Deep Thinkers: Master Minds Present Theses

What do Thoreau, decision-making, and foreign language all have in common? Master Minds, of course! These seemingly disparate concepts represent the variety and depth of topics covered by students in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree program. Representing the best of the year’s submissions, the authors of three theses were recognized as the program’s 2010 Master Minds.

Lissy Weirich of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a high school teacher of German, explored “Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Anxiety in the Foreign Language Classroom.”

Harry Steven Soehnel of Liverpool, New York, a certified teacher assistant and part-time writing tutor, examined transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau’s legacy, “Are Thoreau’s Words in Ecological Literature Used Correctly?”

Assistant Dean for the School of Liberal Arts at Siena College, Donna Tytko of Schenectady, New York, wrote a creative thesis that combined research with an original novel. Her work, “When You Know Better, You Do Better: The Art of Decision Making,” was coupled with the novel Under the Heavenly Moon.

Congratulations to our Project LEARN and VA Scholarship Grads!

Summit Health — Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has a version of Project LEARN called the “Fast Track Program” for Excelsior College Associate in Science nursing students. It is made up of LPNs, who are paid by their hospital employer to go to school and finish their degrees in one year. The project, which began in September 2007, has graduated a total of 47 students.

Additionally, seven nursing students graduated this past year from Albany Medical Center, a long-standing Project LEARN partner located in Albany, New York.

In attendance from Chambersburg were Elaine Simmers, Hillary Tice, Toni Armstrong, and Yvonne Ellifritt.

Project LEARN stands for Learning, Experience, Assessment, Resources, and Networking. Teams are formed when hospitals, teaching institutions, and health care agencies partner with the College to provide access to the most current and respected learning resources for associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree nursing students.

In collaboration with the Veterans Healthcare Administration, Excelsior College works to promote the retention rates of VA scholarship participants across the country, who are enrolled in a nursing program at Excelsior. Two of our VA scholarship recipients attended Commencement this year and were greeted by Excelsior staff before the ceremony began.

Nursing students who wish to apply for a VA scholarship must be enrolled with Excelsior College, receive approval from their VA program coordinator, and have worked for the VA for a minimum of one year.