President's New Year's Message: Week of December 29, 2023

 

To Our Salus University Community:

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, one filled with hope and possibilities, I want to take a moment to reflect on our journey together and the exciting path that lies ahead.

The past year has been a testament to our resilience and commitment. Each one of you, through your dedication and spirit, has contributed to the vibrant tapestry that makes Salus a beacon of excellence and innovation. From our founding as the Pennsylvania State College of Optometry in 1919 through the evolution into the premier health science university we are today, we have always pushed the envelope to expand and improve those professions we serve. As we prepare to merge with Drexel in 2024, we are embarking on a journey of continued growth and expanded opportunities. This merger symbolizes the coming together of two storied institutions and the blending of our shared values and aspirations.

I understand that change, even positive, can be accompanied by a mix of emotions. While many are excited about the new prospects and collaborations this merger will bring, it's natural for some to feel uncertain about what the future holds. I want to assure you that every step we take is with the intention of strengthening our community, enhancing our educational environment, and expanding our impact.

As we look forward to this new chapter, we also need to be mindful of the broader challenges our world is facing. Many around the world are grappling with hardships and uncertainties. Therefore, we must carry forward our commitment to compassion and support, not just within our university walls but also in the wider community we are a part of.

The new year is a time for new beginnings, renewed commitments, and fresh perspectives. I encourage you to embrace it with an open heart and a united spirit. Together, we will continue to foster an environment of learning, discovery, innovation, and service. We will write a new chapter in the storied history of Salus University, one that is marked by innovation, collaboration, and a deep sense of community.

Thank you for being an integral part of this journey. Your passion, your ideas, and your spirit are what make Salus a remarkable place. As we move forward, we do so with the resolve and resilience that makes us SALUS STRONG. In the same spirit, we eagerly anticipate the synergies and strengths that our partnership with Drexel University will bring, embarking on this new era with a shared vision of excellence and innovation.

Here's to a new year filled with health, happiness, and transformative achievements. Together, we will write a new chapter in our history that reflects our legacy, collective spirit, and commitment to making a difference.

With regards and best wishes for the New Year,

Mike

Salus New Year Message: Week of January 1st, 2021

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

As we prepare to thankfully leave 2020 in our rearview mirrors and welcome in 2021, I want to take this opportunity to thank the entire university community for your continued support, indefatigable resiliency and compliance with our Salus Safety Strategy which has allowed us to effectively provide our world-class programs, overcoming significant challenges along the way. You all rock!

Reflecting upon 2020, with its many challenges, it has been a year of intense focus, clarity and noteworthy achievements, to include the completion of our Standardized Patient Simulation Laboratory; our Occupational Therapy Program received a 10-year reaccreditation; we celebrated milestone professional recognition for several of our faculty and staff members; we recognized 4 outstanding faculty members with the Presidential Medal of Honor; several of our professions have already achieved or are on the road to achieving 100% national board pass rates; we welcomed our new Special Assistant for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, Dr. Juliana Mosley-Williams; we welcomed our new Dean of the College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation, Dr. Jim Konopack; we wished Mr. Bill Brichta a fond farewell as he began his retirement and welcomed Ms. Regina Scriven as our new Vice President, Technology and Learning Resources and we recently received a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant from the state to help fund our new Orthotics and Prosthetics program.

While 2021 promises to be much brighter than 2020, we still have a ways to go before we approach any semblance of what we would consider normal. History reminds us that in the midst of a crisis, things might actually get worse before they get better. For example, in late 1944, following the successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. Thousands were killed or wounded. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The U.S. Army ultimately beat back the German offensive, but with great sacrifice, and continued their drive toward Berlin, thus helping to end World War II.

