ASSE Student Chapter Receives Volunteer Service Award
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently announced that the ASSE Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Student Section was awarded the Volunteer Service of the Year Outstanding Organizations Award for 2008-2009 from the IUP Office of Service Learning.
The IUP Volunteer Service of the Year award is given out to student organizations based on their level of work and commitment with the community. One of the projects the ASSE IUP student section was recognized for organizing in the community and campus environment included conducting nicotine sampling in an uptown establishment to determine the effectiveness of the non-smoking sections versus smoking sections. The results were analyzed and the students put together a report describing their findings and recommendations.
In addition, the IUP student section student members and faculty advisor, IUP Assistant Professor, Safety Sciences Department, Tracey Cekada, Ph.D., CSP, CHSP, gave a presentation at New Kensington/Arnold Middle School, educating students about green building design. The student section, along with the Indiana High School in Indiana, Pa., also participated in a bicycle safety event. During the event, the Indiana High School and IUP student section set up bike repair stations around the community and made basic repairs to bikes while providing educational material on bicycle safety.
"This organization has really worked cohesively as a group to get their events off the ground," Cekada said. "A lot of time and effort goes into making these events happen and to make them a success. Students are busy, they go to classes and many of them hold part-time or full-time jobs. I am impressed with the ability of them to find time outside the classroom to do things for the community. I am extremely proud of them."
The ASSE IUP Student Section is also a part of the ASSE Western Pennsylvania Chapter, for more information go to www.wpa-asse.com/index.php.