FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Jan. 6, 2017
Chambersburg, Pa. — The Wilson College lecture series “FRESH! — Finding Responsible Eating Strategies for Health” — will kick off its 2017 sessions with “Nutrition Made Clear: Why We Eat What We Do,” at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, in Warfield Hall’s auditorium on the Wilson campus. All FRESH! events are free and open to the public.
This event will feature a video lecture by Roberta H. Anding, a registered dietitian, director of sports nutrition and a clinical dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. In addition, she is a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association, a certified specialist in sports dietetics, a certified diabetes educator and the dietitian for the Houston Texans NFL franchise.
Following the video, there will be a discussion with panel members B.J. Reed, a plant-based health food coach; Julie Raulli, Wilson associate professor of sociology; and Cindy Bryant Weidman, a registered nurse and health educator.
Wilson’s Fulton Center for Sustainability Studies sponsors the FRESH! series. For more information, contact FCSS Director Chris Mayer at 717-264-4141, Ext. 3247, or christine.mayer@wilson.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Mayer, Fulton Center for Sustainability Studies Director Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3247 Email: christine.mayer@wilson.edu
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Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, educational technology, the humanities, accountancy, management, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college had a fall 2016 enrollment of 1,098, which includes students from 18 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Jan. 5, 2017
Chambersburg, Pa. — An exhibition of artwork by Wilson College studio art students will open at The Foundry, 100 S. Main St. in Chambersburg, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, marking the first exhibit in a new partnership between the two organizations. A reception will be held for the exhibition, which is free and open to the public and will continue through Feb. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3.
Wilson’s history as a community partner dates to the founding of the institution, and its commitment to rich and meaningful partnerships continues as the community grows and evolves.
The Foundry, a grassroots, artist-led organization, shares a similar vision and mission as that of Wilson College and its Division of Arts and Letters. Both organizations’ missions include promoting critical and creative thinking through artistic exploration and expression; and providing venues for the exhibition of creative works of art that educate, inspire and provide a framework for cultural expression of local and regional artists.
Further, the mission of Wilson’s art exhibitions program is to educate, collect and stimulate appreciation for, and expand knowledge of, visual literacy within the college environment, according to Professor of Art Philip Lindsey.
The new partnership provides opportunities for exhibition exchanges, as well as possible studio/workshop opportunities. Foundry artists will have the opportunity to exhibit their work at Wilson College beginning in fall 2017.
For more information, contact Lindsey at 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305, or philip.lindsey@wilson.edu; or Anita Crawford at The Foundry at 717-261-0706.
MEDIA CONTACT: Philip Lindsey, Professor of Fine Arts Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305 Email: philip.lindsey@wilson.edu
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, educational technology, the humanities, accountancy, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college has a fall 2016 enrollment of 1,098, which includes students from 18 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
Janice “Jay” Johnson ’61 Has Led an Activist’s Life
By Gina Gallucci-White
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once stated, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena … who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
When people ask Janice ‘Jay’ Johnson ’61 why she became president last year of People’s Action—a network of three grassroots organizations dedicated to advancing economic, social and racial justice—she cites Roosevelt’s speech as the reason. “I have aspirations to be ‘the woman in the arena’,” she said. “I am with (People’s Action) because I really felt like it was a progressive stream and a hell of a challenge … to bring the cultures of three different organizations together and form a baseline in terms of values and action.”
Whether volunteering her time for the Young Women’s Christian Association, serving as a Girl Scout executive or being president of a national grassroots organization, Johnson has spent her life dedicated to activism—both at the community and national level—to help bring a voice to those who feel they have been ignored.
“(Activism is) important to me because I don’t believe citizenship is a spectator sport,” she said. “I believe unless people take action, things can go quickly awry. I believe that too many people sit silently and watch things happen and think that they can’t do anything about it. We at least need to be able to sit down and reason about what we think is good for this country and for our families and communities. The conversations that everybody says that we need to have, somebody needs to start.”
She has been active in Virginia Organizing for the past two decades. Founded in 1995, Virginia Organizing is a nonpartisan, non-profit community action group that brings people together to address issues that affect the quality of life in their local communities. Johnson has worked with the organization to reform the state’s tax system and push for policy changes in housing and redevelopment.
