LOCK HAVEN - They're back, and they're going to be eating Mexican, deli and stir fry.
More than 60 percent of the record number of Lock Haven University students enrolled this fall at the main campus - about 4,800 total - have a meal plan through the university, Dr. Linda D. Koch, vice president of student affairs, told the LHU Trustees at last week's meeting.
Dining surveys were conducted in both the fall and spring semesters, she said, and students responded they were "very satisfied" with the offerings and the food service in general.
Quiznos is out and STAX Deli has replaced it at Bentley Dining Hall. Students can get a variety of bagels, sandwiches and wraps there, Koch reported.
Mexican food items will be re-introduced at the Parsons Union Building at a "tortilla fresca station" that will offer tacos, nachos, quesadillas, burritos and taco salads.
The former wrap station will offer vegetables and meats to be made into omelettes, stir fry with rice, and tossed pasta.
Healthy snacks will be offered as a "99-cent value meal" including fruit cups, veggie cups and yogurt parfaits.
The attempt on campus last academic year to earn an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records with the largest bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich fell far short, Koch said, but the resulting sandwich stretched more than 200 feet and was a lot of fun to make and eat.
This year, perhaps, the dining staff will try for the world's largest whoopie pie, she said.
The university expects to pay Aramark Services Inc. of Philadelphia a little more than $4.8 million for food service for the fiscal year.
Koch said she is looking forward to another year of students being involved in community service. Last academic year, they set an all-time high mark of participating in 59,257 hours of "service learning" (community service as part of a course). These hours represent a value of $1,235,513, the vice president said.
LHU has been named to the U.S. President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the third time, she said, and for the first time, has been welcomed into the Talloires Network as one of only 164 institutions in the world to belong to the association that promotes strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education.
A full 100 percent of students who reside on campus filled out U.S. Census forms, Koch reported.
The Colleges Against Cancer Relay for Life held at the Student Rec. Center raised more than $41,000, she noted.
Students also:
n Tutored and mentored more than 2,500 youth,
n Removed more than 1 ton of debris from stream beds and illegal dumpsites,
n Improved more than 2 miles of hiking trails,
n Have started picking up litter along Glenn Road on a regular basis and been asked by the city to extend their effort to North Fairview Street,
n Served 27 families in crisis during the winter holidays,
n Mentored about 300 elderly people,
n Mentored about 30 youth as part of the Martin Luther King Semester of Service project,
n Provided clinical health outread to more than 1,000 people in communities in Pennsylvania as well as Mexico and Morocco.
n Got involved in Gulf Coast disaster relief and rebuilding in 3 Mississippi communities.
All the community partners the students worked with said their goals were met through using students.
About $50,000 in grants is coming to campus through the AmeriCorps program, Koch reported.
Another interesting but very different grant also has been received, she said - $25,000 from Homeland Security to the public safety department for equipment and training to fight terrorism.
Eleven new clubs were approved by the Student Cooperative Council for this fall, Koch said, for a total of about 140 such groups that add to "the Haven experience."
HAVEN ACHIEVERS
The trustees also heard an update on the Haven Achievers Program, or HAP, designed to help students who may be a little out of their element academically.
HAP gives them structured ways to succeed and lay the groundwork for a good university experience, according to Dr. Lisa Weaver, the program's director.
Founded in 2007, the program has been successful in helping students learn for themselves how to get decent grades in their courses and in retaining them as LHU students the following year.
Students in Haven Achievers start the fall with mandatory weekly study sessions, two common courses including Introduction to Academic and Personal Development, meetings with peer mentors, monthly academic and social activities and community service projects. The spring semester is a little less structured, Weaver said.
The first year, the program involved 114 students, with the numbers growing every year - 122 students in 2008-09, 145 in 2009-10 and 205 so far this year. About 20 percent of the students involved are minority students, Weaver said.
The university is writing a strategic plan with goals and initiatives its budget dollars are expected to support in future years, and the Haven Achievers Program is important to the section on "Student Success."
One of the goals to "promote student engagement and achievement" is to establish an early warning system to identify students with potential academic challenges and provide resources to help, like Haven Achievers.
"If they're not going to classes, if it looks like they're flunking, we can intervene," Dr. Deborah Erickson, vice president for academic affairs and provost, said about that particular goal.
Other student-related goals in this draft of the plan, which is not yet finalized, include:
n Require all students to engage in real-world experiencs through enrollment in an internship, study abroad experience or service learning activity.
n Encourage all students to engage in scholarship (research, presentations and performances).
n Encourage all students to be involved in co-curricular activities such as student groups, intramurals and athletics. (The arts may be added to this list.)
n Require all entering students to participate in an effective orientation program and first-year experience course...
n Ensure that students are guided into appropriate first-year schedules...
n Expand selected professional and applied programs
n Revise the general education program to better meet university goals and student needs, a process that will be lead by the faculty, Erickson said.
n Increase enrollment of non-traditional and minority students.
Increasing the number of international students also may be included in the goals, Erickson said.
