USF Professor and Joliet Healthcare Executive Earns Top Healthcare Management Credential

Joliet, Ill. – Michael K. Stowe, Ph.D., FACHE, Professor and Chairperson of Health Administration Programs in the College of Business and Health Administration at the University of St. Francis (USF), recently completed the board certification process to become a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders.

“The healthcare management field plays a vital role in providing high-quality care to the people in our communities, which makes having a standard of excellence promoted by a professional organization critically important,” says Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, president, and CEO of ACHE. “By becoming an ACHE Fellow and earning the distinction of board certification from ACHE, healthcare leaders demonstrate a commitment to excellence in serving their patients and the community.”

“The administration at the University of St. Francis has been extremely supportive of me obtaining my board certification. It demonstrates their commitment to the healthcare management/administration programs at USF. I am extremely grateful for that and for the benefits this certification offers to our students,” added Stowe, who has instructed at USF since 2007.

Fellow status represents an achievement of the highest standard of professional development. In fact, only 8,866 healthcare executives hold this distinction. To obtain Fellow status, candidates must fulfill multiple requirements, including meeting academic and experiential criteria, earning continuing education hours, demonstrating professional/community involvement, and passing a comprehensive examination. Fellows also are committed to ongoing professional development and undergo recertification every three years. Dr. Stowe is privileged to bear the FACHE® credential, which signifies board certification in healthcare management as an ACHE Fellow. For more information regarding the FACHE credential, please contact the ACHE Department of Member Services by calling (312) 424-9400, emailing contact@ache.org, or visiting ache.org/FACHE.

About the American College of Healthcare Executives

The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) is an international professional society of more than 48,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. ACHE’s mission is to advance our members and healthcare management excellence. ACHE offers its prestigious FACHE® credential, signifying board certification in healthcare management. ACHE’s established network of 77 chapters provides access to networking, education and career development at the local level. In addition, ACHE is known for its magazine, Healthcare Executive, and its career development and public policy programs. Through such efforts, ACHE works toward its vision of being the preeminent professional society for leaders dedicated to improving health. The Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives was established to further advance healthcare management excellence through education and research. The Foundation of ACHE is known for its educational programs— including the annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which draws more than 4,000 participants—and groundbreaking research. Its publishing division, Health Administration Press, is one of the largest publishers of books and journals on health services management including textbooks for college and university courses. For more information, visit www.ache.org.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

USF to Create New Small Business Accelerator through $500,000 Federal Grant

Joliet, Ill. – For over eight years, the University of St. Francis (USF) Business Incubator has supported the economic development of the Will County region by fostering new business development. Now through a $500,000 U.S. Small Business Administration FY23 Congressional Community Project Grant supported by U.S. Congressman Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Joliet’s university will create a new USF Small Business Accelerator (fully funded by the grant) to specifically benefit small businesses in underserved categories in its ongoing efforts to build the region’s business landscape.

“The USF Small Business Accelerator will provide equity-free accelerator funds and mentorship to businesses and entrepreneurs in underserved categories to promote economic development and job creation, build mentorship relationships in a formal manner to promote future informal mentoring and possible future business partnerships, and integrate senior executives as mentors for entrepreneurs and infuse entrepreneurial thinking into co-curricular activities to promote future economic development,” said Bonnie Covelli, Ed.D., associate professor in the USF College of Business and Health Administration and funding request author.

Covelli added that the USF Small Business Accelerator, which will primarily be located in the USF Business Incubator area on the University’s St. Bonaventure Campus in downtown Joliet, will also provide members with a variety of benefits, including funding, mentorship, training, access to a regional business incubator, and networking opportunities, as well as curricular and co-curricular programming for founders to expand their business knowledge.

According to Shannon Brown, Ph.D., dean of the USF College of Business and Health Administration, USF sees this new project positively impacting the community, as well.

“While this project’s focus is on benefitting small businesses in underserved categories, it will also create positive outcomes for the community, including community-based programming, a speaker series on the resources and benefits available to businesses and entrepreneurs in the region, an offering of support to current and future small businesses in the region, and access to digital and wood shop maker-space equipment relevant to business needs,” Brown said.

Brown added that USF students will also benefit from the new project.