Over the years, Johnson has served as both chairperson and treasurer for Virginia Organizing. “Jay is an incredibly dynamic person,” said executive director Joe Szakos. “I think one of the real things that Jay brings to an organization like Virginia Organizing is that she can be incredibly thoughtful about big-picture items, but really stays grounded in what has to happen day-to-day in (terms of) what one person can do, what two people can do, what small groups can do and how they can fit into working on long-term change in a broader sense. She lives on both ends of the continuum at the exact same time."
Johnson is now leading People’s Action, a national group founded in June 2016 and formed by a merger of three powerful organizing groups: Alliance for a Just Society, National People’s Action and USAction. The nonprofit’s mission is “nothing less than to create a new people’s politics in America,” according to its webpage. People’s Action’s campaigns take on the issues of social justice, climate change and immigration.
LeeAnn Hall, executive director for the Alliance for a Just Society, said Johnson has heart, compassion and a real desire to fight for the dignity and well-being of poor and working-class families, not only in Virginia but across the country. “She is a natural leader,” Hall said. “She’s really good at listening and reaching out to people and hearing where they are at, and starting a conversation with people.”
While she is praised for both her planning and insight, Johnson also knows when to act. Several years ago, the Center for Community Change was putting together a protest on immigration policy in Washington, D.C. Virginia Organizing at that time was doing a lot of work on behalf of undocumented immigrants. Johnson met a woman who decided to participate in the protest even though she was undocumented. “Understanding what the risk was for her and her family, I felt like if she could do it, then I could do it. So for the first time in my life, I volunteered to be arrested,” she said. Johnson was 70 years old at the time.
The group marched and chanted in front of then-Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner’s office and about 10 protestors, including Johnson, were arrested by the U. S. Capitol Police. For Johnson, it was worth it. “We were trying to get attention to stop separating (immigrant) families,” she said. “Sometimes you have to take a stand. It can't be all talk. You've got to do some walking along with it.”
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Born and raised in Hampton, Va., Johnson became active with Girl Scouts at the age of 7. She credits being selected as one of two high school-aged girls to represent her home state at an All-States Encampment as one of her reasons for selecting Wilson College. “That was the first time that I even had any thought to go to a college that was not a black college because I met girls from all over the United States,” she said, adding she befriended girls who were from different backgrounds such as Italian, Scandinavian and Native American.
When Johnson returned from the encampment, her high school guidance counselor connected her to the National Negro Scholarship and Service Fund, which was dedicated to helping African-American students in the top 10 percent of their class find integrated colleges. She was given five colleges to choose from and picked Wilson, sight unseen.
“I chose Wilson because the correspondence and other communication from both college and alumna were the warmest and most caring that I received, which led me to believe that I would be in a friendly, supportive environment,” Johnson said. “Wilson and the friendships I formed there have not disappointed me—even after all these years.”
She earned her bachelor’s degree at Wilson in psychology and after graduation, worked for several years at the welfare department in Baltimore. She later returned to Virginia to be closer to family and get her master's degree in guidance counseling from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). Her résumé includes time spent in social work, entrepreneurship, Girl Scouts and in the City of Hampton’s youth department. She served as the executive director for both the Northwest Settlement House Early Learning Center in Washington, D.C. and the Western Reserve Girl Scout Council in Ohio, before starting her own real estate business, I. Jay Enterprises, in Hampton.
Then, nearly 20 years ago, a member of Virginia Organizing approached Johnson about starting a chapter in Hampton. “I was too busy and I kept sending her to other people, and she kept coming back to me because other people sent her back to me,” Johnson recalled. The back and forth occurred for about two years until she was invited to a state board meeting with the promise that if she didn’t like it, she would not be asked again. Johnson said she was initially hesitant because she didn’t “want to be part of another organization that meets to meet, meets to greet or meets to eat—or a combination of all of those things.”
Johnson attended the conference and met people from all different educational and racial backgrounds. “These people were for real,” she said. “(They) respected each other and were serious about the issues, but managed to have fun with each other while they were going about the business. I thought, ‘You know what? This might not be too bad.’ ”
From that meeting, Johnson emerged as a leader of the group. Johnson can go from high-level meetings across the country to back home to Newport News, Va., to work on local issues such as voter registration or helping people in flooded neighborhoods, according to Szakos. “They are both important to her,” he said. “Nothing is too big and nothing is too small for Jay Johnson.”
