This spring 2023 semester Ohio Northern University students were presented with opportunities for U.S. and international travel including the following:
Global Healing Traditions
This fourth annual trip to Peru is part of a pharmacy course taught by Dr. Kelly Shields, professor of pharmacy practice and associate dean of pharmacy, that explores how individuals across the world pursue health and healing. Students in the class are learning about nontraditional healing techniques.
This spring break trip will provide them with an opportunity to learn about the role of plant-based medicine in health care. The group will travel to the Amazon basin in Peru. Participants will spend about one week in the tropical rainforest where they will learn about plants and animals indigenous to that region via hikes in the rainforest and boating on the Amazon River watching dolphins and birds. They will also visit a local indigenous village to learn about historic use of plants for medicine, food and other activities of daily life.
Business Trip to Germany
After the completion of commencement ceremonies in May, six Dicke College of Business Administration students and two faculty/staff members will travel throughout Germany with others from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE) and Hochschule University in Hannover, Germany for 10 days. Activities will inform participants about international business at locations such as Crown Equipment and BMW; cultural landmarks such as Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Checkpoint Charlie, and Neuschwanstein Castle; and governmental tours, including: the Reichstag building housing the Bundestag. During the tour, the German students will serve as guides and offer cultural insight from their time living within the country. The ONU and SIUE students will apply their business school experiences, says Matt Lambdin, the college’s director of experiential learning.
Northern Nursing Without Borders (NNWB)
NNWB is a group of nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other students, along with alumni and faculty, who travel to San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic, to operate medical clinics in surrounding villages. During the clinics, team members obtain vital signs, complete a brief medical history, facilitate visits with health care providers, fill needed prescriptions, and distribute donated items such as vitamins, hygiene supplies, shoes, clothes, toys, etc. During this year’s trip, scheduled to take place May 27 through June 3, participants will also be providing education stations for children and adults on the topics of oral hygiene, handwashing, cough etiquette, UTI prevention, and self-breast examination. The trip will be supervised by Tina Liebrich, DNP, associate professor of nursing. NNWB works with Solid Rock International, a Christian missionary organization based in the Dominican Republic, to help with logistics, transportation, housing, and more.
Sustainable Development in Puerto Rico
This nine-day spring break trip is based on an engineering course that’s focusing on the following: opportunities to improve the infrastructure of Puerto Rico; the significance of policy-making and communication among governing bodies, organizations, industry, and private citizens for the advancement of societal well-being; and sustainable design approaches that promote the local economy and environmental stewardship in Puerto Rico. There are 12 engineering students in the course from all grade levels who will be supervised by professors Todd France, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering education, and Lauren Logan, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Participants plan to visit a preserved sugar plantation, historic San Juan, a tropical rainforest, and a sustainable coffee plantation, and will spend a day with a local organization constructing affordable housing, among other excursions.
Habitat for Humanity
Eight students from ONU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter traveled in January to Tupelo, Mississippi, where they worked alongside the Northeast Mississippi Habitat for Humanity affiliate in construction on three homes in the city. Students were able to help with putting roof trusses on one house, painting and flooring a second, and installing siding on the third. They’ll be traveling to Lexington, Virginia, during spring break to work on homes there, says ONU Chaplain David MacDonald, who participates in the Habitat trips.
Industry Tours in Charlotte
College of Business students studying public relations, social media and marketing toured several industries in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month. The trip included visits to talk with leaders at Wray Ward, Lowe’s, Duke Energy, Midwood Smokehouse, Husqvarna, Wells Fargo, Optimist Hall, Suarez Bakery and Global Logic and Method. Alisa Agozzino, Ph.D., associate professor of public relations, led the trip. Over spring break, Danielle Foster, Ed.D., will supervise a trip with students to New Orleans for the American Marketing Association Collegiate Conference.
