Mass Communication Students Develop Websites for Community Organizations

By Dennis Frohlich, Department of Mass Communications

In the spring semester, mass communication students put their web design skills to the test, developing websites for local organizations and non-profits. The project was part of MASSCOMM 220: Multimedia in Mass Communications I, and students worked in groups to create or update nine websites.

The goal of the project was to help community organizations either establish an online presence or update an existing website. All of these agencies have small staffs, and some are only staffed by one person! As such, it can be difficult for organizations to devote time to creating a website.

I worked with the Berwick Area United Way to identify suitable clients. Students worked in groups of 4-5, and met their clients in mid-March. They worked with clients to identify their needs and strategized the best way to meet those needs with a website. The groups then had five weeks to deliver the project outcomes.

Most of the clients did not have experience with web design, so it was imperative that students create a website that would be easy to update. In some cases, students also made social media accounts for the clients on platforms such as Facebook. Many of the clients wanted an easy way to accept online donations, so most groups also helped clients set up donation accounts with Paypal.

The following is a sampling of the work students completed.

The Berwick Area United Way’s website was drastically in need of updating, as it looked like it hadn’t been touched in ten years. Students not only gave the website an aesthetic update, but reorganized the content so that it was easier to navigation, and optimized the site for mobile devices.

The Berwick Area Swimming Pool Association has been preparing for years to reopen the Ber-Vaughn Swimming Pool. The pool fell into disrepair and was closed in 2012. Since then, the Pool Association has been working hard to reopen the pool. The pool previously had a single page website that was more of a placeholder than anything. Students created a whole new website for the pool. The pool is reopening this summer, so the website came just in time!

One group even developed a website for the Salem Township Police Department. At first they thought it would be intimidating working with the police, but they ended up having a great time and had a good working relationship with the department.

I could go on with stories like these. The students stepped up to meet their clients’ needs, and all of the clients were pleased when the students presented their work at the end of the semester.

One client sent me an email, saying in part:

“The students were pleasant, responsive and very professional to work with.  The clinic director and I are happy with the design, colors and format of the website they created. … They even offered to help me out via email if I get stuck! … Thank you for encouraging your class to perform this community service!”

The assignment partially fulfilled students’ Citizenship MyCore requirements, but the assignment was more than just a General Education Point (GEP). Students got real-world experience working with clients, and each group faced unique challenges as they tried to meet their client’s needs. The students got to give back to their community, and through this project they gained a newfound confidence in their design abilities.

Students will do this assignment again in the Fall semester, so we are in need of new clients! If anybody knows of a local organization, agency, non-profit, church, club, or other group that needs a website, please contact me at dfrohlic@bloomu.edu

List of Community Websites, along with the students who worked on them

Ber-Vaughn Pool
Laura Campbell, Matthew Delviscio, Erik Falcone, Cathy Quinones, Rebecca Ward

Berwick Area United Way
Ethan Baker, Nicole Keiser, Frank Kucharski, Angela Marchese, Hannah Young

Columbia County Volunteers in Medicine
Keely Cahill, Chelsea Kennedy, Carrie Mann, Audra Ortiz

Danville United Way
Francesca Fortunato, Jayne Gac, Dashiyah Green, Victoria Notte, Anna Wegrzyn

The Dental Health Clinic of Berwick
Monica Grater, Anastasia Scott, Andrijana Stamenkovic, Erin Winkler

The Gate House
Amanda Blasco, Malik Sneed, Eddie Weldon, Daneisha Williams

Mission Mall Alternative Gift Fair
William Breinich, Rachel Moogan, Alexandra Offor, Luke Rimmer

Salem Township Police Department
Devon Downes, Kyle Klosinksi, Lauren Messam, Alexandria Soller


Young's Funny Farm
Evan Brown, Seulgi Shin, Corey Shirk, Taylor Yandle

First annual Careers in Aging Week Engages Students and Community

Bloomsburg University's first annual Careers in Aging Week (CIAW) was held the week of April 4th. The week’s events included a university-wide student essay contest to increase the awareness of the value and needs of older adults, an aging career expo showcasing various organizations that provide services to older adults in the local and regional community and a documentary film and panel discussion entitled “When Did I Get Old?” Over 80 students from social sciences and health sciences, as well as representatives from a dozen community organizations, attended the events. 