Johnson's first taste of activism actually came when she was attending Wilson. She and several friends had gone to a cafe in Chambersburg to celebrate a classmate’s birthday. After being seated, they watched as table after table were waited on, yet no one came to serve them. Johnson told her friends the service wasn’t slow. They weren’t being served because she, an African-American, was sitting with them. Having never seen racism this close before, one of her friends confronted the waitress. The owner would not let her wait on them.
Growing up in the South, Johnson had experienced segregation from a young age. But since Wilson was north of the Mason Dixon line, “I really did not expect this to happen,” she recalled. She and her friends decided to organize a protest, stage sit-ins and lobby the student government to boycott the restaurant—which did later change its stance on serving African-Americans. The incident was highlighted in a recent exhibit about civil rights at the college’s Hankey Center.
At a Wilson class reunion many decades later, one of her friends told her they participated in the protest because, “The fight became our fight because you were important to us, and it hurt us that this is what your life had been. We needed to do something different as people.”
Looking back on that experience, Johnson wrote on her blog this year: “Our protest was about more than vindicating the right of black and brown people to eat in a restaurant without discrimination. For me, protest was a way to exert my humanity and claim that I am a person exactly like everyone else in our free nation.
“That’s why, at the age of 70, I engaged in civil disobedience to support my friends who need a path to citizenship, and was arrested. I decided to stand with them, just as my friends stood with me,” Johnson wrote. “We all need to do a lot of soul-searching, remember our history lessons and stand together.”
Adult students find their path at Wilson
By Coleen Dee Berry
A quiet voice in the back of her mind kept nagging at Marybeth Richards: Wasn’t it time for her to go back to school and get that college degree?
After one long discussion about finances with her husband—which ended with them asking each other, “Where do we go from here?”—she sat in her living room holding her baby daughter and watching her two older children play. “And that quiet voice suddenly got really loud,” Richards recalled.
“I knew education was the door for many opportunities,” said Richards ’16. “But growing up in my family, what we said and what we actually did never really lined up.” While her parents stressed the importance of education, they also did not give her the encouragement to go to college. In that moment in her living room, Richards said, it became clear: “I never wanted to stand in front of my own children and say, 'This is what you should do,’ without having been willing to do it myself.”
Her mind made up, Richards first took some online courses and then in 2013, entered the Adult Degree Program at Wilson. On May 15, 2016, Richards stood in front of her fellow graduates as a featured speaker at commencement, recounting her moment of decision. “I realized, how could I tell my children about the value of education if I myself had nothing to show for it? I wanted them to see that education—no matter what your area of study is, whether it is a trade or a skill—is powerful and life-altering.”
Throughout the past 35 years of Wilson’s Adult Degree Program (ADP), adult learners have sought degrees for many reasons—to advance a career, begin a career, enhance their knowledge or expand their worldview, acquire new skills or complete a personal goal. The program was founded “to help lifelong learners, both male and female, get a college degree,” said Beverly Evans, director of admissions for ADP. The program has been in place since 1982 and has always been coed.
Originally called the College for Continuing Education, adult education was part of Wilson’s “renaissance” in the 1980s and was seen as an appropriate extension of Wilson’s core mission.
Adult learners are becoming an increasingly larger segment of the U.S. college demographic. Recent statistics show that 38 percent of today’s college students are adult learners older than 25. Adult undergraduate enrollment has been steadily growing. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment for adult learners increased 51 percent from 1991 to 2011. For the 2016-17 school year, Wilson has enrolled 290 ADP students, a 10 percent increase from 2013.
Making the decision to complete—or begin—a college education as an adult involves a whole set of challenges, including budgeting for college costs and making time for study. Many adult learners have to learn study habits all over again, and adjust to new technologies. Juggling multiple responsibilities of home, family, school and work can be daunting. “You have to learn to prioritize your classes, learn how to carve out time,” said Robert Washinko ’14, who balanced a civilian job at Letterkenny Army Depot and time in the Army Reserves with his Wilson courses. “I traveled a lot for my job, so I ended up doing a lot of homework in hotel rooms and a lot of reading on planes.”
In order to accommodate adult students for all walks of life, Wilson’s adult degree program offers students a wide range of options, Evans said. ADP students can attend Wilson full time or part time and can even live on campus (though few opt to do so). While ADP students take the same courses as traditional undergraduates and sit side by side in the classroom, they have the option of taking those courses at their own pace, even if it’s just one course a semester.
“The program is incredibly flexible so that it can take into account family life, kids, jobs,” Evans said. “ADP students can take up to a two-year leave of absence from coursework without penalty. They can re-enroll even after big gap and we will try to give them as much credit as possible for what they previously studied here, depending how our curriculum has changed.”
