|
New Beginnings
During the third week of August, the Honors class of 2025 had the opportunity to come to campus a week early for their honors orientation. During the week, the incoming class bonded with each other, networked with upperclassmen, and met staff. On Tuesday, they had an opportunity to choose an activity that allowed them to get to know the Pittsburgh area. Students went geocaching in Millvale, kayaking on the Allegheny River, biking on the North Shore, and exploring Maxo Vanka's murals at St. Nicholas Church. The adventures downtown were one of the many fun activities that the students participated in during orientation week. Another student favorite activity was a scavenger hunt to allow students to get to know campus better, which was full of laughs--and walking! Additionally, when they weren't out having fun, they learned more about the honors program and how they could use it to their advantage through workshops. The week's endless activities created an unforgettable experience. The orientation week experience aided the students in getting familiar with the campus and building life-long friendships that made their first semester easier.
 
Pittsburgh's Hidden Gem
On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, fifteen of RMU's Honors students, along with Professor Pamboukian and Professor Michalenko, had the opportunity to visit one of Pittsburgh's hidden gems, the Maxo Vanka Murals. Located upon a hill in Millvale, Vanka's murals showcased the trials of Croatian immigrants coming over to America during the two World Wars that left students at a loss for words. The wonderful docent for the tour, Robert Morris librarian David Bennett, helped enlighten the students on not only time periods of the murals but Vanka's backstory.
Prof. Pamboukian explains, "This was the first year that the Honors tours included the option to go and see the murals in the St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Millvale… I personally had no idea we had murals of this caliber so close by. They really are an overlooked gem. I think we were all impressed by the scale of them, as well as by his vision."
Both Prof. Pamboukian and the students fell in love with Pittsburgh's hidden gem. As a student who loves art, Brynlyn Berkey had the opportunity to experience the Vanka Mural Tour herself because she wanted to discover Pittsburgh's hidden beauty while expanding her art history knowledge. Berkey states, "Due to Pittsburgh being full of various wall paintings and museums located about the city, I previously thought we were visiting those made by numerous artists."
However, when entering the St. Nicholas Church, she found herself intrigued to see such charming murals all around her. As soon as she entered, the mural Crucifixion caught her eye due to how brilliantly Vanka portrayed such a troubling event in such a beautiful, meaningful way. As the tour continued, she found herself engrossed in the symbolism of another mural, Croatian Mother Raises Her Son for War. Prof. Bennett explained the symbolism and story behind the second mural so well that Berkey found herself wanting to learn more. After the tour, Brynlyn and many other students hoped for future opportunities to visit more art tours while studying at RMU!
Changing the Industry
Kelly Jones, a 2019 Robert Morris University graduate, currently works as the Supply Chain Manager at Kocsis. While at RMU, Kelly studied business management, completed a minor in Supply Chain Management, and was an active member of the Honors Program. Her company, Kocsis, is a full-service hydraulic manufacturer that provides fluid power-related industries. Some of her roles include inventory management, team, and logistics. For the upcoming year, her newest role is inventory correction, where she will be implementing her honors thesis, Concurrent Picking and Cycle Counting.
Kelly's thesis focused on how to establish a more effective and accurate inventory system based. Her thesis revolved around exploring a particular theory. As Kelly stated, "A theory that combined ABC inventory practices with the Pareto (80/20) Rule to increase inventory accuracy to an almost RFID tracking level. The theory was that if you counted every item, you put away during receiving and every item while pulling for jobs/orders that your high moving inventory would be accurate. You could then supplement the slow-moving inventory with weekly and monthly cycle counts. This process would add very little time to the picking/stocking responsibilities but drastically increase inventory accuracy and thus better support sales."
Kelly's thesis has had a major impact beyond her time at Robert Morris. Recently, her Honors thesis helped her secure a promotion after she presented a plan to her company's president that was informed by her research conducted for her thesis. She advised any student at RMU who is conducting research to "go big and stick with their thesis" because you may never know when your research will benefit you!
Honors Kudos
Congratulations to our December 2021 graduates who presented their honors theses at the Honors Research Symposium in December:
Joshua Horn presenting "Informing the Healthcare System: The Creation of the Comprehensive Social Health Micro Screening Tool"
Erin Kuehn presenting "The Perceived Outcomes of COVID-19 on Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities"
Xiara Long presenting "Product Launch Considerations for a Commercial System to Weld Plastics using Lasers"
Jordan Lowthert presenting "Identifying Top Challenges within Mobile Forensics"
Senior Political Science student Kristen Davis will be presenting her research "Communities in Collaboration: How a Community of Practice Can Be Developed Among Allegheny County Community Development Corporations" at the 2022 Northeast Regional Honors Conference in Philadelphia in April.
Congratulations to the 2021 recipients of the Vira I Heinz Women in Global Leadership Scholarship:
Lauren Hunsucker, Political Science major
Shaylin McGuire, Criminal Justice major
Melayna Pongratz, Secondary Education major
|
