Fly Eagles Fly! Week of February 10, 2022

 

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

Good morning from our Elkins Park campus where things remain busy and productive. We’re starting to move some offices and people around to make room for the renovation project on the first floor of the South building, which is exciting! In addition to this, here are some other items that I hope you will find interesting:

HUMANITARIAN TRIP: A group of Doctor of Optometry students from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University had the chance to go on a humanitarian trip to Nicaragua from Jan. 6-13, to help underserved communities in that country. Click here to read about their experiences.

SLP POST-BACC PODCAST: In our latest podcast, Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, chair and program director of the department of Speech-Language Pathology at Salus University, speaks with adjunct faculty member Lauren Bevan, MS '17, CCC-SLP, about the Post-baccalaureate Speech-Language Pathology Track. For details, click here.

CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY: We are just past the halfway point of our Campus Climate Survey and according to Viewfinder, which is administering the survey for us, the typical completion rate for health professionals at the end of the first four weeks of the survey is 15 percent for students and 50 percent for employees. We have surpassed those numbers with 215 students (18 percent) and 189 employees (53 percent) participating. If you haven’t seen the survey in your email in-box, search for the word “Viewfinder” in your junk/trash folders. There’s still time to participate. Thanks to all of you who have completed the survey to this point.

CASE AWARDS: Congratulations to our Communications Department on receiving two Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Awards: 

• Podcasts (Frequent) - Aphasia Client Shares Her Story of Recovery at SLI
• Writing: News/Feature (1,000+ words) - Grad a Strong Voice of Endurance and Strength

FINAL THOUGHTS: Last week Dr. Vitek and I had the opportunity to attend the annual awards banquet of The Four Chaplains organization. The organization honors four military chaplains who exhibited great courage, compassion and strength when their World War II transport ship, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, was sunk by a German U-Boat off the coast of Greenland on February 3, 1943. Those chaplains were: LT. George L. Fox, Methodist; LT Alexander D. Goode, Jewish, LT John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and LT Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed. With many men wounded and hurt, the chaplains made their way topside to where the lifejackets were housed and began to distribute them. When the supply of life jackets ran out, they gave their own life jackets to the next man in line. Through the course of the disastrous evening, these four Chaplains provided prayers, encouragement and comfort to survivors.

There are parallels between what these four Chaplains did on the deck of the Dorchester and what you do every day as healthcare professionals. Whether in our clinics, local community schools or via telemedicine, you provide hope and the promise of a better life through improved health, vision, hearing, speech and language, life skills or prosthetics to help others get around. Sometimes in the middle of a busy day, you might forget how the things you do or say affect those in your care. Just as the four Chaplains did on the deck of the Dorchester 80 years ago, you make a difference in everyone’s life daily through your work and commitment to help others.

As you prepare for the weekend, please try to reflect on the sacrifice, heroism and dedication of the Four Chaplains. Here’s a link if you’d like to learn more about their amazing grace under fire.

Also, remember this is Superbowl weekend with our Philadelphia Eagles poised to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Please remember there will be many people out on the streets, especially in Center City, following the game on Sunday, win or lose. Please plan accordingly if you’re going to be out and about. We want everyone back on campus safe, sound and SALUS STRONG!

FLY EAGLES FLY!!!!

-Mike