Salus Weekly Update: Week of July 21, 2023

 

Dear Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,

Good morning as we begin this soggy July day in Elkins Park. It’s been another busy week on campus with construction of the first floor of the south building progressing, as the outdoor patio area is starting to take shape (see photos below). This week we also congratulate our students from Taiwan as they complete audiology rotations on campus and prepare to head home. Here are some other items I hope you will find interesting:

SEP OFF AND RUNNING: Nine students interested in pursuing a career in optometry are participating in the University’s Robert E. Horne Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), which kicked off July 10, 2023. Click here to read more about their initial thoughts on the program.

NEW ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT: When Zachary Saunders, MSOT ‘17, was a student at Salus, he received the Unsung Hero and Spirit of Salus Award as well as the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association scholarship. After graduation, he joined the Alumni Association board to stay connected with Salus. And now, he’s stepped up to be the alumni board president, the first OT graduate to take the position. Read more about Zac here.

STAYING COMPETITIVE: Salus University’s Office of Admissions recently held a webinar on “Crafting A Competitive Application: Ways to Become a Qualified Applicant,” which will help prospective students through this process. For details, click here.

DICE BECOMES GISP: The department formerly known as DICE will now be called GISP, the Division of Global, Interprofessional and Specialized Programming within the Office of Academic Affairs. This renaming is also a repositioning of the program to provide institutional housing for and oversight of Interprofessional Education and Practice, new credentialing and micro-credentialing opportunities, institutional partnerships, and the expansion of our international programs. We are grateful to Dr. Vitek, Dr. Hanson and the DICE (now GISP) team for their leadership and foresight.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s been a few weeks since the Salus-Drexel signing ceremony celebrating our forthcoming merger, pending approval by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and specialized accreditors. I’m excited as we begin the necessary steps in the integration process. I wanted to take this opportunity to keep you apprised of our integration efforts to date.

Drexel President John Fry and I met last evening to discuss how the Integration Council will be set up to ensure we have administrative oversight of all of the academic, operational and regulatory processes that will be needed going forward. We will continue to keep everyone informed as we formalize the details.

As you can imagine, combining robust academic programs, bustling clinics, and high performing administrative units is a complex undertaking that is going to take time, patience and compromise. Our academic leaders have been in communication with MSCHE, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the United States Department of Education and specialized accreditors to ensure that our combined institution will be in compliance with all accreditation standards and government regulations – the key condition of the merger.

In the coming months, we look forward to building relationships among faculty and staff across all our respective disciplines and departments. I also look forward to continuing university-wide discussions with students, faculty, staff and alumni as our integration efforts get up to full speed. I will continue small group meetings to reach you directly and to answer any questions you may have.

As you prepare for the weekend, please remember to stay hydrated, use plenty of sunscreen when outdoors and continue to look out for one another to remain SALUS STRONG!

-Mike

First View of the New Clinical Procedures Lab: Week of June 9th

Students, Faculty, Residents, Alumni, Staff, Board members and Friends,

Finally, the rain has stopped and the sun is shining! While we always can use the rain, it’s really nice to look out the window and see our beautiful pond lined with students eating their lunch and just enjoying the serenity of the campus.  

This week started out with a bang. We hosted our Alumni Association board meeting at a hotel near Citizens Bank Park last Sunday. It started with a wonderful brunch followed by a business meeting and a very informative presentation from Ryan Hollister, the University's coordinator of Career Services and Enrollment, on the importance of employing social media in one’s practice, and doing it correctly.  He also described the new and improved Bennett Career Services Center and what the University offers to graduating students as well as alumni from all of our programs. It was extremely informative and well received. After all the “official” stuff, about 70 of us headed over to the ballpark to watch the Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants. This was a great way to end the day! 

This week we also celebrated students and faculty using our new Clinical Procedures Lab for the first time.  It was wonderful to see both groups taking advantage of the new facility as well as "Exercising" some of the great technology and equipment that's been installed there. I happened to walk through while Dr. Jeff Nyman was lecturing about gonioscopy in one corner to about eight students, displaying normal PowerPoint slides on one screen and diagrams and photos on another. While this was going on, in another section of the lab an additional faculty member was working with a student to hone their 90D fundus exam skills. It was great to overhear that particular student say how clear the image was through the brand new slit lamp!

Construction on the parking lot at The Eye Institute (TEI) is moving forward in earnest. While it’s a bit inconvenient right now, when this is completed we will have an additional 70 parking spaces and some really nice landscaping on the Spencer Street side of the building that faculty, staff, students and patients can all enjoy.  

The CityLife Neighborhood Clinics at TEI will have  a soft opening later this month with a more formal grand opening scheduled for July. We are so excited to embed a  primary care facility in The Eye Institute as well as to our East Oak Lane neighborhood. 

Earlier this week the University's President’s Council bid farewell to Dr. Larry McClure who served as our director of Institutional Research and Strategic Planning as well as our director of Financial Aid for over 40 years.  Rumor has it he started when he was just 16 years old :-). Larry will retire at the end of this month and transition to having fun and relaxing a bit. We all wish Larry the very best as he gets ready to start his new adventures.  

Finally, I’d like to remind everyone to save the 11th of November for our annual "Looking Out For Kids" charity fundraiser dinner. This year we’ll be having the event at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, located in Chestnut Hill.  I know it’s going to be a very special evening as we honor Shelly Yanoff with our Lighthouse Award.  Ms. Yanoff is the former Executive Director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY).  PCCY works to improve the lives of our region’s children by developing initiatives and advocating for quality healthcare, child care, public education and family stability.  We’re very excited about having Ms. Yanoff join us for the event. To learn more about Looking Out For Kids, visit our website. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay safe and have some fun!

Mike