newsnotes
ACT 48 Courses Endorsed by PSEA Gannon University’s School of Education has received a formal endorsement for Act 48 courses offered to members of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) for professional development. Act 48 requires individuals holding Pennsylvania professional educator certifications to complete continuing education (CE) requirements every five years. The CE credits are necessary for educators to maintain an active teaching certification. Gannon offers Act 48 courses in outreach areas such as Meadville, Monroeville, Greensburg, Hermitage and Warren. The courses are offered online to serve the needs of teachers unable to attend a traditional, face-to-face class.
Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit Honors Sisters of St. Joseph Gannon’s annual Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit is designed to bless the University community at the beginning of a new academic year. This year’s Mass also included a special recognition of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the blessing of an icon written to honor the Sisters as they celebrate 150 years of service to the Erie Diocese. The icon, depicting Saint Joseph, was written by Daria Hulak-Kulchytsky of Cleveland and is permanently residing in the University’s Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel. The icon is the second by Hulak-Kulchytsky to reside at Gannon. In 2006, the chapel added a Mary, Seat of Wisdom icon that she wrote. “The icon is such a beautiful and fitting gift for our chapel, depicting both the gentleness and strength of St. Joseph. The Sisters of St. Joseph and Gannon University have a long history of shared ministry in delivering excellent valuecentered education, culminating in the merger of Villa Maria College and Gannon University in 1989. This icon is a visible tribute to that bond,” explained Sister Michele Healy, S.S.J. ’66VMC, assistant professor of theology. In 1925, Mother M. Helena Dillon, S.S.J., and Sister M. Stella Harrington, S.S.J., established Villa Maria College to offer a higher education option for area women. Today, there are more than 3,300 alumnae who received a degree from the College. This tradition of academic excellence remained strong as the two institutions merged and is honored today through the Villa Maria School of Nursing, housed in Gannon’s Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences. gannon magazine
Trayless dining is gaining popularity on college campuses nationally, and Gannon is no exception. During lunch on Dec. 10, 2010 the Beyer Hall Cafeteria experimented with trayless dining by removing trays during the lunch period. The trial went so well every Friday is now a trayless day. “Part of our mission as a faith-based school is to show respect for the planet. We hope that by doing these small things, our students become true stewards of the environment when they leave,” said Steven Ropski, Ph.D. ’78, biology professor and co-chair of the Gannon Goes Green Committee. Going trayless curtails food waste, promotes healthier eating habits through portion control and reduces the amount of water and energy consumed by washing the trays. Metz & Associates, the University’s food service vendor, estimates that washing a single tray—including rinsing, washing and sanitizing it— requires about 1.5 gallons of water and 1.5 kilowatts of power.
President Garibaldi (second from left) and Mary Carol Gensheimer (second from right), assistant professor of communication arts, present the new icon to Sister Moira Sullivan, S.S.J. ’64VMC (left) and Sister Mary Ellen Dwyer, S.S.J. ’64VMC (right).
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Gannon Cafeteria Goes Green
winter 2011
As a precursor, Metz conducted a Weigh Your Waste event in the cafeteria on Dec. 1, 2010. For the three-hour lunch period, all food that was to be thrown out was weighed; some 413 individuals discarded 109 pounds of food, which could have fed approximately 114 people. Biology professor Steven Ropski, Ph.D. ’78 scrapes discarded food into a waste container during the Weigh Your Waste event.