The events were sponsored in part by a grant from the Gerontological Society of America, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, the College of Liberal Arts, the Psychology Department, the Social Work Program and the BU Center for Healthy Aging.  Events were organized by Dr. Mary Jo Larcom, Dr. Shiloh D. Erdley-Kass, Dr. Marion Mason and students in psychology, speech pathology and social work.  Additionally, many community businesses (Papa John’s, West End Ale Haus, Dunkin’ Donuts, Bloomin’ Bagels, Unida Pizza) donated prizes for the student contest and refreshments for the documentary and panel discussion.

The programs were aimed at connecting students from all majors who are interested in careers working with older adults to professionals who are currently in fields focused on meeting the needs of older individuals.  All events provided opportunities for students, faculty, community businesses and older adults to address the growing needs of the region’s older residents and to develop strategic plans for ensuring that the community continues to collaborate on projects that promote healthy aging.

The documentary, When Did I Get Old? was screened on April 8th from 5:00 to 7:30 at the Greenly Center and was followed by a panel discussion with local experts, a Social Work faculty member and a psychology student.  Panel members included

Steven Englehardt, former pastor/campus minister/hospital chaplain.
Adrienne Mael, President/CEO of the United Way of Columbia County
Sandy Latour, retired Bloomsburg resident, business owner and home owner
Rebeccah Glovas, Bloomsburg University Psychology Major and member of the CIAW Student Planning Committee
Shawn Clavelle, certified holistic health coach and certified yoga instructor at the Willow Tree Wellness & Counseling Center in Bloomsburg
Shiloh Erdley-Kass, licensed social worker, Assistant Professor in Social Work and certified hospice and palliative medicine social worker

The following students were presented with awards for their outstanding essay submissions at the ACE (Advocacy, Connections and Empowerment) Career/Community Expo held on Thursday, April 7th, from 2:00 to 5:00pm:

First Place: “A Tribute to Andy Keller” by Mikayla Freed (Psychology)
Second Place:  “Eleanor” by Lindsay Gehman (Medical Imaging)
Third Place:  “James Potter” by Emily Potter (Criminal Justice)
Honorable Mention: “Fight Till The End” by Jacob Kunkel (Psychology)

The essays were read and rated by the students of the CIAW Planning Committee.

CIAW Student Planning Committee

Dr. Erdley-Kass and Dr. Larcom in the WHLM studio

Students Gain Professional Communication Experience in the Classroom

There are a wide variety of campus offices and student-run organizations at Bloomsburg University where students can work to enhance their professional communication skills. Another opportunity for students involves working with an outside client in the classroom. Many local businesses and non-profit organizations value the chance to connect with students in various ways. Several courses in COLA and across the university provide such opportunities, and last fall Elizabeth Petre (Communication Studies) taught two classes that worked to connect students with local organizations and the university as a whole.

In Communication for Business Professionals (COMMSTUD 307) students worked with area businesses on semester-length client projects geared toward promoting their organizations. Students were divided into five teams split among three local businesses: Key Partners Realty LLC, the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce, and the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum. 

Students developed various promotional and marketing materials including brochures, newspaper ads, and posters. Other innovative materials the students designed included a sample PowerPoint slidedeck to be presented to potential clients. Each organization that worked with the students received copies of the students’ final ideas in a formal report and were invited to attend the final presentations. One student even landed an internship with the organization his team was assigned to work with. The picture featured below shows two student teams with their course clients following final presentations delivered in class.

Students enrolled in Leadership and Team Building (COMMSTUD 426) also participated in a client project with a slightly different focus. Students worked with the Center for Leadership and Engagement (CLE) on campus to develop ways to promote and enhance the recent10th annual Husky Student Leadership Summit. The summit isa free day-long conference focused on honing students’ leadership skills that takes places on campus each spring. Two teams developed and presented student-run panel sessions for the conference; one concentrated on leadership skills for student-athletes and the other focused on different ways students can understand (and make use of) their leadership abilities. The other two teams developed marketing ideas using social media and proposed ways for students to select future keynote speakers for the conference. One team led the audience through an exercise where participants had to arrange cups into a pyramid shape as a group (see picture below). This team went on to apply to present their session at the actual conference in the spring. All students in the class worked with George Kinzel, Director of the CLE, on this project. Representatives from the CLE, the Alumni office, and other students were invited to attend the final presentations which took place in the McCormick 1303 auditorium last fall.