We can draw some parallels from this to what we’re experiencing today. While there are now several vaccines approved for COVID-19 around the world, experts are still predicting a rather grim winter for our country, given the current number of infections and hospitalizations. Thus, it’s imperative that we continue our diligence with wearing face masks, social distancing and frequent hand washing. While these measures are certainly effective, as you know, we have also implemented our “Return to Learn” testing program for all students and clinical faculty returning to campus for scheduled instruction. To date, over 500 people have signed up for their tests and I’m sure others are preparing to do that this week. Remember, you cannot return to campus for your scheduled instruction unless you have evidence of a negative test. Additionally, throughout the semester we will be offering testing solutions to our students returning to campus from their externship, clerkship and other clinical rotations.

There is light at the end of the tunnel as we look towards 2021. We will emerge from this public health emergency stronger, smarter and better prepared for the next time we’re confronted with any emergency that comes our way. We are better healthcare providers, with refined critical thinking skills. 

My staff and I are working hard to ensure we receive the vaccine along with other healthcare professionals at the appropriate time. As you know, we’ve applied to become a COVID-19 vaccine closed Point of Dispensing (POD) that will help to ensure all of us, including our immediate family members, are vaccinated efficiently. Hopefully, that will be approved shortly.

Needless to say, 2020 has been a most challenging year for us all; probably the most in our school’s 100-year history. Personally, I can’t wait to see our classrooms and labs full of students and faculty and be able to show up on campus and not wear a mask and douse my hands with hand sanitizer. But, that will all have to wait. Looking ahead, 2021 does promise to be a much brighter and exciting year. As vaccines become more ubiquitous, and people receive them, things will improve quickly. Salus is a great university because of the students, faculty, staff and volunteer board members that bring our university to life. That has never been more apparent to anyone looking at us than this year. I look forward to working with each and every one of you as we prepare for an exciting 2021 and position ourselves for another year of great accomplishments, growth and successes.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year. Stay safe, stay healthy and remain SALUS STRONG!

Mike

Happy and Healthy New Year: Week of December 27th, 2019

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

This will be my last “Weekly Update" of this decade, as we get ready to bring in 2020. Instead of looking into the rearview mirror back at all the great things that happened in 2019, I’d like to look forward and share some thoughts for the upcoming year.

As we close out this decade, I want to sincerely thank our world-class faculty for the work they do every day in making our institution shine brighter than our peers, to our students for selecting Salus and entrusting us with your professional futures, to our staff for ensuring we all can perform our jobs efficiently, in a a comfortable environment, to our Board of Trustees, for their time, wisdom, philanthropic generosity and vision in helping to move us forward and finally to our alumni and friends who have guided and enabled us in many ways by volunteering your time to serve on committees and Advisory Boards, your philanthropy, guidance and other support.

For my optometric colleagues, 2020 will be something special. How many times to we get to celebrate the year of the optometrist, in a sense? What an opportunity to market the wonderful attributes of the optometric profession during the year of 2020! Every one of us is an informed spokesman and we should take every opportunity to educate people about the fact that optometry is THE primary eye care profession in the United States, providing comprehensive eye care to virtually everyone in our population from birth through death. With an aging population that, unfortunately, has a high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, access to comprehensive optometric care is essential.

On the other end of the spectrum, caring for children with vision disorders helps to prepare them for learning that will enable them to succeed throughout their lives. Of course, there are contact lenses, low vision, dry eye, ocular disease, neuro-optometry, and many other clinical areas optometrists are expert in which makes this profession so vibrant and adaptable to multiple lifestyles and practice models. 2020 – The Year of the Optometrist – let’s all help to energize that!

To that end, I’d also like to challenge our PCO alumni to direct any young person you know to take a look at optometry as a possible profession for them to consider. After all, who better knows more about the exciting attributes of this wonderful profession than you?

2020 will be an extremely exciting and interesting year. As our students and faculty prepare to come back to campus next week, I ask that them embrace all that’s happening around us and come back rested, energized and ready to take on whatever comes your way! To our Alumni, let’s make this a year where you really have a positive impact on the future of our profession by helping to strengthen our applicant pool.

