On Campus EXPERIENCE THAT COUNTS Professor Eric Recktenwald (left) studies neural visual recognition in frogs with students Jose Gabriel and Isaiah Fabian.
Nearly 50 students have been given awards this fall to explore unique real-world learning experiences. The awards are provided through the university’s newly launched Real-World Experience Award program, which is geared to expand students’ access to experiential learning opportunities in all academic areas. Awards are helping fund immediate research projects, distance internships, mission trips and Washington Center experiences. And 24 award recipients will be using the awards to pursue global study experiences this spring. Applicants can receive up to $2,000 for participation in a variety of opportunities and experiences, and are evaluated on a variety of criteria that includes academic performance, and the degrees to which the experiences help students fulfill Alvernia’s mission in becoming broadly educated, life-long learners, reflective professionals, engaged citizens and ethical leaders with moral courage. Importantly, Real-World Experience Awards do not reduce the amount of financial aid students already receive. Visit www.alvernia.edu/realworldlearn-
SURF program advances research
ing to apply or learn more.
ARTS IN ACTION Alvernia’s Arts & Culture Series continues this spring, featuring celebrated opera soprano and Broadway veteran Sherry Boone, as well as Grammy winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. Boone’s performance, slated for Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m., will consist of an all-star lineup of Broadway classics, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim and Berlin. Giordano will return to Alvernia’s stage in partnership with the 27th Annual Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest on Wednesday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. For more information on arts events, visit alvernia.edu/arts-culture.
8 Alvernia University Magazine
With a growing body of evidence demonstrating the importance of realworld experiences to college students’ future success, hands-on research programs have never been more important. But for many, financial barriers keep research projects out of reach. To break down those barriers for Alvernia undergraduate students, the Student Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program was developed, thanks to support from former Alvernia board chair Joanne Judge and her husband, Rick Oppenheimer, along with Trustee Steve Najarian and his wife, Helen. The program provides opportunities for students to experience scholarship, research and creative process develop
ment in collaboration with accomplished faculty members. The collaboration offers career development opportunities for student fellows through workshops, and supports opportunities to experience realworld learning. In addition, student fellows receive a $3,000 stipend and free housing during the 10-week May-August summer program. Since the SURF program’s inception in 2015, many students from a range of backgrounds and majors have taken advantage of related summer research projects. Students are encouraged to apply by early February for consideration in the summer 2017 program. For more information, search for SURF on alvernia.edu.