DAY 3 Getting Real

Day 3 started off with a visit from Interim President Jason Kroll, who spent breakfast chatting with all of our students. We had classes in the morning, and then got serious and fun simultaneously. Cohort 8 presented their portfolios. The portfolios are evidence of their service and scholarship of the last three years and a qualifying experience for their degree. Cohort 9 sat as part of the audience.

Alum Dr. Katie Kirby shared her work as an administrator and as a consultant on virtual reality in education and gave advice for successfully navigating the program and beyond.

Cohort 10 had a workshop at the Guarini Library on using the electronic resources for doctoral research, given by our wonderful alum Dr. Min Chou. They also got a tour of A. Harry Moore School, NJ-

CU’s laboratory school for students with multiple disabilities. They learned about the amazing work done at AHM (several of our alum work there). They learned about the innovative therapies and uses of assistive technologies. Networking and collaborations developed in discussion on customizing adaptive toys and educational products. They also judged a sidewalk chalk art contest.

Thursday was quite a day. The morning was filled with classes, and then things got real busy in the afternoon. Cohort 8 presented a poster session of their dissertation proposals, and the other cohorts grabbed some lunch, listened, asked questions, and learned. It was a great opportunity for Cohort 8 to begin to bring their dissertation projects out into the light, having just successfully defended them…and cohorts 9 and 10 had plenty of questions.

At 3pm Cohort 10 gave a wonderful presentation—with world class singing. They introduced themselves and unveiled their web site. We also took our traditional photo on the International Stairway at the Gilligan Student Union Building.

Every year we end our Summer Institute with a field visit. Escape rooms offer game-like learning, problem solving and team building. On Friday we took over Escape Garden State—battling organized crime, the Jersey Devil, and other troublemakers of New Jersey. Team Bulls had the best clock time, but we all had a great time.

You may have noticed a certain German Shepard in the pictures of the US Summer Institute— Millie. Millie is training to be a seeing eye dog by Cohort 10 member Jeff Kontio. Faculty and all cohorts learned about the training and got some quality time with a very well-behaved puppy.