“The Small Business Accelerator encourages entrepreneurial economic development in the region and supports the diverse demographics of our area and our student body. Over 50% of our student body now reports as non-white, and the census data on the demographics in Joliet, Illinois and Will County, Illinois demonstrates growing diversity. USF has also recently been recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), which is defined as a not-for-profit institution of higher learning with a full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic. Therefore, it is important to note that this project will also create experiential learning opportunities for USF students by supporting a student entrepreneurship lab where students learn operations and conduct research in the field of entrepreneurship, business development, regional economic growth, small business finances, marketing, and downtown development (with preference given to students in underserved categories) and integrate student-based learning opportunities with active business development to promote lab-based learning,” she said.

The USF Small Business Accelerator program will work in collaboration with the USF Business Incubator program, and when Accelerator funds are depleted, the USF Business Incubator will continue to support member companies in a sustainable model.

“Locally, the USF Business Incubator has served a majority of startups that fall into the categories of minority-owned (72%), women-owned or co-owned (50%), veteran-owned (one current member) and has a proven track record of serving the initial needs of startups. The businesses that leave the Incubator program take various paths, including: (1) they expand and lease their own office space; (2) they learn their business model is not viable; (3) they cannot raise the capital needed to scale up; (4) they enter accelerator programs outside the area. This proposal hopes to fill the gaps created by lack of funding and the need for an accelerator,” Covelli said.

Brown added that the support of Congressman Foster was instrumental in making the USF Small Business Accelerator possible.

“The University of St. Francis is grateful to the support of Congressman Foster not only for his investment in USF, but in the Joliet region. This project has the potential to create tremendous, positive impact in the region’s business landscape, so his support demonstrates the promise he, too, sees in this opportunity,” she said.

For more information on the USF Small Business Accelerator or to apply for funding, please email USFAccelerator@stfrancis.edu or visit stfrancis.edu/accelerator. Interested parties may also contact Bonnie Covelli, Ed.D., at bcovelli@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-5071 with questions.

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University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

USF Students to Work with Industrial Partner through PIC Math Program

Joliet, Ill. – Mathematics students from the University of St. Francis (USF) will have the chance to team up with their peers from Dominican University (DU) to participate in a unique experiential learning opportunity as part of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematics (PIC Math) program. The opportunity will challenge students (in a group setting) to examine a semester-long undergraduate research problem presented by a partner from the business, industry, or government sector. This type of research is recognized as a high impact teaching and learning practice as it strengthens students’ abilities in the areas of problem solving, critical and independent thinking, and communicating, all of which deemed highly-valuable by employers of STEM professionals. “It is exciting that our program is creating these sorts of experiential learning opportunities that students can engage in as soon as this academic year,” said Angela Antonou, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mathematics at USF. The opportunity resulted from a successful competitive grant application submitted by Antonou and Aaron Zerhusen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dominican University. “Dr. Zerhusen and I worked collaboratively in writing the grant proposal. We highlighted our diverse student population, my extensive experience in overseeing undergraduate research (mostly in pure mathematics), and his background in predictive analytics. We emphasized the benefit to both the faculty and students at each institution: increased experience in and knowledge of applications of mathematics for both students and faculty, greater ability to advise students seeking applied fields, enhanced ability for faculty to oversee future undergraduate research projects in applied mathematics, among others,” Antonou said. One of the initial stages of the partnership between USF and Dominican University will involve the recruitment of students from both universities to work on the undergraduate research project with the industrial partner in the spring. Students will then prepare for project participation through regular academic coursework, as well as through participation in topics courses that apply major elective credit for them. Once the project formally begins, Antonou and Zerhusen will connect regularly to ensure their respective students remain on track with their work. “Dr. Zerhusen and I will be meeting regularly to discuss progress and to perform assessment of student outcomes toward successful completion of the project. Our students will meet weekly with the DU students to strategize, discuss their findings, and set weekly goals. Then the groups will work at their home institutions the rest of the week to try to meet the goals established in those collaborative weekly meetings. In this way, they will engage in a more genuine experience of the process of collaborative research,” Antonou offered. Antonou added that the first research collaboration with undergraduate students and an industrial partner (which will be identified in the coming months) will begin in Spring 2024. In preparation for the inaugural collaboration, Antonou and Zerhusen will participate in a virtual training workshop next month. About MAA PIC Math According to MAA.org, PIC Math “prepares mathematical sciences students for industrial careers by engaging them in research problems that come directly from industry.” Specifically, the PIC Math program aims to:

increase awareness among mathematical sciences faculty and undergraduates about non-academic career options;
teach faculty how to make industry connections in order to provide research experiences for their students to work on real problems coming directly from business, industry, or government, and;
prepare students for industrial careers.

