Johnson College Signs Articulation Agreement for Veterinary Nursing Program with University of Missouri

Johnson College has signed an articulation agreement with the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, for the College’s Veterinary Nursing program. The agreement provides students who earn a two-year Veterinary Nursing associate degree at Johnson College with the opportunity to transfer all 74 credits earned through the program into the University of Missouri’s Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology program.

Qualifying students will graduate from Johnson College’s Veterinary Nursing program with at least a 2.5 GPA. Students transferring through the articulation agreement must pass the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE) to earn their national certified veterinarian technician license. They must receive a score of at least 425.

Graduates of the Veterinary Nursing program at Johnson College enter the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine with a junior-year standing in the Veterinary Technology Bachelor of Science program.

“Creating this agreement gives our Veterinary Nursing students a new pathway to a bachelor’s of science degree to help them advance in their careers,” said Dr. Katie Leonard, President & CEO of Johnson College. “Our students will use the strong values and hands-on training they received at Johnson College as they continue on their academic journey at the University of Missouri.”

“We began developing our bachelor’s degree in veterinary technology program more than two years ago to help remediate the national shortage of veterinary technicians,” said University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Carolyn J. Henry, DVM, MS. “It’s gratifying to now be able to form partnerships with institutions like Johnson College, which share our vision of providing an opportunity for skilled, experienced technicians to further their education while continuing to work.”

October Events Planned at The University of Scranton

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 7     Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “Jane Jacobs’ First City: What Comes Next?” presented by Paige Cognetti, mayor, City of Scranton. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 14     8:30 a.m. 20th Annual U.S. Conference on disABILITY “Exploring Autism Across the Spectrum: Building Inclusive Communities. Year III.” This virtual conference will include daylong live events as well as pre-recorded session offerings. Free. Registration opens mid-September. Call 570-941-7819 or visit www.scranton.edu/disabilityconference

Oct. 15     Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “Democracy in America? An Outsider’s View” presented by Fintan O’Toole, columnist for The Irish Times and the Leonard L. Milberg Lecturer in Irish Letters, Princeton. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 15     7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “In Recital” featuring Alexander Pattavina, organ. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu.  

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 20     4:30 p.m. Asian Studies Lecture: “Moral Psychology of Confucian Shame: Shame of Shamelessness” presented by Bongrae Seok, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, Alvernia University. Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall. No registration required. Free. Call 570-941-6312 or email ann.pang-white@scranton.edu.  

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 23     7:45 a.m. Schemel Forum bus trip “Back to Gotham! NYC!” $150. Registration required to reserve a spot by Oct. 1 as spaces are limited. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu.  

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 24     9 a.m. Open House for prospective students and their families. Various locations on campus. Registration required. Free. Call 888-SCRANTON or email admissions@scranton.edu.  

Oct. 24     7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “Bach for Humanity” featuring Mark Kosower, cello. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 26     Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “The Holocaust and Jewish-Christian Relations” presented by Dr. Carol Rittner, RSM, distinguished professor emerita of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor Emerita of Holocaust Studies at Stockton University, New Jersey. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Oct. 30     7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “In Concert” featuring The University of Scranton String Orchestra with guest artist John-Morgan Bush, horn. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

Nov. 7     9 a.m. Open House for prospective students and their families. Various locations on campus. Registration required. Free. Call 888-SCRANTON or email admissions@scranton.edu.  

Wednesdays: Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27 and Nov. 3, 10     6 p.m. Schemel Forum Course: “Social and Moral Issues in Information Technology” presented by Kevin Nordberg, Ph.D., professor emeritus, philosophy and Latin American studies, The University of Scranton. Room 305, Weinberg Memorial Library. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu.  

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage

U.S. News Ranks Scranton No. 5 in 2022 Guidebook

U.S. News & World Report ranked Scranton No. 5 among the “Best Regional Universities in the North” in the 2022 edition of the “Best Colleges” guidebook, which became available online today. U.S. News has ranked Scranton among the top 10 universities in its category for 28 consecutive years.

U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 14 in its category in its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” listing of the top colleges in the nation expressing “a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.”

In addition, Scranton was ranked No. 45 as a “Best Value Regional University in the North,” which compares academic quality of programs to cost of attendance. This is the ninth consecutive year U.S. News has recognized Scranton as a “Best Value” school. Scranton was ranked No. 138 in its category in “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which looks at schools that enroll and graduate “large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.”