Dr. Petre enjoyed the opportunity to work with students on these projects and engage with the campus community. In addition to working with the CLE office, she received support from the Center for Professional Development and Career Experience (CPDCE) on campus. Laura McCay Suchanick, the Organization Engagement Coordinator, and Robyn Defelice, the Director of Internships and Career Experience, provided contact information for local businesses interested in working with students. They also attended some of the final presentations. Through these class projects, clients benefitted from working with student teams and hearing an outsider’s perspective on their organization or business. Students developed their professional communication skills through formal presentations and interpersonal interactions meeting with their clients. As a whole, the client projects provided students a great hands-on learning experience.

Thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Petre for providing this entry.

Queering Our World

In anticipation of the Annual Mid-Atlantic LGBTQA Conference that will be held on campus Nov 7 & 8, 2015, assistant professor Dave Kube, Graphic Design, has juried a show entitled Queering Our World.

The group show will be held at The Gallery at Greenly Center, 50 E Main St, Downtown Bloomsburg, from Tues, Oct 12 to Fri, Nov 6. There will be a reception on Nov 6, 6-8pm. Queering our World features 13 artists from various locations who explore and expose voices of the queer community, bringing visibility to the spaces, aesthetics, and challenges. Through the exploration of domestic spaces, simple objects, queer fairy tales, and other visual aesthetics, these artists work to carve out a space in which queer can find representation through varying degrees of visual language.

Storytelling – A student art exhibit blending together art and psychology

Senior Nicole Updegrove is currently showcasing work on the second floor of Centennial Hall from her Independent Study—Storytelling.  The project she did with guidance from Art professor Vera Viditz-Ward is a mix of her two loves, Art and Psychology.

Updegrove, a double major in both fields, visited Balanced Care Bloomsburg every Friday during the Spring 2015 semester and worked with speech therapist Carrie Vitko.  She had Updegrove bring in original narrative portraitures, simple images of people that could create a story.  The photographs were then shown to the elderly onset dementia patients at the assisted living center, where Vito would elicit the residents to talk.

Updegrove said the project helped the residents express themselves.

“The idea is to create a free flowing environment, instead of pulling out memories which can be painful,” she said.  “It also gets them out and makes them feel like they are contributing to something.”

She said when she arrived at the beginning of a session the residents would be quiet and uncomfortable, but after the hour-long class they would feel more confident around others and feel open to express themselves.

In the art exhibit, you will see the original photograph, a poem or story that was created directly from the residents’ reactions, and then a second photograph to represent what was seen by the storytellers.  The second photograph is a negative sandwich, a mixture of two different images, a medium Updegrove has enjoyed working with throughout her undergraduate career.  The photos are laid together, then the exposure of light blends them together when they are put to paper with the darkroom chemicals.  It’s not until the image is finalized that she would know what parts of an image would be visible in the finished photographic image.

Updegrove, a native of Carson City, Nevada, will be pursuing a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy at Drexel University in the fall.  Storytelling will be on display until Friday, May 8.

--Jackie Sadock, College of Liberal Arts

Alumnus Applies Art

Michael Kalmbach received his BA at Bloomsburg University in 2003 and his MFA at the University of Delaware in 2008. Shortly after completing his graduate studies he accepted a position at the Delaware College of Art & Design and founded the New Wilmington Art Association, an artist collective that organized exhibitions in vacant space throughout the City of Wilmington from August 2008 to April 2013.

This work led to Michael’s involvement with the Chris White Community Development Corporation, which developed the 23-unit artist live/work space, Shipley Lofts. Kalmbach now serves the CWCDC as Board Chairman. In June 2011 he accepted a contract with the State of Delaware's Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to develop a space for artists on the behavioral health spectrum. The Creative Vision Factory has been open since December of 2011 and fosters the creative potential of individuals with behavioral health disorders in a studio art environment that cultivates integration with the local community through a program of exhibitions, workshops, and communal workspace.

Kalmbach maintains his own painting practice and has exhibited work in venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic, including the Delaware Art Museum, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, the Biggs Museum of American Art, and UnSmoke Systems.

Michael writes: "My experience at Bloomsburg University gave me the necessary foundation to create a career for myself in the arts. As a Studio Art major I benefited from supportive relationships with the faculty of the Department of Art & Art History. I was encouraged by them to pursue my intellectual interests, so I spent a great deal of time in the English and Philosophy Departments. This liberal arts background has served me well and continues to inform my work in the City of Wilmington. Since graduating I have returned to campus on a number of occasions. As my career unfolds, it’s comforting to know that I can count on the Faculty and Staff of Bloomsburg University to be there as a resource."