Spring Has Sprung a Wide Variety
of Interesting Programs
SCOSA Festival Preview: April 2017 is shaping up to be one of SCOSA’s busiest months in the past ten years! Before we provide a sampling of all of the neat events you can attend, let’s talk “Aging Out Loud”. That’s the national Older Americans Month theme for May, which we have adopted for our Annual Festival on Aging in the Campus Center on May 18
th from 9am – 3:00pm. The Festival is our main signature event and we hope you’ll help spread the word, mark your calendars, and plan to join us.
Click Here to view the Festival Page. We need Sponsors, Exhibitors, Advertisers, Volunteers and Donors to make this a successful event and raise funds to continue our programs through the year. Thanks in advance for your assistance!
April Highlights:
SCOSA Helps Celebrate Careers in Aging Week
April 3rd – 8th, 2017. Volunteers Needed.
Congratulations to SCOSA education chair and GERO coordinator Dr. Christine Ferri for receiving a mini-grant from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education to support an active array of events celebrating national Careers in Aging Week. Stockton was one of 15 universities selected to participate, including Southern Cal, Ohio State, Kansas State, and the University of Manitoba.
Click Here for more on CIAW and to see other career resources.
A robust array of activities planned by Dr. Ferri and others will help Stockton to celebrate this important annual event, including the following:
Careers in Aging Panel: This event, for students interested in careers in aging occurs on Tuesday April 4
th from 4:30-6:00pm in West Quad Room 103.
Online Survey on Older Adults’ Quality of Life – Older Volunteers Needed
In the hopes of improving community outreach and programming for older adults, a team of Stockton Occupational Therapy students and Occupational Therapy assistant professor Megan Foti are conducting a study on quality of life and its influences. A brief (10-15 minute) online questionnaire will assess your perceptions on quality of life, health, and other aspects of your life.
Click Here for additional guideline and to participate in the study. E-mail Kristina Brenner (
brenner6@go.stockton.edu) if you have questions. Thanks for your help!
Listening, Learning, Lunching:
An Inter-generational Event
Saturday April 8
th from 12-3pm in the Campus Center Events Room.
Help train the next generation of service providers! We are looking for 30 older adult volunteers to join 100 pre-registered students from the schools of Health Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Space is limited, registration is required.
Click Here to register.
During this event, you will enjoy a free lunch and share your experiences with students from various fields of communication disorders, occupational therapy, nursing, social work, health sciences, psychology, and others, who will gather to learn about the importance of collaboration and “team work” among helping professions when working with older adults.
Students want to learn more about the aging process and experiences of older adults and are interested in learning your perspectives related to aging, your advice on how to be caring workers, and suggestions on how they can make your own experience more positive.
At this event, students will ask you questions about your own experiences and you will all listen to a brief presentation by special guest Elyse Perweiler, MA, MPP, RN, Co-Director of the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging. Elyse is member of SCOSA’s Community Advisory Board and a national expert on inter-professional competencies in health care.
Journey Into the Brain:
Community Brain Health Initiative:
Join us on Tuesday April 11
th from 4:30-6:30pm in the Campus Center Theater for an evening of presentations that highlight the latest research on brain health! Free and open to the public, you can learn the science behind cognitive change during aging and gain the resources you need to navigate toward a healthy brain for the future.
The program is planned by former SCOSA fellow and associate professor of Psychology Dr. Jessica Fleck. The keynote speaker is SCOSA service chair and former fellow, Assistant professor of Psychology Dr. Christine Gayda-Chelder. Space is limited and preregistration is required. For additional information and to register
Click Here. Contact
Jessica.fleck@stockton.edu if you have further questions.
Brain-A-Palooza: Psychology professor Dr. Elizabeth Shobe and her students invite you to join them for Brain-A-Palooza, a three-day celebration of the brain from April 11-13. Listen to talks about brain health and neuropsychological assessment, play games made by students to teach about the brain, and come watch Memento on movie night.
Click Here for additional details and schedule.
Intergenerational Service Project: Intergenerational Service Project on Wednesday April 12th from 4:30-6:00pm in Campus Center Meeting Room 5. This event includes a viewing and discussion of the Oscar-nominated short documentary “Joe’s Violin.” Students and older adults will work together on service teams to collect musical instruments and iPods to donate to local schools and nursing homes. The collection will be held from April 12 until the SCOSA Festival on May 18. To register for the April 12th event and join a Service Team, email
Christine.ferri@stockton.edu by April 5. If you have an instrument you would like to donate, please email her by May 18.
SCOSA News, Newsworthy, Additional Events
Stockton's 17th Annual Day of Scholarship: Friday March 31
st, 8:30am – 3:30PM, Campus Center. Are you interested in scholarly inquiry and research? If so, this event provides speakers, presentations, posters, Pecha Cucha, and more. Faculty and students from across the university discuss topics that range from successful physical therapy interventions (e.g., yoga and lower back pain), to politics, the environment, social issues, the arts and humanities, and “finding true happiness”.