In national rankings, as opposed to listings by category, U.S. News included Scranton among America’s “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” ranking Scranton at No. 166 in the U.S., “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” at No. 185 (where doctorate is not offered); and among the nation’s “Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs,” ranking Scranton No. 148 in the nation.

U.S. News uses data on 17 measures of academic quality to rank 1,466 bachelor’s degree colleges in the America. For its rankings, U.S. News considers a range of quality indicators that include an “outcomes” measurement” (40 percent), which assesses graduation rates; freshman retention; a social mobility score; graduate indebtedness; and graduation performance rates, which compares a school’s actual graduation rates with predicted graduation rates based on characteristics of the incoming class. U.S. News ranking analysis also includes a peer assessment of academic excellence (20 percent); faculty resources (20 percent), which includes class size and regional cost-of-living adjustments to faculty pay and benefits; student excellence (7 percent), as measured by SAT or ACT scores and high school ranking of students in the top 25 percent of their class; financial resources (10 percent); and alumni giving (3 percent).

U.S. News categorizes colleges for their rankings based on the official Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classification of universities.

The 2022 U.S. News “Best Colleges” rankings became available online Sept. 13. The printed edition of the guidebook will be available in bookstores Nov. 2.

Chamber Music Festival at Marywood University

Marywood University’s music, theatre, and dance department will present a three-day Chamber Music Festival, September 24, 25,and 26. This festival, given by professional chamber musicians, is being presented as a “Welcome back to live performances festival” for the greater Scranton community. All concerts will be held in the Marian Chapel, Swartz Center, at Marywood University and are free and open to the public.

The festival will include a weekend of outstanding chamber music, featuring Marywood music faculty and guest artists, including: Sophie Till and Jennifer Reuning Myers, violin; Christiane Appenheimner Vaida, cello; and Ron Stabinsky and Eun Sil Suh, piano.

The Chamber Music Festival’s featured concerts include: An Evening of Violin Duos (Friday, September 24, at 7 p.m.); An Evening of Trios by Women Composers (Saturday, September 25, at 7 p.m.); and Violin and Piano Duos (Sunday, September 26, at 1 p.m.).

For additional about the Chamber Music Festival and other performances at Marywood University, please visit marywood.edu/mtd/events, or call (570) 348-6268.

Duryea at Dusk Raises $4,000 for Northeast Regional Cancer Institute

The Duryea at Dusk committee hosted their fifth Duryea at Dusk 5K and 1-mile walk as a virtual race again this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Participants were encouraged to complete their 5K or 1-mile safely around their neighborhood, on a treadmill, track or at a park between June 5-12. All runners and walkers received a customizable Duryea at Dusk virtual bib and had the opportunity to post their finisher photos on Duryea at Dusk’s Facebook page. Awards were given to top runners. 

Through personal experience with a family member battling cancer, Duryea native sisters, Katie Brudzinski and Allison Brudzinski wanted to be part of something bigger that would involve their entire community. Duryea at Dusk was created from that idea. This is the fifth year of this event. It will impact the local community and support a local organization, the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, whose mission is to ease the burden of cancer in northeastern Pennsylvania.  Since inception, Duryea at Dusk has raised $44,261 for the Cancer Institute.

Individuals or businesses looking for future information can reach out to Duryea at Dusk committee by email at duryeaatdusk@gmail.com.

From left to right:  Eddie Klein, Karen M. Saunders, President, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, Amanda E. Marchegiani, Community Relations Coordinator, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, Aimee Balchune, Katie Brudzinski, Duryea at Dusk co-founder, and Kristen Kabacinski. 

Absent from the photo:  Duryea at Dusk committee members-Allison Brudzinski, co-founder, David Tighe,  and Krista Gromelski. 

Marywood Communication Sciences & Disorders Students Attend Career Day

Students in Marywood University Communication Sciences and Disorders Program recently attended a Career Day at the Outreach Center for Community Resources. Highlighting various aspects of the speech-language pathology and audiology professions such as AAC, phonetics, language, and hearing, Marywood students engaged participants in hands-on learning activities during the event. Seated left to Right: Jackson LaBelle; Makenzie Reinhard; Marla Kovatch, Marywood University Assistant Professor of Practice; James Nehlig; and Katherine Yochim.

