Group of digital forensics majors receive Department of Defense Cybersecurity Scholarships

Four Bloomsburg University digital forensics majors have been awarded scholarships under the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Scholarship program. Two students were awarded returning scholarships and two were awarded new scholarships.

Due to the sensitive nature of positions, the names of the students awarded the scholarships cannot be revealed.

These coveted scholarships are only available because of BU’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. Each cyber scholar receives full tuition, fees, a book allowance, and a stipend for living expense in exchange for civilian service at a Department of Defense agency upon graduation. The package is worth approximately $27,000 per student.

“I commend each of these cyber scholars for this impressive achievement, and also thank our faculty in the Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences for their guidance and leadership,” said Bloomsburg University President Bashar W. Hanna. “Given these extraordinary times, it is ever more important for our students to seek opportunities in which they may find a rewarding career path. This scholarship program is one such opportunity, and I’m glad to see our own Huskies being rewarded for their great work.”

The Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program is authorized by Chapter 112 of title 10, United States Code, Section 2200. The purpose of the program is to support the recruitment of new cyber talent and the retention of current highly skilled professionals within the Department of Defense cyber workforce.

Additionally, this program serves to enhance the national pipeline for the development of cyber personnel by providing grants to institutions of higher education.

Center of Academic Excellence
BU is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense Education with a focus in the area of digital forensics. The CAE designation, jointly sponsored by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, recognizes that Bloomsburg’s digital forensics program has met stringent criteria in regard to its digital forensics curriculum, faculty and research, as well as demonstrated an institution-wide commitment to information assurance practices and cyber defense education.
Students attending CAE designated schools become eligible to apply for related scholarships and grants through the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program.

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Recent Publications, Presentations, and Awards

Publications
Jennifer Haney, assistant professor of EGGS, recently published a paper, "Science or Fiction: The Persistence of Disaster Myths in Hollywood Films" in the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters.

Debra Minzola, assistant professor of nursing, recently published a paper, "Damage Control Rususcitation of a Patient with Tramatic Aortic Rupture: A Case Report." in the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Journal.  This work was a collaboration with the Geisinger Medical Center.

John M. Hranitz, professor of BAHS, recently published a paper, "Thermal tolerance varies with dim-light foraging and elevation in large carpenter bees (hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopini)" in Ecological Entomology.  Stephen Tapsak, undergraduate Biology and EGGS major, was also an author on the paper, along with collaborators in a 2019 Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, from the University of Kansas, the University of Texas, Pomoma College, University of Aegean, and the University of Central Oklahoma.  Funding by the National Science Foundation (DBI 1560389) to the host institution, University of Central Oklahoma, for 2016-2019.

Karl Kapp, professor of Instructional Technology, and co-authors recently published a paper, "Enhancing motivation in workplace training with casual games: a twelve month field study of retail employees" in Educational Technology Research and Development.

Pamela Smith, professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, recently published a paper, "Palliative Care in Dysphagia and Dementia" in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups.


Adrian Van Rythoven, assistant professor of EGGS, and co-authors recently published a paper, "Ultramafic xenoliths from the 1.15 Ga Certac kimberlite, eastern Superior Craton" in The Canadian Mineralogist.


Sean Hartzell, instructor of BAHS, recently published a paper, "An amelanistic Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum (Caudata: Ambystomidae) from Eastern Pennsylvania" in Herpetology Notes.

John M. Hranitz, professor of BAHS, recently published a paper, "Effect of pan trap size on the diversity of sampled bees and abundance of bycatch" in Journal of Insect Conservation.  Cody Pavlick, a spring 2019 B.S. Biology graduate, was also an author on the paper.  The paper stems from research conducted on Lesvos Island Greece with collaborators in a Research Experiences for Undergraduates program from University of Kansas, The College of New Jersey, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Unidad para el Conocimiento (Guatemala), University of the Aegean (Greece), and University of Central Oklahoma. Funding by the National Science Foundation (DBI 1560389) to the host institution, University of Central Oklahoma, for 2016-2019.


Presentations
Daniel McCurry, assistant professor of Chemisty and Biochemistry, was scheduled to present at the ACS (American Chemical Society) 2020 National Meeting and Expo.  His presentation, "Modified surface-limited redox replacement for template-free nanodeposition" presented research conducted by BU undergraduate, Stepan Budkin.

