THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE FROM ACTING PRESIDENT GERALDINE JONES

Posted on June 8, 2012

From: Acting President Geraldine M. Jones
To: All students, faculty, staff, alumni and University friends

Our Cal U students are going places. This year, more students than ever before are participating in study abroad programs.

• Among our world travelers are 13 Cal U students who are spending five weeks in the island nation of Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa.
  
  Under the direction of faculty member Summer Arrigo-Nelson (Biological and Environmental Sciences) these students are working alongside scientists and scholars to explore the unique ecology and biodiversity of a tropical rainforest. At the Madagascar Field School they are gaining hands-on experience in research techniques and attending classes in traditional classrooms, Malagasy villages and the heart of the rainforest. 
  
  Before our students return in July, they will travel to Madagascar's famed “spiny desert” and coral reefs, and they will complete an original research project examining the impact of habitat disturbance on the rainforest.

• Two more Cal U students have just returned from two weeks in Oxford, England, the seat of British higher education for nearly 800 years.
  
  This was the third time that the Honors Program at Cal U hosted the highly competitive PASSHE Summer Honors Program, which takes two students from each campus on a six-credit, intensive study abroad experience. In all, 28 students joined Cal U faculty members Rick Cumings (Communication Studies), Paul Crawford (History and Political Science), Sarah Downey (English) and Mark Aune (English) for an intensive academic experience here at Cal U that focused on topics such as the Crusades, the Wars of the Roses, medieval architecture, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Chaucer and J.K. Rowling.  
  
  Teaching and learning continued in England, where the students heard presentations, explored Oxford and reported on the academic projects they will complete this summer. Expanding on their studies, excursions took them punting on the Thames River, and to Canterbury, Warwick Castle and Cressing Temple, home to the oldest surviving medieval barns in Europe. Of course, they documented their travels online.

Cal U offers many other opportunities for students to broaden their horizons through travel and study overseas. From our continuing service-learning project in Jamaica to a developing exchange program with Chinese students and school principals, these programs give our students a better understanding and appreciation of their role in our global community.

Meet Acting President Geraldine M. Jones