All campus resources are open to ADP students. They can belong to clubs, engage in study abroad and perform internships. The one thing they cannot do, according to Evans, is participate in NCAA sports, due to NCAA rules. “But we’ve had ADP students on the archery team and the equestrian dressage team because those are club sports, not NCAA sports,” Evans said.
Wilson also supports veterans returning to college and participates in the Veteran Administration’s Yellow Ribbon program, which helps veterans pay for the costs of college not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill®.
Benjamin Luzier ’17 was a military policeman in the Air Force, stationed at McConnell AFB in Kansas, and served two tours of duty in Iraq before leaving the military in 2012. “I knew I did not want to continue to be a police officer, but I had no other training,” Luzier said. “I had a wife and two children and I knew I had to do something to provide for them, so I went back to school.”
He enrolled full time at Wilson as a veterinary medical technology major, but later switched his major to what he really loves—history and political science. “My kids are very aware that I’m going to college,” Luzier said. “When I come home they ask me, ‘What did you learn in school today, daddy?’ And I’ll tell them some history tidbit.”
Luzier is looking forward to graduating in May. “I will say that going to Wilson has definitely expanded my horizons. I’m looking forward to going ahead with a career—maybe even running for office,” he said. “I’ll start at the ground level and run for city council.”
Older students often worry about being accepted in the classroom by their younger traditional undergraduate counterparts. “Everyone comes to college with common fears,” Evans said. “The traditional undergrads out of high school wonder if they will be able to cope with the schedule and the courses. The ADP students wonder if they have been out of school too long and whether they will be out of touch. And somehow those fears meet in middle and get resolved.”
Wilson’s faculty welcomes the maturity and real-world experience these adult learners bring to the classroom, according to Elissa Heil, vice president for academic affairs. “Most of the students have been or are currently employed. They have experiential knowledge that can complement various theories and notions that are presented in the classroom. Their perspectives are more holistic, which can evoke great discussions,” she said. “It’s not unusual for these students to be the most ambitious ones in the classroom, thereby posing as great role models for our traditional students.”
Many of Wilson’s adult students who have children share Richards’ desire to be a role model. “If your kids see you going to college, they will more fully understand the importance of college when their time comes,” Evans said.
Richards’ college education is already making a difference for her children, she said. Her oldest daughter, Aislynn, who is in 5th grade, was recently named student of the year at Guilford Hills Elementary School. “As a parent, I’m starting to see the fruits of my labor,” she said. “I see in Aislynn an appreciation and a pride that she has in the entire education process.”
Richards is now pursuing a master’s degree in the humanities at Wilson, in order to teach at the college level. That was not her original plan when she first enrolled in the adult degree program. “I thought about teaching, but as maybe a high school teacher. I had taken courses, but they were all over the place. I really didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to do—until I came here.”
The turning point came when she took a class in African-American literature with Professor of English Lisa Woolley and “I just fell in love all over again with reading and with writing,” Richards said. “I always liked to write stories when I was a little kid. … I decided, this what I’m going to do: pursue a career in literary studies and the humanities.”
Richards credits her professors with pushing her to develop a repertoire of skills and helping to define her goals. “I had to discover my path here at Wilson,” she said. “I don’t think I would have graduated if I had just tried to do this online.”
In addition to the graduate work, Richards’ bachelor's degree has already helped her find work as an editor for the publishing firm Pearson Co. She also is a substitute teacher for the Chambersburg Area School District and a graduate assistant in Wilson’s writing lab.
At Wilson, Richards also found strength in the supportive community forged by her fellow ADP students, which she described in her commencement address. “How many times have we leaned on one another for academic and moral support? A lot,” she said. “My experience was never unique, special or different because the solidarity among the adult students provided the opportunity for us to learn from and empathize with one another. When we shared our experience, strength and hope with each other, we found the motivation that we needed to persevere, to finish.”
Other ADP students share their stories:
Robert Washinko ’14 was taking courses at Hagerstown Community College while serving with the Army Reserves “when 9/11 happened and I went into active duty with the Army.” His Army service landed him a job in aviation ground support at Letterkenny Depot and led to a two-year assignment in Germany.
“You know how it is—you get away from going to school and get out of the habit of studying and it gets harder and harder to go back to school.” Washinko said. “But when I was in Germany, I did a lot of traveling, a lot of learning about different cultures and it inspired me to go back to school.”
