Recent Scholarship News

CONGRATULATIONS to our SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS FROM OUR EASTERN KENTUCKY, Gamma Chapter of Omega Nu Lambda! 

Both Sara and Ryann were awarded $500.00 for their excellent involvement in their community as well as being extraordinary ONLine students from EKU! 

We applaud your good works and we know you will have much success in ALL you do!

Name: Sara

Academic Year:  graduate student

Overall GPA: 4.0

Anticipated Graduation Semester and Year:  Spring 2019

Examples of academic achievement: I have maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout the online Master’s in Public Administration program. I am a member of Omega Nu Lambda as well as the Golden Key Honor Society, in recognition for my academic achievements. It has not been easy to maintain a 4.0 GPA and work full-time but, thanks to flexibility in time-management that online classes allow, I have been able to utilize the maximum amount of time outside of work in order to focus on my studies and excel. I am also grateful to the professors I have had so far who go the extra mile to ensure that their online students are learning the course material and are being challenged well enough to make the most of this program. 

Examples of service to community: I am a member of the Citizens’ Immigration and Refugee Action Committee in my local community. I assist with social justice and outreach programs through my church (i.e., volunteering to assist at the homeless shelter and at community meals). I am a member of the Friends of the Library at my local library. I serve to broaden professional networks for entrepreneurs in the Latino/a community where I live through being an active member of the First Thursday Latino monthly networking event in my local community. Every four months, I assist a local organization in reviewing and completing citizenship applications with immigrants and refugees in the region.

Describe your key factors to being a successful online student: Time-management and self-discipline are, to me, the two key factors to being a successful online student. The online format frees up time that would otherwise be spent driving to campus, finding parking, and walking to class. Online classes also make it easier to work full-time, as students can mold their study time around the requirements of their employment. This was key for me, as well as being able to physically re-locate half-way through the program. Thanks to an online format, time-management skills, and self-disciple, the move did not interfere at all with my studies. I also think it is important for students to be proactive in their interaction with fellow classmates and professors. Just because classes are online does not mean that there is no interaction with others. On the contrary, discussion forum assignments and easy accessibility to professors through the Virtual Office as well as through email makes the online program just as centered around learning as any other program. I am more comfortable asking questions and discussing key concepts with my fellow classmates through the online forum than I ever was in the physical classroom during my undergraduate learning experience. 

Name: Ryan

Academic Year:  senior

Overall GPA:  3.94

Anticipated Graduation Semester and Year: Spring 2019

Examples of academic achievement: This semester I was enrolled in EMS Instruction (EMC 440). The class is designed to help students develop an emergency medical service (EMS) lesson. I used this opportunity to create a lesson that I could deliver to the fire and rescue department I work for to help educate EMS providers learn the updated best practices for treating sickle cell disease. This project included creating the lesson, lesson plan, remediation plan, and psychomotor scenario with evaluation rubric. Part of the class allowed for sharing our lessons for instructor and peer review. Following the recommendations, the final changes were made. I submitted this lesson to the Virginia Office of EMS in response to their “Call for Presentations” for the 2019 EMS Symposium. This was the first time that I attempted a submission and it was accepted in the first round of review. This class at EKU directly resulted in an opportunity to share my work to a large group of my professional peers. This will have a far-reaching impact throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. EMS providers attend a state-wide symposium to learn new and updated material to bring back to their respective agencies. This project will impact the lives of those who have this disease by aligning agencies to the most current evidence-based treatment recommendations for a fairly rare disease. 

Examples of service to community: I am a life member of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad (CARS). Life membership requires 8 years of dedicated volunteer service. I have provided more than 10 years of paramedic service as a volunteer for the community. During that time, I developed a reputation of being dependable and capable of handling large scale incidents. Because of that, I was contacted by the deputy chief and he asked if I could help out during a high-profile protest. In August of 2017,

Charlottesville was the site of demonstrations about a civil war statue. There were reports that a large crowd of protesters would descend upon the city and things could get violent. The deputy chief asked if I would be the treatment team manager for the area immediately next to the park where the demonstration would take place. I began my shift on Friday August 11th and was the responding unit to a tiki torch incident on the grounds of UVa.  On Saturday August 12th, I was positioned near the park with a team of EMS providers with the goal to help anyone who got injured. We took care of several injuries. Once the event at the park was shut down, I was relocated to a staging area. From there, I was dispatched as the second medic unit to the scene of the now infamous car attack which took the life of Heather Heyer. I took care of and transported 3 people injured at that scene to UVa Hospital. One of my patients was the most critical survivor from that incident. Beyond my volunteerism in Charlottesville, I have also worked to obtain instructor-level certification in many areas in EMS. I teach CPR regularly to volunteers in both EMS and fire. I also help teach CPR to Boy Scouts and church groups when requested. I have dedicated most of my adult life to helping others in some of their worst moments. 

Describe your key factors to being a successful online student: To be a successful online student, I needed dedication to complete the degree to advance myself within my profession. When I started this program, I did know or have an idea of how it might help me. As I am nearing completion, I was offered to be the program director of the paramedic program for my fire and rescue department. This position requires a bachelor’s degree. This is the opportunity I was hoping for while working towards completion. I set a goal to advance my career by earning this degree. Another part of my success was the careful research and selection of the institution I would attend to get this degree. EKU is the second accredited EMS education institution in the US. This program is built on a solid foundation which provided me with every opportunity to be successful. I had plenty of support from my family, especially my wife. She is a graduate from UVa undergrad and a law graduate from American University. She was instrumental in assisting me to understand some of the nuances of university education. Without her guidance I would not have been as dedicated to completing the degree at the level in which I did. Another part of my success was my twin daughters. I wanted to be an example to them about furthering their education and how doing so can help them in life. I also wanted to make it seem fun. There was one project in the EMS finance class that required making a fictitious company and developing a request for proposal of service. My daughters helped me by creating the logo for the company. I disclosed the source for the logo to my professor and gave the credit to my daughters. I shared the comments from the professor to them and saw how excited they were. If that helps ignite a desire in my daughters to attend college, then I would count that as being very successful indeed. Another part of my success is the online method of earning a degree. The local universities do not have the degree program that EKU has. I did not find a strong motivation to seek a degree that I would then try and fit into my career. Having the option to learn online through EKU helped me find a degree that has direct impact on the work I have a strong passion for already. Knowing that this degree will be very useful helped to motivate me. Having the proper motivation helped me be successful.