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Hands-on experiential learning opportunities send students to Italy, Belize, China and Ireland, with more to come

By Elizabeth Hanson
 

From a new strategic direction to new academic and athletic program offerings, Alvernia’s recent enrollment growth can be attributed to a wide range of factors. But with the intense focus on the enhancement of the student experience and globalization of the institution, hands-on global learning opportunities have come to the forefront of the university’s focus.

While COVID-19 paused Alvernia’s Franciscan Pilgrimage Program, Alternative Breaks and study abroad opportunities, Alvernia students enter a post-pandemic era with more global learning opportunities than ever before.
 

Mission in Action

Much more than a sightseeing trip to this beautiful town in Umbria, located on the slope of Mount Subasio, at its core the 10-day Franciscan Pilgrimage Program personifies spiritual learning with a focus on contemplation and understanding Franciscan history and charism.

According to Jamie Caporizo, Alvernia’s senior director for mission and ministry, the Alvernia core values of contemplation, collegiality, humility, service and peacemaking all come into play to take a pause and then come back to put what is learned into action.

Caporizo and Stephanie Gonzalez, senior campus minister-in-residence, also work with students on Alternative Break trips in the winter, spring and summer, where eight to 14 students each trip learn about social injustices and how they can have an impact on these situations. During one of these break trips to Washington, D.C., healthcare students examined, through the lens of the Franciscan mission, health and homelessness and access issues in the city.

“I work hard all year teaching ethical service to the students,” said Gonzalez, who facilitates the Alternative Break programs and holds a master’s degree in theology. “We focus on how to serve the community in a helpful, not harmful way. Egos aside, we are not saviors. We have a calling and a duty to serve these communities.”

Students are carefully interviewed before they can be admitted to these programs. They must write a mission statement about social justice and how they can advocate for justice work when they return home.

Experiential Learning Around the Globe 

Alvernia also offers a wealth of study abroad programs, many initiated by interested, influential and connected faculty members.
 

Dr. Di You, a professor of psychology and chair of the department, worked with a former Alvernia president who negotiated with several other local college presidents to explore opportunities for student-study in China, her country of origin. “We started in 2014 and sponsored four or five trips. We traveled to China to immerse our students in the Chinese college experience. Some of our business school faculty who were giving lectures accompanied us. We spent five days at the university and five days building excursions to engage in the culture. Our students remarked that the experience gave them a totally different picture than what is portrayed in the mainstream news.”

Dr. Robin Zappin, an assistant professor of physical therapy at �鶹��Ƶ since 2013, has always been passionate about community-based global learning. In 2018, she connected with a fellow physical therapy professor from Bellarmine University in Kentucky at an annual conference. Inspired by their conversation, Zappin traveled to Belize in 2019 to observe the work her colleague had initiated. The following year, she led Alvernia’s first 10-day service trip to Belize, bringing physical therapy and occupational therapy students, along with a speech-language pathologist from Misericordia University. They collaborated with five community partners in healthcare, education, and rehabilitation services.

“We worked closely with our community partners to provide sustainable rehabilitation education based on their needs,” Zappin explained. “Our students learned the importance of prioritizing the community and adapted their knowledge based on their newfound understanding of Belizean culture. It was well received and a tremendous learning experience for our students to witness healthcare challenges outside the U.S.”

Belize has very few physical and occupational therapists or speech-language pathologists. The education provided to healthcare workers, parents, caregivers, and community members empowers individuals by promoting functional independence and improved self-care. For example, parents gain valuable communication strategies for interacting with their children, teachers better integrate students with special needs into the classroom, and adults learn how movement can help manage conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Alvernia physical therapy graduate Acacia Rightmyer ’21 was moved by her experience in Belize.

“During the preparation for our service-learning experience to Belize, our class was told repeatedly how high the need for physical therapy was and how underserved the community of Belize was,” said Rightmyer. “I never doubted any of those statements, but it wasn’t until I was there witnessing what I saw that I truly understood what it meant to be an ‘underserved community.’ I was overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation that I was so lucky to have been given this opportunity. I hope that everyone gets to experience something as life changing as this Belize trip was for me.”

Dr. Tracy Scheirer is an associate professor of nursing at Alvernia and pre-license BSN nursing program director. In addition to being a registered nurse and certified nurse educator, she holds an advanced certificate in cultural competency for the City of New York. Scheirer said, “I was approached by a former Alvernia president who said that nursing had to be included to make this project a success. The study abroad program includes a two-week program in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland. Working with Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, eight students collectively use resources to study transcultural nursing applied to science. The required course is taught on campus in the junior year but thanks to real world learning grants and other fundraising, students can substitute this study abroad option.” She led five trips, the last in 2022, after a break of a few years.

Looking Forward

These programs, as well as almost everything that had been planned during most of 2020 and 2021, were on hold or operating minimally throughout the worst part of the pandemic. During that time, faculty and staff have worked behind the scenes with many inspiring programs planned for 2023 and beyond.

Zappin envisions a trip to Poland to collaborate and service the refugee population. Scheirer is proposing a clinical component to a health course at a site in the Dominican Republic. Caporizo hopes to build in more alternative break projects to examine civil rights and racism in Alabama and throughout the South, as well as revisiting the idea of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, opening it up to Alvernia alumni along with current students and faculty.

There will be a lot more to look forward to for Stephanie Gonzalez in the coming year. “I am so looking forward to the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. It is so moving and meaningful. We will be going the French route, walking the last 100 kilometers. The remains of Saint James are supposed to be buried there. So much history and faith.”

A perfect place to reacquaint with the Alvernia mission and go forward incorporating service into a meaningful life.