Awards 
Pamela Cook and Rebecca Toothaker, assistant professors in nursing, received the 2020 Generating Evidence for Nursing Education Practice Award for their abstract "Student Perceptions of Just Culture in Nursing Education Programs: A Multi-Site Study" presented virtually as part of the 2020 Nursing Education Research Conference (NERC).  This prestigious award was in reference to a national research study in assessing a safe and just culture in nursing educational programs.  The results from this study are a call to action for nursing education to emphasize the tenets of just culture, error reporting, and quality improvement.

BU’s Instructional Design and Technology graduate program ranked second in the nation

Bloomsburg University is ranked second nationally among top online schools for instructional technology in 2020 by the College Affordability Guide. BU is one of two institutions from Pennsylvania, and the only university from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ranked in the top 20.

“This is wonderful recognition for the great work being done by the faculty and students in the MSIT program,” said BU President Bashar W. Hanna. “To be ranked second in the nation shows the value our graduates are bringing to this highly competitive field.”

Karl Kapp, a professor in the department of instructional technology and director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies, is thrilled for the ranking.“We are extremely proud to be featured number two on this list for two reasons. First, it shows just how affordable a master’s degree in instructional technology from Bloomsburg University can be. Many of our students indicate the instructional design degree pays for itself in just a short time after graduation. And second, it validates the knowledge, contribution, and impact our graduates make in the field of instructional technology.  Our goal is for our students to go out and dent the universe and this ranking shows they are having an impact.” Kapp continued. “This ranking also shows why our students have won the DevLearn DemoFest student design/development contest five years in a row. Our students consistently rise to the occasion and are shining examples of BU can produce.”

College Affordability Guide writes that BU students in the online program leading to a Master of Science in Instructional Technology and Design receive hands-on experience working for a real-world client. Each student is matched with an external organization, which could be a business or nonprofit, and creates a working instructional technology product for that organization.

The college runs a national center called the Institute for Interactive Technologies, which receives requests for instructional technology assistance from organizations all over the country. The curriculum for this master’s program requires 33 credits, and students can choose a concentration in corporate training or prepare for a Pennsylvania Instructional Technology Specialist Certification.
The College Affordability Guide based its rankings on:

• Regional accreditation
• CAEP/NCATE/TEAC accreditation (BU accreditation: CAEP-Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation)
• Meets state licensing criteria
• Strong “brick and mortar” reputation (e.g., excellent rankings, dedicated educational research centers, history of being a teaching school, etc.)
• High graduate placement rates
• Experienced faculty teaching the online and on-campus courses
• Top U.S. News & World Report online rankings
• Distance learning support services

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BU partnership with B. Braun Medical continues virtually

Bloomsburg University’s partnership with B. Braun Medical of Allentown is a special one that dates to the inception of the university’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Technical Leadership (BASTL) program. Braun, which currently employs four BASTL graduates, was one of the founding businesses that helped create the program in 2012. To further strengthen the relationship between BU and B. Braun, BASTL alum and current B. Braun supervisor Michael Greer ’17 and BU faculty member Julie Ambrose devised a way for students to learn directly from those in the business world. Students have visited Braun since the fall of 2018 as a regular part of their Instructional design and leadership capstone II classes.

“Reinforcing our classroom experience with a corporate site visit has been invaluable to the students. B. Braun employees show them how what they’re learning applies in a work setting,” Ambrose said. “We appreciate that support from B. Braun.” Leaning on their business experience, a panel from B. Braun advises BASTL students on their instructional design and leadership capstone II projects. The spring semester leadership capstone project is a prime opportunity for the students to showcase what they’ve learned through the program before graduation.

The students’ most recent visit scheduled for March 26 was nearly canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place order from the governor. However, recognizing that the real-life experience of holding a large-scale virtual meeting would also have value, Greer and the Bloomsburg faculty worked quickly to change the event from an in-person meeting to a virtual one.
“Sometimes difficult situations can provide unseen opportunities,” Greer said. Approximately 20 students attended the event, and each project team had a chance to present and receive feedback from Braun’s advisory panel. And because it was virtual, students who normally couldn’t attend were able to participate. BASTL students from the following partner campuses were represented: Bucks County Community College, Community College of Philadelphia, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College, as well as Bloomsburg’s main campus.