He chose Wilson after speaking with admissions representatives who visited Letterkenny. “I had tried some online classes, but they really left me cold. Bev (Evans) walked me through the whole admissions process and made it very easy for me to get started.”
Washinko started by taking just one course a semester. “I just dipped my toe in at first, but once I got used to being back in the classroom, I was taking three classes a semester.” He balanced his Letterkenny job (which involved regular travel out of the state), his Army reserve time and classes to receive a bachelor’s degree in business management; then went on to earn his M.B.A from Shippensburg University. His Wilson degree helped him secure a new position at Letterkenny as a program analyst for the Defense Information Systems Agency.
“I don’t like hearing younger people say they don’t have time for school,” said Washinko, who has talked a co-worker into taking ADP courses at Wilson. “I can’t really remember one bad study night now. My degree was a lot of work but it was a great experience, and looking back, I really appreciate my time at Wilson.”
Annika Dowd ’17 was a stay-at-home mom looking to continue her education. She tried taking an online course at one point “but it didn’t work for me,” she said. “I just love being in class, taking part in the give and take and just soaking up the academic atmosphere on campus. You don’t get that online.”
Dowd grew up in Germany and attended university there to study law before she met her husband, who was an American military member serving in Germany. When he returned to statewide duty, she took one semester at University of Texas in Austin. “When my daughter, Lina, was born, I decided to be a stay-at-home mom,” she said. “Though I loved being a mom, I never really stopped thinking about getting my college degree.”
The family eventually moved to the Chambersburg area when her husband was transferred to Letterkenny. “I had my eye on Wilson ever since we moved here. I was very attracted by the campus and by the small size.” Dowd began attending Wilson after first getting her associate degree at Harrisburg Area Community College.
Wilson helped create a major for her in art history. “I’ve always been creative without being artistic and I love the history that goes with each work of art, so this is something I really love,” Dowd said. “I would like to teach art history when have my degree.” She currently works as an intern at Wilson’s Hankey Center, cataloging the classics collection in the center’s downstairs display room.
Dowd helped her husband when he studied for his master’s degree and now he helps her juggle her home and parental duties. “It takes the two of you when you have a family, to do this. It takes a lot of collaboration. And I only have one kid. I can only imagine how tough it is for those going to school with more than that.”
Daughter Lina is now 12. “I hope I have been a good role model for her. She’s never complained about the time study takes me away. I think I’ve modeled to her that when the going gets tough, you have to keep going, keep working, until you accomplish your goal.”
Mary Cramer ‘91 went to work when she graduated from high school because her parents could not afford to send her to college. After she moved to the area from western New York, she took a job at F&M Trust Co. as a switchboard operator.
“I always wanted a college degree. At that time, it was not a requirement for a good-paying job, but it certainly did not hurt,” Cramer said. She at first signed up for classes at Shippensburg University in the late 1970s and then enrolled in Wilson’s Continuing Education program when it began in 1982.
“I worked 40 hours per week during the day, went to college at night and raised a family. It was not easy, which makes the accomplishment of obtaining a degree all that much more gratifying,” Cramer said. It took her 11 years to graduate. “I feel my degree assisted in my career. I moved up from a switchboard operator through many departments to a vice president of retail operations,” before retiring after 40 years with F&M Trust.
Cramer, now president of the Alumnae Association of Wilson College, offers this advice to current ADP students: “Work hard and receive that degree. It will help you in your work future.”
Netha Kane ’17 graduated high school in Arkansas in 1998 and went into the Army as a linguistics specialist. She had one tour of duty in Columbia, transcribing Spanish voice intercepts. “I always wanted to go on to college and thought I’d take courses in the Army, but something always postponed that. And then when I left the Army, I wanted to wait to take courses until my son was in school.”
Kane started off as business major, but took a Spanish 101 course as a refresher. “I found myself falling in love with the language all over again.” She added Spanish for a double major. “Dr. (Amanda) McMenamin (assistant professor of Spanish) was a very inspiring teacher and her enthusiasm for Spanish and the culture was really infectious,” said Kane, who ended up being president of the College’s Spanish Club. Kane was able to take a month-long study-abroad trip to Spain during the summer of 2016 and studied the variations of Spanish language and Spanish literature. She also took a course in Spanish business.