Visit maa.org to learn more about the MAA PIC Math program. : : The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 54,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu. University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose. # # #

USF News

USF’s Caritas Event Raises Over $235,000 for Student Scholarships

Joliet, Ill. – After two years of virtual events, the University of St. Francis (USF) hosted its 66^th annual Caritas Scholarship Celebration back in the Pat Sullivan Recreation Center on its main campus in Joliet on Saturday, April 15, 2023. The event raised over $235,000 (and close to almost $3 million in the past ten years of the event) through a combination of live and silent auctions, a raffle, and other memorable activities all in support of student scholarships.

“For over 65 years, the annual Caritas Scholarship Celebration has served as the primary fundraiser for University of St. Francis scholarships. Caritas helps to make a college education possible for so many bright students – many who are the first in their family to attend college. Each year, USF provides them with over $23 million in institutional support, which makes a difference for many students who would not be able to obtain a college degree without financial assistance,” said Lisa Sampalis, USF Vice President for Advancement.

Sampalis added, though, that measuring the event’s success extends well beyond its total dollars raised.

“Beyond financial outcomes, success for Caritas includes building USF’s donor base with many first-time attendees that we hope will represent the next generation of donors for USF. Additionally, the Caritas Committee grew by fourteen new members this year, which resulted in seven tables of new attendees at the event. We continue to work as a USF community to build a Franciscan future together in our second century,” Sampalis added.

This year’s event, hosted by Anne and USF President Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D., welcomed 280 guests to campus to enjoy an evening themed as a “vintage collegiate affair” planned by a motivated Caritas Committee, which included: Tosh Anderson; Rosie and Cesar Cardenas, Michelle and Terry Cottrell; Jeanette D’Arcy; Nick D’Arcy; Sue and Terry D’Arcy; Iman Ellis-Bowen and Duane Bowen; Patty Gonzalez and Jay Barriga; Shane Green; Jen and Vic Howard; Kevin Howard; Annette Jelinek; Kaity and Jeff Kohl; Suzi and Gordon Marsh; Frances Naal; Steph and Tyler Qualio; Ann and Steve Randich; Candice Rosen; Ann and Jeffrey Rzasa; Scott Savage; Jodi and Scott Schager; Gina and Brian Sharp; Maggie Sillar; Catherine and Michael Stowe; Wilhelmine and John Vidmar; Tracey and Dan Vogen; and Theresa Dollinger Waldron and Jon Waldron.

USF also credits the evening’s success to the generosity of this year’s sponsors, including:

St. Francis sponsor
D’Arcy Buick GMC

St. Clare sponsor
Wintrust Financial

Brown & Gold sponsors
Gloria and Ed Dollinger and Diane and Bill Habiger

Saint sponsors
Donna and John Przybyla
Sentinus Wealth Management – Stephanie and Tyler Qualio

Bernie sponsors
Barnes & Noble
Lori & Jay Bergman – First Secure Community Bank
Busey Bank
Crowther Roofing
Cheryl and Kevin McCarthy
Quest Food Management
Ann and Steve Randich
Stephanie and Daniel Streitz
Tracey and Dan Vogen
Patricia and Robert Wheeler

Friends sponsors
Marilyn and Tony Arellano
Regina and George Block
Julie and Robert Cannata
Tanisha and David Cannon
Rosie and Cesar Cardenas
Cathedral Area Preservation Association
Timothy Delrose
Cynthia and Robert Erickson
ExxonMobil
Hollywood Casino
IBEW Local 176
Patty Gonzalez and Jay Barriga
Jen and Vic Howard
KGG, LLC
Lindblad Construction
Frances Naal
PepsiCo
Candice Rosen
Tim Wallace Landscape Supply, Inc.
Wilhelmine and Jay Vidmar
Christopher and Mary Kathleen Ward

With the 66th annual event now in the books, USF already has its sights set on laying the foundation for next year’s event.