“It was great hearing the B. Braun team’s feedback to the questions we had,” said senior Ethan Westerhold. “It provided us with valuable insight as we move forward.” In attendance were BU faculty members Jessica Briskin, Julie Ambrose, and Bryan Sidwar ’01/’15M.
Braun’s panel consisted of business unit manager Eric Leayman, production supervisors Bradly Lundquist ’19 and Michael Greer ’17, project engineer Thomas Sutliff ’17, and operational excellence leader Joe Marcone.
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Physics Professor and Student Produce Face Shields to Donate

Dr. John Huckans, professor of Physics, and James "Jimmy" Catarroja, physics and EET major, have been busy producing approximately 100 face shields to help in the fight against COVID-19.  They have been using three separate 3D printers to make the shields.  Two of the printers are owned by the BU Physics Department and the third is on loan from Ginny Weibel of The Bloomsburg Children's Museum.  The face shields  will  delivered to the BU police department, who will then transport them to Geisinger Hospital in Danville.  Dr. Huckans and Jimmy Cararroja plan to continue to make the face shields as long are they are needed and are also planning to make more for area emergency services. 

 

 

Dr. Kokoska Helps Local High School Students Through AP Calculus Zoom Session

On Wednesday, April 15, Dr. Stephen Kokoska, Professor of MADS participated in a zoom meeting with students in the Advanced Placement Calculus classes from Central Columbia High School. Dr. Kokoska is a former AP Calculus Chief Reader and is a member of the AP Calculus Development Committee. During the meeting, Dr. Kokoska took student questions and presented some of the common students errors that occur on the AP exam.  The meeting was attended by 44 students from the Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 courses at central, taught by Mr. Jeff Osborne.  This year's exam will be given in a completely new online format because of concerns due to the coronavirus. 
~ from https://www.ccsd.cc/News

Student Nurses to Complete Clinicals Through New Computer Simulation Software

Bloomsburg University nursing students now have a new tool to assist them progress through their academic course work, despite not being onsite in a hospital for clinicals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Computer simulation software was purchased to allow both undergraduate and graduate nursing students to complete courses they are taking and allow seniors to graduate on time. BU was able to use simulation only because the students were 54 to 61 percent completed with their face to face clinical and theory courses. The decision to go to simulation was not made lightly, and it is not meant as a complete substitute for nursing clinical training.

BU nursing faculty member Kim Olszewski, Breiner Family Endowed Professor of Nursing, suggested purchasing the software through funds provided by Ed and Julie Breiner. Nursing administration expedited the purchase.

“We are so grateful to the generosity of the Breiner family,” said Susan Fetterman, chair of BU’s Department of Nursing. “Without them, we would need to extend into the summer months for most of our students versus the few that are extended for clinical currently. They have our sincere thanks.”

“We are honored to be able to help with the purchase of this software,” said Julie Breiner. “Society is seeing now first-hand how valuable it is to have properly trained nurses. Since BU nursing students cannot complete the normal clinical process, this is the next best way to continue their education and give our highly trained faculty a way to educate them.”

Each of the software programs purchased will simulate different scenarios, according to Susan Fetterman, chair of BU’s Department of Nursing. “The programs are a computerized illustration of a patient. The student and virtual patient can both ask and answer questions regarding symptoms, location of the symptom, and the responses are evaluated as to what is the best response by the student and why,” said Fetterman. “It is a complicated system that allows the faculty to evaluate the student’s ability to take care of a patient with specific pathology. Most importantly, it allows the students to learn how to interact with patients as well as what symptoms to look for and understand for certain pathologies.”

For graduate students, one of the programs purchased, Shadow Health, will have a big impact.
“This program is an avatar that students interact with to do specific health assessments (digital clinical experiences),” said Olszewski.  “As the student speaks to the avatar to develop a patient history, and do the exam, it will record the dialogue and provide immediate feedback to the student. This program enables student nurses to do a head to toe exam with an avatar, and the program provides the learner with immediate feedback on how to improve their skills.”

Bloomsburg University is consistently ranked in the top 10 of nursing programs in the state by a variety of organizations. BU offers multiple quality nursing degree programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Bloomsburg also offers RN to BSN and RN to BSN to MSN programs, which allow registered nurses to obtain the BSN and MSN online in a condensed timeframe.
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