Kane currently volunteers as a medical translator for Chambersburg Hospital and would like to pursue the hospital business management field after she graduates. “I’m excited to see where this degree will take me. I think I have a lot of freedom of choice with a business management degree—it can take me in a lot of directions.”
Steve Oldt ’99 was in his 50s when he was an ADP student at Wilson. “I was often the oldest person in my class. So I was able to bring outside experience to the classroom discussion—what it was like in the real world vs. what was being taught from the book. A lot of the professors were very eager to take advantage of that.”
Oldt, who played with the Chambersburg Cardinals football team and is a member of the National Minor League Football Hall of Fame, also pursued a career in banking. He wanted a college degree. “I kept trying to take courses, but life kept happening.” He attended two years at Shippensburg before the continuing education program there was discontinued. He spoke to Gunlog Anderson, who was then the program director for Wilson’s adult degree program, and she enrolled him at Wilson.
“By the time I got my degree, I was chief operating officer of Orrstown Bank,” Oldt said. “So, graduating was more of a personal accomplishment, a personal goal for me. And it was important to show my children that education is important, and that you don’t just have to start college when you’re 18.”
Oldt went on to serve on Wilson’s Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2012. His advice for current ADP students: “You’re never too old to get your degree. Just don’t stop. Stay motivated.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Jan. 9, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College will offer free sessions on how to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on Tuesday, Jan. 17, in Wilson’s Brooks Science Complex. The sessions will be held at 5:30 and 7 p.m. and are open to anyone who is interested.
Those attending must register for a session of their choice by calling Wilson’s financial aid office, which will provide instructions on what paperwork and documents to bring to the workshop. The office can be reached at 717-262-2016.
The workshop, for college-bound seniors, their parents and school counselors, provides the opportunity to get personalized help completing the 2017-2018 FAFSA and the chance to ask questions related to the financial aid process. A short presentation will be provided by a representative from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). Financial aid staff from Wilson College will also be in attendance to answer questions and assist family members as they complete the FAFSA online.
The FAFSA is used to determine if students qualify for nearly all forms of need-based financial assistance, including the Pennsylvania State Grant; Federal Pell Grant; federal student loans; and many scholarships, work-study programs and school-based awards.
Families should submit the FAFSA as early as possible to ensure meeting earlier financial aid deadlines that may be required by selected schools, according to Wilson’s financial aid office. There have been recent changes to the FAFSA completion process that now allow families to file as early as Oct. 1 each year, using information that has already been completed.
In addition, beginning with the 2017-18 FAFSA, students and parents will be required to report income information from an earlier tax year. For both the 2016-17 and the 2017-18 FAFSAs, that income year will be 2015, rather than their 2016 tax year information. The free sessions at Wilson will help explain these changes to the FAFSA requirements. A second round of sessions will be offered on Tuesday, March 14.
MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Peiffer, Assistant Financial Aid Counselor Phone: 717-262-2016 Email: laura.peiffer@wilson.edu
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Dec. 14, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Building on its master’s degree program in education, Wilson College has partnered with Eduspire, an innovative provider of continuing education courses for teachers, to add a Master of Educational Technology degree to its growing list of graduate programs. Classes are set to begin in the spring 2017 semester.
The M.E.T. program, which will consist of 10 courses, is geared toward education professionals who want to strengthen their skills and knowledge about how to incorporate technology effectively into all aspects education.
With a wide array of course offerings, the program is designed for flexibility to accommodate the various interests of educational professionals. Courses are offered online, face to face and in hybrid formats. If, for example, a local school district has a cohort of students enrolling in the M.E.T. program, “we will bring an instructor to the individual district,” said Eric Michael, director of Wilson’s Master of Education program.
There is great potential for enrollment in the M.E.T. program at Wilson, according to Michael, who said Wilson receives numerous inquiries about an M.E.T. degree every semester.
“School districts across the country have invested heavily in technology,” said Michael, adding that new and evolving technologies have steep learning curves and school districts are seeking employees with the skills to effectively make use of the latest technological developments.
“Increasingly, school districts and schools are looking for those teachers who have the knowledge and desire to use technology to its greatest potential for the classroom and for each student,” Michael said.
He said the degree will help certified teachers in the classroom, while providing the potential for advancement for teachers and other education personnel that do not have teaching certifications. “People with the M.E.T. degree will be sought to move into leadership positions,” said Michael.