Wishing everyone has a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Mike

A Holiday Poem: Week of December 20th, 2019

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

‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the campus,
Not a student was stirring, especially not in classes;The finals were done, grading prepared with care, 
In hopes that an “A" soon would be there;
The students have fled to their homes far away,While faculty and staff are left here to stay;With Provost in his office and I in my space,
We have attempted to prepare for a much reduced pace;
As you all spend time with family and friends,We wish you a Happy Holiday until this vacation ends.

On a less poetic note, I would like to thank Dr. Brooke Kruemmling for organizing this week’s University Development Day.  All of the speakers were fantastic and the topics extremely relevant and timely, resulting in a great exchange of ideas and information.  It was really nice to see such robust faculty attendance at the event.

As we end this year and look towards 2020 (the year of the Optometrist) I want to thank our extraordinarily talented faculty and staff for all you’ve done for our students, patients and clients throughout the year.  I really appreciate our faculty’s candid and well-thought out comments as we recently discussed ways to make Salus even better.  It’s been a great year filled with many individual and team successes.  Next year promises to be both interesting and exciting, presenting all of us with new opportunities and challenges that will help to bring us to the next stage of excellence as a premier educational institution.  

I’d like to remind our faculty and staff to please join us for the Holiday Party in the Hafter Student Community Center today (Friday) at 1pm. I look forward to seeing everyone there and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!

Be safe, have fun and come back with your intellectual batteries charged, ready to hit the deck running!

Mike

President's New Year Message: Week of January 1st

 

All,

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in the Salus community a very happy and healthy New Year! 2019 marks a very special year for us as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our founding college, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.  In this milestone year, I believe we’re at a juncture for reflecting on the thinking of our founder, Dr. Albert Fitch, whose vision for PCO was to create a professional school of optometry comparable to those of medicine and dentistry that resulted in a higher standard of proficiency and enlightened the public’s mind about optometry and its relationship to the conservation of vision. Today, that same desire is being realized more globally at Salus where we continue to innovate and break new ground through our innovative curricula and world-class faculty and programs. 

As we leave 2018 in the rear-view, I am pleased to report that our academic semester and calendar year ended on a very high note with the 2018 graduating class of our physician assistant program attaining a 100% pass rate on their national certification exam. This exceptional accomplishment has become the norm for this, as well as many of our other programs.

As we reflect on the past year, the last 12 months have been marked by noteworthy achievements and change. 

Just a few examples include:  

• Completing construction and dedication of the Lombardi Classroom
• Adding four additional eye lanes at The Eye Institute
• The Pennsylvania College of Optometry attained full re-accreditation from the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education
• Celebrating milestone professional recognition for several of our faculty members
• Salus was named “A great college to work for” by the Chronical of Higher Education
• Celebrating the 10th anniversary of attaining University status 
• Welcomed several new faculty and staff members
• We also bid farewell to Drs. Janice Scharre, Lorraine Lombardi and Sue Oleszewski, amongst others, all of whom made significant contributions to our institution over the course of their very significant tenures. 

2019 is a hallmark year for us. We will celebrate the heritage, rich history and unparalleled accomplishments of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. At the same time, we will maintain our momentum and actively work to shape our own future as one of the nation’s premier health sciences universities. While it’s important to celebrate the past and understand what got us here, it’s imperative that we turn our eyes toward the future so we can continue to effectively build on the legacy left to us by our predecessors. That will assure we can strategically position ourselves to confront new challenges and remain agile in today’s dynamic healthcare and higher education ecosystems.

This new year we will also welcome our new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Barry Eckert who, I’m certain, will contribute his extensive expertise towards expanding and bringing new ideas to our academic programs. 2019 also brings re-accreditation visits to our audiology and occupational yherapy programs and a visit to establish full accreditation status for our speech-language pathology program.

Needless to say, 2019 promises to be an extremely busy and exciting year.  Salus is a great university because of the students, faculty, staff and volunteer board members and others that bring our university to life. I look forward to working with each and every one of you as we continue to grow Salus and position ourselves for another year of great accomplishments and successes. 

Wishing you and your families health, happiness and continued success in 2019!

Mike