancelled because of snow.

Kubacki (right), who will be awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree, comes to DeSales with an extensive background in education administration. Before serving as President of the Oblate-affiliated Nativity Preparatory School of Wilmington, he functioned as their acting principal from 2012-13 and graduate support director from 2005-08, where he made advancements in the school’s culture and financial standing.

Kubacki has also acted as director of graduate support and assistant director of mission and programming at NativityMiguel Network of Schools in Washington, D.C., working with alumni and ensuring the success of students pursuing post-secondary education. While at NativityMiguel, Kubacki introduced the first National Student Clearinghouse data collection, as well as AlumniConnect!, an alumni database for the Network of Schools. 

Before a successful career in academia, Kubacki held multiple executive and administrative positions with Wilmington-located corporations including KAP, Inc., Intellistream Technologies, Inc., and Delaware Holding Services, Inc.

Kubacki currently holds professional affiliations with Rotary Club of Wilmington West, where he is the president-elect and foundation chair, as well as with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, the Delaware Association of Independent Schools, the National Catholic Education Association, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce. He is a trustee for the Hope Partnership for Education and holds leadership roles in the Archmere Academy Alumni Council, his secondary school alma mater. With his inclination toward symphonic music, Kubacki also serves as a board member for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

Kubacki holds master’s degrees in secondary school counseling and script writing from Wilmington University and the University of London - Goldsmiths College, respectively. He recently earned a certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Delaware. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology from Case Western Reserve University in 1996.

The DeSales University Division of Performing Arts is pleased to announce the annual Spring Choral Concert to be presented at 8 PM on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2. The free event, under the direction of J. Bennett Durham, will be performed in the Connelly Chapel on the campus of DeSales University.

“The month of May is a very special time on campus,” says John Bell, head of the Division of Performing Arts. “Spring has sprung and students appear without their heavy layers of jackets, mittens, and hats. The flurry of energy surrounding final exams begins to accelerate and the excitement of commencement is in the air. It’s a marvelous time of rejuvenation. And in the midst of all of this activity, we have the opportunity to quiet ourselves and enjoy our choral students as they raise their voices in song, celebrating this season of new beginnings.”

This year’s concert, entitled “If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” will feature the talents of the DeSales University Chorale and Schola Cantorum in collaboration with the Eric Mintel Quartet, an energetic jazz ensemble based in Bucks County, Pa. Each group will share a few songs before combining to close the concert with a swingin’ set of choral jazz. “With varied selections ranging from Irish folksongs to Dave Brubeck tunes, the concert will have a little something for everyone to enjoy,” says Durham.

Admission to the concert is free; however, tickets are required.  This concert tends to reach capacity very quickly and patrons are urged to reserve their tickets in advance. To reserve tickets, please call the Box Office at 610-282-3192 or order online at www.desales.edu/act1.

Junior Christine Holmes’ poem, “A Poem to Poetry,” took first place in its genre at this year’s Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group’s Write Stuff Conference on March 28 in Bethlehem, Pa.

Pieces entered in the “flash” writing contest were required to be under 100 words and could cover any topic. Holmes is a mathematics major, but embraces her poetic side as a member of the DiScoUrse Creative Writing Honors Society at DeSales.

“It’s my go-to creative outlet,” she says. “I’ve only been writing since freshman year, so it’s all pretty new to me, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Holmes was one of five DiScoUrse students to receive a scholarship to attend the Write Stuff Conference, which featured lectures on writing and revision techniques and aspects of the publishing and journalism industries. Scholarships were arranged by the society’s advisor, Juilene Osborne-McKnight, associate professor of English.

McKnight has been taking DiScoUrse members to the conference for more than a decade to offer them an opportunity to gain industry-related contacts, develop skills from the various workshops, submit original pieces into contests, and become exposed to the world of publishing. She says multiple former DiScoUrse students have later gone on to speak at conferences, and DeSales attendees have been consistently successful in the writing competition. 

“I’m always pleased when students submit to the contest,” McKnight says. “It builds students’ confidence because they say, ‘we can compete with the professional writers,’ which I think is superb… It’s sort of a parental feeling, where I am just really proud that these are my kids and they’re doing so well.” 

Holmes’ winning poem: 

A Poem to Poetry

Poetry,
you are a thread,
sometimes charcoal gray
but mostly chilling red

 you're frayed at one end
where the sailor snipped
you loose 

the rest of you is smooth
as buttermilk,
you corkscrew through
the fabric of a gentleman's
first tailored suit 

poetry, I find you tucked
into the rice picker's baskets,
balancing on heads of women
bent from days of labor spent 

but today I saw you trailing
behind a toddler,
a loosened stitch from teddy's
dragging left foot 

you are fragile,
essential 

Students enrolled at schools that are part of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC), including Cedar Crest College, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Moravian College, and Muhlenberg College, are eligible to enroll in distance-education Italian language classes held at DeSales University.

The classes are scheduled throughout the week and broadcasted via video conference from the Gates Distance Learning Classroom at DeSales to assembled classes at other LVAIC schools. Two cameras are used for the lectures, one continually focusing on material written on a board or projected onto a screen and one following the teacher and on-site DeSales students asking questions.

The program started at DeSales in the fall of 2011 and has seen enrollment growth. Three Italian courses are taught by Silva Emiliani-Mowrey, lecturer in the humanities department, who grew up in Bologna, Italy, and has been teaching the class since its inception.

“I’m always very excited about trying new things. I didn’t know what to expect, but it seems like it’s working out,” Emiliani-Mowrey said.

Both Emiliani-Mowrey and Mike Yorgey, instructional media specialist and the operator of the classroom’s cameras, said there were occasional challenges with technology, such as audio delay, when the program started four years ago, but these glitches been smoothed out with the help of student feedback. According to Yorgey, the IT department also recently installed advanced fiber optics in the lecture hall-style classroom to ensure more reliable connections and to allow the capability to run increased amounts of data for the room’s multiple cameras.

During classes, Yorgey works closely with Emiliani-Mowrey to improve the learning experience for the combined thirty-one students from Lafayette College, Lehigh University, and DeSales University enrolled across the three classes.

“I always encourage Mike to show the DeSales students as much as he can so that the other sites are able to participate more and feel closer to us,” Emiliani-Mowrey said. She also makes an effort to further connect with her students, offering one-on-one tutoring sessions through Skype and hosting Italian dinners for students at her home.

DeSales freshman Scott Miller is currently enrolled in one of the two elementary Italian classes and said the learning process has been as effective as a traditional class yet simultaneously unique in other aspects.

“It’s about the same number of students as any of my other classes, but half of them are at other campuses,” Miller said. “But it was really cool to see them at [Emiliani-Mowrey’s] dinner. We don’t get as much interaction with them right before or after class as you normally would. We have a couple of class clowns, so it was funny to finally meet them in person.”

The Gates Distance Learning Classroom is housed in Campbell Hall. The first undergraduate course via videoconferencing between DeSales University and Lafayette College was taught in the fall of 1994.

In addition to the Italian language classes, the Gates Classroom is used by the University’s adult evening program (ACCESS) and the Master of Business Administration program.

“It’s even now to the point where if a student can’t make it to class, they have an application on their laptop that allows them to participate from their room.” Yorgey said. “Technology gives us a virtual classroom.” 

Click here for the full article.