“Narratives on Positive Aging: Recipes for Success” will be presented by SCOSA fellow Lisa Cox, director Dave Burdick, and assistant Gina Maguire (10:20-10:50am, CC Meeting Room 4). Parking regulations will be in effect.
Click Here to download and print a temporary parking pass so that you don’t get a parking ticket.
Seasons of Stockton: As part of his transition toward retirement former provost Dr. David Carr has been working on a year-long project, “The Seasons of Stockton,” to record the natural beauty of the campus. He will present a slide show of his favorite images on Wednesday, April 12th, at 4:30 in Alton Auditorium. Provost Carr, instrumental in providing the resources necessary for SCOSA’s founding, presented a preview of this project at SCOSA’s 2016 Festival.
Stockton Psychology Program
20th Annual Distinguished Alumni Award:
Gerontological Researcher Selected for Second Consecutive Year!
At its annual undergraduate psychology conference on Friday April, 2017 in the Campus Center Trustee Room, Stockton's Psychology Program will honor its second consecutive awardee who has made a career in teaching and research on aging. Dr.Heather Bimonte-Nelson, associate professor of Psychology at Arizona State University will discuss “
Walking Down Memory Lane With Behavioral Neuroendocrinology: From Stockton To Today” from 12:45-1:30pm. The Distinguished Alumni Award selection was made by student members of Stockton's Psychology Club.
SCOSA coordinated arrangements so that Dr. Bimonte-Nelson will also speak to the Biology Seminar Program in the Alton Auditorium from 2:10-3:25pm on the topic of
“The Endocrine-Brain-Aging Triad Where Many Paths Meet For Menopause: What Does Goldilocks Have To Do With It?”
Both events are free and open to the public. Off campus guests will need temporary parking passes.
Click Here to download and print a pass. Dr. Bimonte-Nelson’s visit to campus is supported by funds from the Stockton Neurosciences Minor, SCOSA, Minor in Gerontology, and School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Coins, A Thousand Wishes: This SCOSA program was recently featured in the
Hammonton News and Hammonton Gazette. SCOSA volunteer presenter Michael Kuhlman presented this informative three-part program received great coverage from.
Stockton Faculty Present at National Meeting:
SCOSA director Dave Burdick recently presented a poster titled “The Impact of Creative Storytelling on Students’ Perceptions of Dementia” at the 43
rd Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education in Miami, Florida. The poster, prepared by Megan Foti, assistant professor of occupational therapy, Christine Ferri, associate professor of psychology, and Alexandra Burns, MSOT graduate student, reports on use of
TimeSlipsTM in working with older adults suffering from dementia.
Professors Ferri and Foti received funding for the project as SCOSA faculty research scholars. Additional SCOSA funding has now supported training of fifteen Stockton students, several are now certified facilitators in this award winning approach. Burdick also gave a brief presentation at AGHE’s Business Meeting, outlining priorities and procedures for the $50,000 grant he received for AGHE from the Retirement Research Foundation.
Congratulations, Dr. Jenny Dunkle!
On March 21
st, Social Work's visiting assistant professor Jenny Dunkle successfully defended her dissertation at Fordham University's Graduate School of Social Services, officially earning her the title of Dr. Jenny Dunkle!
National Health Care Decision Day: NHDD is April 16 in 2017, but it is also just the beginning of a week-long celebration for NHDD's 10th Anniversary! The overall theme for 2017 is
"It always seems too early, until it's too late." Daily sub-themes include:
Sunday (4/16) Prepare - A day to get resources together,
Monday (4/17) Start with Yourself - A day to think about your own healthcare decisions;
Tuesday (4/18) Family/Friends/Loved Ones -A day to discuss your wishes with others (and learn their wishes);
Wednesday (4/19): Spread the Word - A day to tell others that you've engaged in advance care planning and encourage them to do the same;
Thursday (4/20) Facilities Focus - A day for healthcare providers of all sorts to promote advance care planning;
Friday (4/21) Professionals Preparedness - A day to ensure that all professionals (healthcare, clergy, legal, and others) understand and can promote advance care planning;
Saturday (4/22) Reflection and Readiness - Consider what worked well for NHDD week and file/share your advance care plans so they will be available if needed.
SCOSA is not sponsoring any local events for NHDD this year, but participants in our online Certificate in Elder Care have all been required to plan and deliver events in their communities across the U.S.
Programs Sponsored by Community Partners
Don't Get Well … Stay Well: A Preventative Health Presentation on Wednesday, April 12, 12PM-1PM at Stockton’s Kramer Hall, located 30 Front Street in Hammonton. Tina Ellis, Registered Nurse from AtlantiCare Health Engagement, will lead the discussion on the importance of preventative care. The topics discussed are diet, exercise, preventative health screenings, smoking and overall well-being.
Distress to De-Stress on Wednesday, May 17, 12PM-1PM at Stockton’s Kramer Hall, located 30 Front Street in Hammonton. This presentation by Maribel Maldonado will provide you with tips and techniques on how to proactively balance the multiple dimensions of wellness using stress management tools.
Pre-registration for both programs is required by e-mailing
Ginna.Petrillo@stockton.edu.
