Events to showcase BC3 students’ research, talents
Students representing 10 of Butler County Community College’s 56 associate degree programs will showcase their academic research or artistic talents during free public events next week on BC3’s main campus or at BC3 @ Cranberry.
Nine president’s scholars, who expect to graduate in May, will discuss their research about topics that include the rise of female executives, the influence of brief social media videos on those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the effect of exercise programs on dementia patients.
Guests can meet with BC3’s president’s scholars from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, May 1, in the AK Steel Lobby of Succop Theater on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.
“It’ll be interactive,” said Mike Dittman, a BC3 English professor and coordinator of a president’s scholars program that has 22 or more students for the seventh time in its nine-year history. “Sometimes when I say presentations, people think they are going to come sit in a classroom and hear students give formal presentations.
“The students have posters on easels, and anyone can come up and ask them about their research and engage them in a discussion about that topic. It’s not a PowerPoint.”
Guests can view logos, pamphlets, portrait photography, posters, product photography and other works created by students about to graduate from digital audio and video production, graphic design and photography programs during a portfolio and art show from 6 to 8 p.m. May 5 at BC3 @ Cranberry.
The show will include live music and refreshments, said Kristine Allen, a BC3 assistant professor and coordinator of the three programs offered only at BC3 @ Cranberry and that this semester enroll 60 students.
Students in a fine arts transfer program offered on BC3’s main campus also will exhibit their work and meet with guests, Allen said.
Students in BC3’s career programs such as digital audio and video production, graphic design and photography can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
Employers have been invited to review the works of students about to enter a field that is highly competitive, Allen said.
“We are inundated on a daily basis in our homes, driving down the road and working at our computers with all kinds of visual communication, whether it is video, photography or graphic design,” Allen said. “It is important for these students to learn how to do these things skillfully. … You have to be good at what you do for the work to resonate with people.
“This is an opportunity for employers to see the work that the graduating students have done.”
Many students will have resumes and business cards available, Allen said.
Presentations represent the capstone project for students in BC3’s president’s scholars program, Dittman said. President’s scholars propose their presentation topic in December to a seven-member committee composed of BC3 faculty and administrators.
“They have to explain what they are going to focus on researching and what they hope to get out of it,” Dittman said.
President’s scholars Olivia Collins, Emma Rihn and Taylor Schultz are Butler residents and BC3 business administration students.
Collins’ presentation is named “Shattering the Glass Ceiling: A Study On Women in Corporate America.” Rihn will discuss “Vegetable Oils: Are They Bad For Our Health” and Schultz, “Deceptive Visual Advertising: The Truth.”
Abigail Natili, of Butler, and Anna Christy, of Slippery Rock, are BC3 president’s scholars and psychology students.
Natili’s presentation is about “The Reality Behind General Anxiety Disorder: How GAD Affects Personal Relationships” and Christy’s is about “Making Schools Feel Like Home: How Can Pennsylvania Increase the Influence of Social Workers, Specifically in Elementary Schools, to Benefit Students?”
Thomas Cornelius, Butler, computer science, will discuss “Protecting Colleges Digitally: Using Biometrics on College Campuses” and Emily Parker, Chicora, early childhood education (Pre K-4), “The Barnum Effect: Influencing Social Media Users with ADHD Symptoms.”
Carson Noble and Olivia Vissari are Renfrew residents.
Noble, health care science, will discuss “How Exercise In Individuals With Dementia Affects Their Quality of Life” and Vissari, Nursing, R.N., “When Caregivers Need Care Given: Addressing and Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse in Bedside Nurses.”
BC3’s president’s scholars program includes a full-tuition waiver for up to 18 credits each semester. It is available to students in the Top 10 percent of their graduating class and who have achieved at least a 3.5 grade-point average at any of Butler County’s public high schools. Students must also be residents of Butler County.
A cyberschool student counted in those public schools’ graduating classes is also eligible. Students must also enroll at BC3 in the first semester following their high school graduation to be eligible for the program, and are required to take scholars-only courses and maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average at BC3.
Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
