Orientation Prep: Week of August 10th

Greetings from a very hot and steamy Elkins Park! 

It’s been relatively quiet this week around campus as we prepare for next week’s very busy orientation week where we will welcome approximately 330 students to campus from all over the country and the world. 

It’s an exciting time for our new students, their families, faculty and staff. We will open up both sides of the Lombardi Classroom for the very first time for the official orientation program which commences at 8:30 on Tuesday morning. I’m really looking forward to it. 

The week will culminate with our White Coat Ceremony to be held in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Center City on Friday at 2:00 P.M. This year’s White Coat will be extra special as we’ll be honoring our outgoing provost, Dr. Janice Scharre, as she prepares to begin her well-deserved retirement, with an honorary degree. Dr. Scharre will also be our keynote speaker. Knowing Dr. Scharre, I anticipate a very thoughtful, sincere and insightful talk.

In the College of Education and Rehabilitation, Brianna Brim, MOT, OTR/L, CPAM, CLIPP, academic fieldwork coordinator for the Occupational Therapy (OT) program, recently returned from a ten-day immersion in a Clinical and Translational Research course for PhD students at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. She was one of only 30 in the country selected to participate and she’s brought back a host of great ideas that will be integrated into our OT and other programs. Congratulations, Brianna! 

I spent the last couple of days up in New York City visiting with some of our very distinguished alumni and emeritus Board members. It’s always fun to be able to sit down with our graduates who have not been to campus for a while and tell them about all the great things our faculty and staff have been accomplishing. As a bonus, I even got in an early morning run around Central Park yesterday, which is always great, even with 90 percent humidity! 

So, as you prepare for the upcoming weekend and next week’s activities, get some rest, make sure you drink plenty of water if you’re outside and come back to campus ready to welcome all of our new students and kick off the academic year the right way. Be safe and look out for each other.

Mike