PennDOT Accepting Applications For 2022-23 Improvements Under Multimodal Transportation Fund

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that applications will be accepted to fund new transportation improvement projects under the Multimodal Transportation Fund (MTF) through November 5, 2021. 

“The Multimodal Transportation Fund continues to enhance connectivity across our state,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said. “Projects are selected based on regional economic conditions, technical and financial feasibility, safety benefits, energy efficiency, operational sustainability and job creation.”

Eligible applicants include municipalities, council of governments, business/non-profit organizations, economic development organizations, public transportation agencies, public airports, airport authorities, and ports and rail entities.

Projects that will be considered should coordinate local land use with transportation assets to enhance existing communities; improve streetscape, lighting, sidewalk facilities, and pedestrian safety; improve connectivity or utilization of existing transportation assets; or advance transit-oriented-development.

To submit a 2022-23 state fiscal year Multimodal Transportation Fund application, visit PennDOT’s “Multimodal Program” page and click on the currently “Accepting Applications” link. Grant recipients are expected to be announced next year, and funding will become available in July 2022.

In fiscal year 2021-2022, 43 projects were awarded $45.9 million in MTF funding throughout 21 counties, including construction of a pedestrian route with ADA curb cuts connecting existing sidewalk in Patterson Township, Beaver County; reconstruction of a collapsed portion of Wagontown Road in Valley Township, Chester County; replacement of Bridge No. 31, which has been poor condition since 1991 in Greene County; and the replacement of traffic signal and safety improvements at four intersections along 15th Street in the City of Allentown.

Act 89 of 2013 established a dedicated Multimodal Transportation Fund that stabilizes funding for ports and rail freight, increases aviation investments, establishes dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and allows targeted funding for priority investments in any mode.

For more information about the program and previous years’ applications and awards, visit the Multimodal Program page.

Watch Payroll Preparation Tax Webinar

Watch our webinar with City Business Administrator Larry West as he discusses the proposal by the City of Scranton and Scranton School District to eliminate the Business Privilege and Mercantile Taxes in favor of a Payroll Preparation Tax.

On Monday September 13, the Scranton School Board will meet at the Scranton High School auditorium at 7:00 p.m. to consider action on this proposal.

Center for Community Resources Children’s Career Fair

Outreach – Center for Community Resources will host its second Children’s Career Fair at Outreach, 431 North 7th Avenue, Scranton on Saturday, September 11, 2021, from 10 AM to 2 PM.

The Outreach Children’s Career Fair provides an opportunity for children to interact with professionals from numerous businesses and career fields and then dream about what they want to be when they grow up!

Partners and businesses participating include:

  • Representative Bridget M. Kosierwoski and Delta Medix will host an on-site COVID-19 vaccine clinic
  • Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti – Pop Up Town Hall
  • Agency for Community Empowerment – Early Head Start
  • Artist Travis Prince
  • Bold Gold Media/The River 105/103.5
  • Assistive technology specialist from United Cerebral Palsy
  • Army Reserves/Tobyhanna Army Depot
  • Dunmore Roofing & Supply
  • Dr. Kevin Musto
  • Empire Beauty School
  • Fashion Apparel Designer Michele McGlaughry
  • Golden Fidelity Bank
  • Graphic artist from Talk Shirty To Me
  • Health and Humanities professionals from The Wright Center
  • Keystone Container Service
  • Lackawanna County Children’s Library
  • Marywood University Nursing and Speech Pathology programs
  • New York Life Insurance
  • Penn State Extension with STEM activities
  • Pennsylvania State Police
  • Pivot Physical Therapy
  • Scranton Fire Department
  • Steamtown National Historic Site
  • Veterinary Services – Danielle Chesick

The Outreach Children’s Career Fair is free and open to all families with children interested in interacting with businesses and exploring future career possibilities!

Outreach Center for Community Resources delivers family educational and workforce development services and programs to the regional community to promote family stability and economic self-sufficiency. Outreach provides evidence-based early childhood programs that help families and children gain the skills needed to be healthy and productive members of the community. Outreach improves the lives of over 4,000 individuals each year with award-winning workforce and family development programs that support them as they navigate life’s challenges.