By partnering with Eduspire, Wilson is able to provide a wide range of elective courses, according to Michael. “The uniqueness of our M.E.T. program is there are 40 courses and four core content areas, and there are electives in the core content areas—so an individual can tailor this to their specific needs,” he said.
For more information about Edspire, visit www.eduspire.org.
The M.E.T. is Wilson’s eighth graduate program. In addition to the Master of Education, the college has master’s programs in nursing, management, fine arts, the humanities, accountancy and healthcare management.
Wilson is currently registering students for spring M.E.T. classes. Prospective students can get more information or register at www.wilson.edu/master-educational-technology or by calling 717-262-3109 or 262-2045.
Wilson’s Board of Trustees approved the M.E.T., which had previously been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in late October.
MEDIA CONTACT: Eric Michael, Director of the M.Ed. Phone: 717-262-3109 Email: eric.michael@wilson.edu
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy, management, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Dec. 7, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) have formed a partnership that will provide academic opportunities for Wilson students and help develop future generations of conservation professionals.
Wilson and SCBI officials recently signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the intent of a five-year partnership that was suggested by Wilson alumna Susan Breakefield Fulton, a longtime supporter of both organizations. Fulton, of Washington, D.C., proposed that the college and SCBI team up, and made contributions to both organizations to help launch the partnership, according to Camilla Rawleigh, Wilson’s vice president for institutional advancement.
“Susan’s been very generous over the years to nonprofits, but there were two that really stood out to her — SCBI and Wilson,” said Rawleigh of Fulton, a 1961 Wilson graduate whose interests include environmental sustainability and the welfare of animals.
SCBI plays a leading role in the Smithsonian’s global efforts to save wildlife species from extinction and train future generations of conservationists. SCBI spearheads research programs at its headquarters in Front Royal, Va., the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and at field research stations and training sites worldwide. SCBI scientists tackle some of today’s most complex conservation challenges by applying and sharing what they learn about animal behavior and reproduction, ecology, genetics, migration and conservation sustainability, according to institute officials.
The partnership between Wilson and SCBI will draw on mutual strengths and interests of both institutions, allowing Wilson students to be exposed in their first year of college to the work being done at SCBI, whose 3,200-acre Front Royal campus is just 90 miles from Chambersburg.
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to partner with Wilson College,” said Ricardo Stanoss, academic program manager for the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. “We look forward to expanding our horizons to the benefit of both institutions.”
Stressing that details have not yet been finalized, Wilson Professor of Biology Dana Harriger explained how the partnership might work for Wilson students. He said in a student’s first semester, they would be introduced to the discipline of conservation biology through their first-year seminar, which would include an introduction to SCBI. Students in the program would enroll in specific collaborative courses in their sophomore year to expand their knowledge of conservation biology.
“The goal would then be for the students in this program to study in residence for a semester in Front Royal at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation Biology,” Harriger said. Jointly operated by SCBI and George Mason University in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation Biology is the on-site education center at SCBI.
As part of Wilson’s established, undergraduate research sequence, students in the program would be mentored by SCBI scientists and faculty at its education center, as well as have an opportunity to use the institute’s laboratories and other facilities, according to Harriger.
The partnership would also benefit Wilson faculty members, providing an opportunity for faculty exchanges in which Wilson professors might teach classes at SCBI’s education center. Likewise, faculty from SCBI could teach an occasional course at Wilson, Harriger said.
“At the end of four years, the students enrolled at Wilson would fulfill the requirements for their biology degree, focusing on conservation biology, and they would have the experience of working with top-notch research scientists from the Smithsonian,” said Harriger, who sees the partnership as an incredible opportunity for Wilson, SCBI and in particular, Wilson students.
“Having the ability to interact with the Smithsonian is something that most institutions don’t have,” he added. “From an institutional perspective, this partnership will strengthen our program, while developing a strong core in conservation biology.”
The institute’s work and resources would open up tremendous opportunities for Wilson College and its students, according to Harriger, who said a variety of careers are associated with the field of conservation biology. “Conservation biology is huge – it’s not just about saving animals,” he said. “Genetics are involved. There are the molecular aspects. There are many facets to conservation biology and the Smithsonian’s on the cutting edge. Students in this program will be exposed to current techniques used in conservation biology, as well as develop the critical skills afforded by the broader Wilson education that will make them adaptable for the future of conservation biology.”
More information about SCBI can be found at https://nationalzoo.si.edu/conservation.
CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
Wilson College and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) have formed a partnership that will provide academic opportunities for Wilson students and help develop future generations of conservation professionals.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Dec. 5, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — An exhibition of artwork by Wilson College art students and their instructor, Professor of Fine Arts Philip Lindsey, will open at the Washington County Arts Council Gallery in Hagerstown, Md., on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition will continue through Jan. 31.
The exhibition, located at the gallery at 34 S. Potomac St., Hagerstwon, is free and open to the public.
The exhibit, entitled Theory & Practice, showcases recent artwork created by Lindsey’s students in Drawing I and Drawing & Painting III classes. Theory & Practice refers to the link between ideas, history, contextualization and the making of artwork. Students in Lindsey’s classes deeply engage subject, form and content in their works, which are reflected in the exhibition title.
Participating student artists include: Justine Commero, Annika Dowd, Nicole Downey, Amanda Dunn, Lexy Enders, Elizabeth Hauck, Ben Luzier, Aurora Ortiz, Kiara Scarbrough, Allie Schall, and Donna Werling.
Lindsey teaches painting, drawing and graphic design at Wilson College, and directs/curates the college’s Bogigian and Cooley art galleries. He has received numerous awards for his work in national and international juried competitions and exhibitions. While at Wilson College, he has received the Donald F. Bletz Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Paul Swain Havens Research Scholars Award and the Drusilla Stevens Mazur Research Professorship.
For more information, contact Lindsey at philip.lindsey@wilson.edu or 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305.
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Chambersburg, Pa. — Choreographer, performer, dance historian and artistic director Joshua Legg, formerly of Winchester, Va., has been named the new director of the Wilson College Master of Fine Arts program, effective in January 2017.
Legg, who grew up in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, has managed the dance program at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, since 2015. For the past 11 years, he has served as artistic director of JoshuaLegg/Dance Projects, which is based in the Mid-Atlantic region and produces artistic and scholarly programs that span a variety of contemporary and historical dance genres, dance-theater and theater. Legg is also a dance historian.
Legg — whose work has spanned ballet, classic modern, post-Judson, street jazz, dance theater/performance art, opera and classical, contemporary and musical theater — has performed dance roles in masterworks by Balanchine, de Mille, Petipa and Robbins, as well as a diverse range of contemporary works. He is the author of Introduction to Modern Dance Techniques and he has taught in dance or theater programs at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Harvard University (where he received a certificate of distinction in teaching), Suffolk University in Boston, Shenandoah University and Lake Superior State University.
“Wilson is excited to welcome someone with Joshua’s depth of experience and breadth of knowledge,” said Elissa Heil, vice president for academic affairs. “We are confident that he will take our M.F.A. program to the next level.”
Wilson’s M.F.A. program is “prime for deep, creative investigation and for collaboration,” according to Legg, who has three degrees from Shenandoah University in Winchester, including a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) and a bachelor’s degree in dance performance and choreography from Shenandoah Conservatory.
The college has “the potential to develop an exciting laboratory that is flexible enough to meet the needs of our students while we practice highly contemporary approaches to artmaking.” Legg said. “It is exciting to see the potential for us to create artist collectives for the 21st century. I can’t wait to get started working with our graduate students and the Wilson community in general.”
Begun in 2015, Wilson’s M.F.A. is a low-residency program designed for working artists and others who have been away from academia and are now seeking an advanced degree. The program, which offers concentrations in visual art and choreography, is developing as an intimate and intense experience in which students and faculty explore making dance or visual art without the usual boundaries of media, according to Robert Dickson, chair of the college’s fine arts department.
The program offers a mentoring component to the curriculum that differentiates it from other low-residency M.F.A. programs. Wilson’s program is unique in providing a Wilson-approved faculty mentor near the student’s home, giving each student one-on-one personal contact with a professional who can offer ongoing advice and motivation, Dickson said.
Wilson’s M.F.A. program is designed to be completed in two years with 20 courses, including two required, four-week summer residency periods when students live, study and work on the Wilson campus.
During the non-residence periods, students will have regular contact with Wilson program faculty members and with their mentors. Each semester at home will include an online seminar with other members of the M.F.A. program learning community.
The M.F.A. program is supported in part through an endowment from Wilson College alumna Francis Farmer of the Class of 1950.
MEDIA CONTACT: Robert Dickson, Division of Arts and Letters Chair Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3400 Email: robert.dickson@wilson.edu
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 34 majors and master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy and nursing. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
