Summer doesn’t always mean “vacation”

If you’ve spent even a few minutes this summer on the social media pages of our 14 universities, you’ve probably seen photos of students and faculty doing great things across the globe—from Belize to Italy and everywhere in between. You also might have seen students and faculty continuing to support their campuses and local communities all summer long. Here are just a few examples:

• At East Stroudsburg University, Dr. Beth Sockman and speech pathology student Kourtney Lark are researching the impact of the “E with J Scholars,” a cooperative relationship between a local elementary school and the university.
• At California University, members of the Horticulture Club are tending to a vegetable garden and orchard. Produce from the garden has been served on campus, and the fruit is expected to go to the campus food pantry. 
• At Kutztown University, members of the campus community joined others in the local community to plant a garden at the “Welcome to Kutztown” sign. The garden was designed by Brook Leister, a recent Kutztown graduate with a degree in environmental science, as her senior capstone project.
• At Edinboro University, Dr. Mary Jo Melvin and Dr. Kristen Webber created a free summer reading experience in response to frequent requests from the parents of schoolchildren who struggle with reading. Students in undergraduate and graduate reading programs are working directly with the children.

Here at the State System office, the summer is always a busy time as we do our part to help the universities prepare for the Fall semester. While we are pleased that the General Assembly and the Governor have chosen to invest $10 million in additional funding for our universities this year, we know that advocacy is a year-round effort as we share the story of our 14 universities. Those countless stories—like the ones you’ve read about here—highlight how our students, faculty, and staff demonstrate their willingness and ability to positively impact their regions—economically and academically—in remarkable ways. They are what makes the State System such an integral part of Pennsylvania.