Daily Brief

Official University Trademarks

The university logo and seal, the athletic logos featuring the Golden Bear and paw, and images of the KU mascot, Avalanche, are all trademarked items. By law, these marks cannot be altered in any way without permission of the Office of University Relations. In addition, vendors reproducing the logos must be licensed through CLC Licensing. The current list of protocols and approved Kutztown University vendors can be found at: https://www.kutztown.edu/logos. Questions regarding licensing can be directed to the University Relations office at ur@kutztown.edu.

University Relations

University Curriculum Committee

The next University Curriculum Committee (UCC) meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb 27. The proposal deadline is noon, Thursday, Feb. 13. Please submit proposals to the UCC SharePoint site. Contact Brian Meares at meares@kutztown.edu with any questions.

Brian Meares, University Curriculum Committee

JCPenney Suit-Up Event

You are invited to attend a KU and JCPenney Suit-Up event 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa. Receive up to 45% off professional clothing. This event is exclusively for KU faculty, staff, students and alumni. Please bring your KU ID. Just show up; no registration is required.

Jeann Cengeri, Career Development Center

German Lieder and Aria Recital

Kutztown University students and faculty will present a recital of German Lieder and Arias at 7:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, Georgian Room. Works will include compositions by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Brahms, and others. Admission is free.

Hank Alviani, Department of Music

KU Counseling Center Open House

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to the KU Counseling Center Open House from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. Come join us for light refreshments and activities. You'll get to see the Counseling Center space and learn what we have to offer our students. It's a great way to meet the counselors, graduate interns, and receptionists. See you there.

KU Counseling Center

Social Equity Policies Training

This spring, the Office of Social Equity will offer four Social Equity Policies training sessions pursuant to the university’s Anti-Harassment, Anti-Discrimination, Sexual Misconduct and Amorous Relationships policies.
All spring sessions will be held via Zoom. To register, please click here.
- 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 17
- 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 18
- 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 9
- 9 a.m. Thursday, May 1
Reminder: All faculty and staff members must take the Social Equity Policies training on a yearly basis. If you cannot recall when you last completed the training, please contact the Office of Social Equity, and we will be glad to check our records. If you would like to schedule an in-person training for your department, please send a request by email to socialequity@kutztown.edu or contact the Office of Social Equity at extension 3-4700. Please obtain approval from your supervisor if necessary.

Register

Office of Social Equity and Compliance

Healthy U Healthcare Premium Reduction Program

"Healthy U" is for all State System staff with healthcare coverage from Highmark. PEBTF healthcare plans have the “Get Healthy” program, so “Healthy U” does not apply to you. To qualify for the lowest health care premium beginning July 2025, enrolled employees (and spouses on your plan) are required to complete “Healthy U” by May 31, 2025, to keep the lower premium payment. This is a quick and easy survey that takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. Be proactive and make sure you take 20 minutes to save hundreds of dollars per year. Please note:
- If you have a spouse on your plan and they do not complete the survey through their personal Highmark login, you will pay the higher premium.
- This is an annual survey that must be completed each year for continued enrollment in the lower premium.
If you do not complete the “Healthy U” survey before May 31, 2025, you will automatically be switched to the higher premium payment from July 2025 through June 2026 and will have to wait until January 2026 to complete the survey for the lower premium payment starting July 2026. For more information, please visit the PASSHE Healthy U webpage.
Quick Tips:
- If you don’t have a MyHighmark account, register first.
- Follow the Healthy U Step By Step Instructions – you must agree to all of the authorizations to qualify for the discounted premium rate.
- Save a screenshot when complete.
- For technical assistance with your MyHighmark account, call 1-866-306-1059, option 1.
- For general “Healthy U” questions, please contact Highmark at 1-888-745-3212 or your university HR Department.

PASSHE Healthy U

Elisabeth Manwiller, Human Resources

2025-2026 Early Event Registration Deadline

The Events Advisory Council has established the deadline for early consideration for room reservations and activities scheduled for the 2025-26 academic year as noon Friday, March 14, 2025. For more detailed information and guidelines on the process, please visit our website. 
Please consider the following when planning your events for the 2025-26 academic year:
 - All requests must be entered by a faculty or staff member in the EMS Room Reservation System.
 - Any early reservation requests for a student organization must be submitted by that organization’s advisor.
 - Any events received after noon Friday, March 14, will be handled on a first-come basis.
 - All events submitted outside of the 2025-26 academic year will be handled at the appropriate time, according to scheduling policies.
If you have any questions regarding the process, feel free to call 610-683-4834 or email svoboda@kutztown.edu.

Room Reservation System

Honey Svoboda, Conference and Event Services

Science Olympiad at KU

Science Olympiad needs volunteers. Looking for something fun to do over spring break? Want to add a little something to your résumé? Volunteers are needed to help KU host the CE Regional Science Olympiad Thursday, March 20 (snow date Friday, March 21). The Science Olympiad is a competition held on campus that hosts eight middle schools and 30 high schools from nine counties. More than 600 students will compete in approximately 46 events based in science disciplines such as biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology and we need your help to make all that happen. You do not need a science background to be a volunteer. We need help with registrations, lobby info, food sales/delivery, set-up, scoring, event assistance and much more. You can judge an event or help with the Appeals Board. Club advisers: get your club involved. Please contact our volunteer coordinator, Dr. Michael Davis, at midavis@kutztown.edu or if you are interested, check out our website for more information. We look forward to having you as part of the team.

Science Olympiad

Joann Monko, Physical Sciences

New CEL Journal Post

Welcome back and please take a few minutes to visit the KUtztown exCEL faculty journal to read our first post of 2025. We start the year with Susanna Molitoris-Miller, assistant professor of mathematics, who discusses how the "thinking popcorn" strategy fosters inclusivity and engagement by giving students deliberate think-time, encouraging participation and helping instructors adapt teaching based on immediate feedback.

Center for Engaged Learning

Nominations Open for 2025 UGRC Faculty Mentorship Award

Undergraduate Research and Creativity (UGRC) Faculty Mentorship Awards recognize excellence in faculty engagement with undergraduate researchers and are sponsored by Kutztown University's UGRC Faculty Advisory Board and the Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects. Including an Emerging category, each award carries $500 in professional development funds. The twofold purpose of the awards is to raise awareness of all the outstanding undergraduate research that is taking place on campus and beyond, whether in local forests or streams or much farther away, as well as to reward, recognize and celebrate these impressive achievements. Each year there may be up to four faculty recipients. You may self-nominate or nominate a colleague. Please see the application form online. As part of the KU Inspires celebration, awards will be announced at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 17; recipients will be notified at the beginning of April. The application deadline is Saturday, March 1.

Lynn M. Kutch, Undergraduate Research and Creativity

Free Walk-in Math Tutoring

The Department of Mathematics offers free walk-in peer tutoring for students in mathematics classes from MATH 17 through and including the Calculus sequence. Please encourage your students to take advantage of this valuable resource. Tutors are available 2-5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 207 Lytle.

Math Tutoring

Brian Kronenthal, Mathematics

Staff and Faculty Appreciation Day

Come out to Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night at our women's and men's basketball doubleheader against Shippensburg Wednesday, Feb. 19. The women's game begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m. This is a night to honor all of our employees. There will also be a raffle with winners being announced at both halftimes. We hope you and your family can attend to celebrate you and help cheer on our Golden Bears.

Vincenzo D'Ancona, Athletics