Recent Strides in Building Bridges
Bucknell's students learn not just on campus, but in partnership with individuals, communities and cultures around the world. The fourth pillar of The Plan for Bucknell, Build Bridges, calls on the University to become even more aggressive in providing a broad and globally connected education by pursuing "multi-faceted interaction with local and regional constituencies and the outside world."
Since the plan has been in place, the University has established many connections between Bucknell and the world by:
Forging stronger connections between campus and downtown Lewisburg
In addition to serving as resources for academic engagement, the Campus Theatre and Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University have enhanced the Lewisburg, Pa. community by providing opportunities for entertainment, learning and community-building. Also downtown, the University is renovating several other buildings that will house the Bucknell University Entrepreneurs Incubator, the Bucknell Innovation Center for faculty, staff and students, the Small Business Development Center and offices for Development and Alumni Relations staff.
Building more relationships in the greater Susquehanna Valley
Faculty, staff and students are working closely with other residents of central Pennsylvania to bring more resources to the area, provide educational opportunities and investigate issues that affect the health and wellbeing of the residents and ecosystem of the region. These include:
- Implementing the Marcellus Shale, Susquehanna River and Place Studies initiatives of the Environmental Center
- Joining KINBER a new, statewide broadband network that will increase their capabilities for data-intense research and connect underserved communities throughout Pennsylvania to high-speed Internet
- Engaging in multiple partnerships with Geisinger Health System, including student and faculty research and product development
- Launching the Bucknell Institute for Lifelong Learning, which offers courses and intellectual programming to mature learners in the region
Creating an Office of Civic Engagement
To coordinate volunteering and service-learning initiatives across the University, Bucknell brought its Service-Learning and community service offices together under one umbrella. The Office of Civic Engagement runs programs including local flood relief efforts, the Bucknell Brigade to Nicaragua, the Katrina Recovery Team, alternative spring break trips and the Community Harvest free meal program.
Increasing off-campus and international education opportunities
In addition to Bucknell's longstanding international education programs, faculty members have recently developed new three-week abroad programs in Greece and Turkey, South Africa and Denmark. Engineering 290 (Engineering in a Global/Societal Context) will take students to China in 2012.