“We are delighted to announce that Caritas will once again take place on the main campus of USF on Saturday, April 13, 2024. More details will be forthcoming this summer,” Sampalis said.

For more information on Caritas, visit stfrancis.edu/caritas.

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University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

Music Items Needed to Support WCSF-FM’s 2023 Mega Music Rummage Sale

Joliet, Ill. – WCSF-FM 88.7 FM, the radio station of the University of St. Francis (USF), is currently seeking community donations of used and collectible music and memorabilia. If you cannot bear to throw out your pre-loved media, donate it to WCSF! Donations can include, but are not limited to: vinyl 33s, 45s and 78s; 8-tracks, reel-to-reel and cassettes; VHS tapes, and DVDs; sheet music, music books and comic books; professional and home audio equipment, and; instruments. USF students will organize and catalog your treasures for WCSF’s annual Mega Music Rummage Sale this fall. All donations are tax deductible and all proceeds from the Mega Music rummage sale will be used to support the educational mission of WCSF. WCSF-FM 88.7 FM broadcasts a variety of formats including pop, jazz, folk, oldies, classical, religious, world, sports, talk and the popular Spirit of Christmas programming. For more information or to arrange a donation drop-off or pick-up, please contact Cari Potter at 815-740-3697. : : The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu. University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose. # # #

USF News

USF Center for Nonprofit Excellence Receives Contribution from Midland States Bank Foundation

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) is pleased to announce it is the recipient of a $10,000 contribution by the Midland States Bank Foundation. The contribution will support projects and administration of the USF Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE). “The USF CNE is impacting the people served by the nonprofits in Will County and the nonprofits, themselves, by making them stronger and better able to fulfill their own missions. We sincerely thank Midland States Bank for supporting our efforts to help these organizations focus on their mission-driven efforts,” said Maribeth Hearn, Ed.D., director of the USF Career Success Center and co-director of the USF Center for Nonprofit Excellence. The USF CNE provides efficient and value-added professional services to Will County nonprofit organizations with limited financial resources and whose missions are aligned with the Franciscan core values of respect, integrity, service, and compassion. This allows the nonprofit organizations to focus primarily on their core mission-driven objectives in the community. In addition to professional services, the USF CNE a, the USF CNE recently partnered with Shorewood HUGS during Women’s History Month to collect toiletry items for women at MorningStar Mission in Joliet. “Together with our Community Impact Investment Statement, the Midland States Bank Foundation is a powerful way for us to give back to our communities,” commented Jeffrey G. Ludwig, President and CEO of Midland States Bancorp, Inc. “The funds we set aside from the Bank’s profits help us put our company’s culture in action to benefit the communities we serve.” The Midland States Bank Foundation supports the general welfare, education and health of the communities where the Bank operates. Since its creation in 2011, the Foundation has contributed more than $1,700,000 to non-profit organizations throughout Midland’s footprint. About Midland States Bancorp, Inc. Midland States Bancorp, Inc. is a community-based financial holding company headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, and is the sole shareholder of Midland States Bank. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had total assets of approximately $7.86 billion, and its Wealth Management Group had assets under administration of approximately $3.60 billion. The Company provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking products and services and business equipment financing, merchant credit card services, trust and investment management, insurance and financial planning services. For additional information, visit https://www.midlandsb.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/company/midland-states-bank. : : The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu. University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose. # # # Photo identification (left to right): Cornell D. Lurry Sr., NE Regional Community Development Relationship Manager at Midland States Bank; Dr. Maribeth Hearn, USF Career Success Director and USF Center for Nonprofit Excellence Co-Director; Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D., USF President; Julee Gard, CPA, CMA, USF Vice President for Administration and Finance, and; Adam Vander Woude, MBA, Commercial Relationship Manager at Midland States Bank.

Author: News

USF Professor and Joliet Healthcare Executive Earns Top Healthcare Management Credential

USF to Create New Small Business Accelerator through $500,000 Federal Grant

USF Students to Work with Industrial Partner through PIC Math Program

USF’s Caritas Event Raises Over $235,000 for Student Scholarships

Music Items Needed to Support WCSF-FM’s 2023 Mega Music Rummage Sale

USF Center for Nonprofit Excellence Receives Contribution from Midland States Bank Foundation

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