Embracing Change and Finding Your Cheese: Week of May 19, 2023

 

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

Good morning on a beautiful Spring morning from our Elkins Park campus. We look forward to welcoming our Board of Trustees on Monday for our quarterly board meeting and celebrating our newest graduates on Thursday during Spring commencement at the Kimmel Cultural Campus. Other things we’re celebrating:

HONORING THE NYMAN BROTHERS: Colleagues, friends and family gathered last weekend to honor the contributions of Neal and Jeffrey Nyman and the creation of the Nyman Brothers Legacy Scholarship at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University. Our own Susan “Dr. O” Oleszewski, OD ‘76, Resident ‘78, FAAO, provided an inside and humorous look at the legacy of the Nymans at PCO/Salus which was filled with “a little bit of truth, a little bit of fun and a lot of love.” To read the story and see the video of Dr. O’s presentation, click here.

LIGHTHOUSE AWARD WINNER: Speaking of Dr. Oleszewski, the foundress of our Looking Out for Kids (LOFK) charity initiative is being named the 2023 Lighthouse Award winner by our Alumni Association in recognition of her four decades of service to PCO/Salus. The Lighthouse Award is given to leaders who are beacons of light and sources of strength in the community in which they live, work, and serve above and beyond their occupations. She will be presented with the award at the annual event on Nov. 11, 2023. Congratulations Dr. O on a well-deserved honor! Read more here.

RENOVATION UPDATE: During the planning stages of our first-floor South renovation of our Elkins Park campus, project manager Amie Leighton, RA, LEED AP, realized the plans needed to be welcoming and accessible to the whole community. So, she reached out to Dr. Fabiana Perla, our Blindness and Low Vision Studies (BLVS) department chair, for some recommendations. Read more here about how BLVS’s expert suggestions improved the final design plans.

OFF THEY GO: The University’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) hosted its externship celebration May 2 for current third-year students, who are moving to clinical sites across the country for the entirety of their fourth year. The reception is an annual tradition — complete with a champagne toast and chocolate covered strawberries — to properly send off the third-year Doctor of Audiology students to their externships. Click here to read more.

FINAL THOUGHTS: As our discussions with Drexel unfold, I recently reread Dr. Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese,” a modern parable for managing change. The book describes 4 personas: Hem, a character fearful of change and reticent to embrace change; Haw, who is initially fearful but ultimately embraces change and realizes the great benefits of doing so; Scurry, a mouse that just simply runs off looking for opportunities without much thought; and Sniff, another mouse that is able to sniff out opportunities and capitalize on them as they are found.

I asked myself, “which of these characters am I?” The truth is all four personas exist in each of us simultaneously. Uncertainty and change can feel scary and difficult. It’s so much easier to fall into the regular patterns and habits we develop that form a sense of safety and security.

As we look into the future of healthcare higher education, change is accelerating. By anticipating and monitoring small changes, we can adapt more quickly and enjoy the excitement that can with change. Choosing this approach leads to greater happiness in the long run. What a relevant and important lesson to embrace while we contemplate our future.

To our students who are preparing to graduate next week, I encourage you to embrace the changes that inevitably are coming your way; get outside of your comfort zones and seize the opportunities that will present themselves, as you’ll know where they might lead. As we consider what a relationship with Drexel might look like, I encourage the rest of us to embrace the transformational possibilities that exist for our students, faculty and staff. Our cheese will move because change is inevitable. Let’s anticipate change together and capitalize on all the great possibilities that will come with finding new cheese.

Have a great weekend! I’ll be running the Upper Dublin Triathlon on Sunday so you know where I’ll be! Look out for one another, think about how changes in your lives can make you happier and come back next week SALUS STRONG!

-Mike