Following their move-in on Jan. 31, Elon LA students participated in a community orientation on Feb. 1 at The Preserve in Hollywood, Elon LA’s home base, where students had the opportunity to learn about their immersive experience ahead and interact with spring faculty.

Returning to teach at 福利亚洲国产精品 Los Angeles this semester is instructor Matthew Antonelli, a seasoned industry professional, who is once again teaching the Writing for Film & TV course. Boris Schaarschmidt, a Hollywood-based director and content creator, has also returned to teach the popular Directing course. Two new members of the L.A. faculty join the program this semester: entertainment attorney Daniel Spitz, who is teaching the Media Law & Ethics course, and art historian Grant Klarich Johnson, who is teaching the L.A. Issues 鈥� Art History course.

With a commitment to community service, 福利亚洲国产精品 Los Angeles students will again participate in several volunteer opportunities with local nonprofit organizations, including the Hollywood Food Coalition and other groups involved with the post-wildfire support of displaced families and shattered communities.

All spring students arrived in L.A. with their internships secured. Their unique and immersive experiential learning experiences begin this week at a variety of companies across the city.

The spring 2025 semester will include professional development opportunities for students beyond their internships and academic classes through special gatherings with Elon Los Angeles-based alumni and other industry professionals. In addition, weekend excursions to the sights and places that draw tourists to L.A. will include the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Universal City Walk, a bike ride along the Pacific Ocean, a hike up the Hollywood Hills to the famous Hollywood sign and a day trip to Santa Barbara.

福利亚洲国产精品 Los Angeles is one of several cities that create the core of 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 National Campus Programs and Study USA. A robust summer program will follow this spring鈥檚 experience for students seeking unique opportunities to study with L.A.-based industry professionals and explore their professional potential through growth-based internships. Applications for next year鈥檚 spring and summer 2026 Los Angeles experience will be available soon. For information, visit the National Campus Programs website.

福利亚洲国产精品 has opened a new Interprofessional Simulation Center that will serve as an experiential health care learning hub and support over 250 students in the School of Health Sciences. The center was completed in May and as the university prepares to welcome its inaugural cohort of nursing students, members of the university community saw all it is capable of during an open house on Wednesday, Aug. 18.

鈥淢y professional goal is to provide a space for students to come and practice their hands-on skills,鈥� said Nita Skillman, director of interprofessional simulation at Elon.

The state-of-the-art Interprofessional Simulation Center is located on the second floor of the Gerald L. Francis Center. It’s equipped with multiple beds and designed to provide students will the ability to practice health care techniques on high- and low-fidelity manikins, standardized patients and clients from the local community using 鈥渟uperior鈥� recording equipment in a variety of settings.

Skillman said two main objectives she has are to create students who have excellent patient-centered communication and who are known for being team players in health care. The Interprofessional Simulation Center was created to prepare for the incoming cohort of students within the newly created Nursing Program, a significant and early achievement detailed in the Boldly Elon strategic plan for 2030.

Spread across two main spaces in the Francis Center, the center includes the clinical skills lab and the simulation lab.聽The clinical skills lab has seven beds separated by curtains and houses most of the manikins. The manikins vary in age from infants to adults and are provide numerous capabilities, such as childbirth.

鈥淭hat lab space is built to look like a hospital ward,鈥� Skillman said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e about developing the muscle memory now in that lab so there鈥檚 no surprises when they walk on a clinic floor.鈥�

The simulation lab has a pre-briefing and debriefing period. During the pre-briefing, the student is told of what situations they will encounter during the simulation and remind them to suspend their disbelief.

鈥淎s much as we work to make simulation as real life as possible, there鈥檚 always going to be the one off that just doesn鈥檛 quite match,鈥� Skillman said.

The debrief period occurs after the simulation and students will sit down with someone from the staff of certified health care simulation educators to review how they did. Students will be recorded during the simulation and scored on a rubric depending on the services they performed during the simulation.

鈥淎lso, the debriefing is a chance for the student to decompress from that potentially stressful testing situation,鈥� Skillman said.

Another important element of the debriefing process is the faculty will allow for the student to do more of the talking, as opposed to just reading off each wrong decision the student made.

鈥淭he purpose of debriefing is to truly think out loud what steps you took, maybe what you would do differently and what were you missing going into the room,鈥� Skillman said.

In the simulation lab, there鈥檚 a home health care open concept area comprised of a kitchenette, small living room and small bedroom. This area is dedicated to preparing students for working in a patient鈥檚 home.

Surrounding the home health care area are seven clinical rooms, five of them are standard clinic rooms, one is set up to resemble an ICU room and the other is a hospital room.

鈥淓verything we do on this floor is interprofessional. Whether you鈥檙e a nurse, a physician assistant or a physical therapist, all equipment you need for that profession are in those rooms,鈥� Skillman said.

The simulation can last anywhere from five minutes to five hours, Skillman said, and depends upon what the student is working on.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e running a blood draw, it doesn鈥檛 take you very long to stick an arm and pull blood,” she said. “However, it鈥檚 going to take you a little bit longer to deliver a baby.鈥�

Skillman stressed that the Interprofessional Simulation Center is a 鈥渟afe place鈥� where students are allowed to make mistakes and take the time to thoroughly learn from them so that when they find themselves providing care in the real world, they are more than prepared.

鈥淏asically, we are psychologically preparing the students for success,鈥� Skillman said. 鈥淲hen our students are psychologically prepared when they enter the door, they view that door no differently than if they were walking into a hospital clinic.鈥�

福利亚洲国产精品 celebrates the contributions of seven staff members who are retiring this year after serving the university in a wide variety of ways during their careers. 

Lorraine Allen, director of accounting

Allen joined the staff at Elon College in July 1979 after receiving a call that there was an opening in the accounting office and they would like her to come in for an interview. Allen says she hadn’t applied for the job, but decided to at least go for the interview, and “the rest is history.”

During her time at Elon, Allen would rise from accountant to chief accountant and retires as director of accounting at what is now 福利亚洲国产精品, having seen the university grow by leaps and bounds during her nearly four decades here. 

Asked for her favorite memory, Allen says it’s hard to pick just one. “I will truly miss the great people who make up 福利亚洲国产精品,” she says. “I could not begin to name all of the Elon folks who have had such a great impact on my life but I treasure each of the many wonderful friendships that I am blessed to have made at Elon.”

After retiring on June 30, Allen plans to spend time with family and friends, pursue service opportunities and complete unfinished paintings and stained glass projects she is working on. She’ll be spending time playing duplicate bridge, gardening and hopes to also travel. 

Judy Bowes, accounts payable

Bowes has spent 20 years at Elon working in the accounts payable department in the accounting office. 

“What I’ll miss most about Elon is my co-workers, all the fun things they do, and the beautiful campus,” Bowes says. 

Robert Buchholz, associate vice president for facilities management and director of physical plant

As Ed Eng, director of physical plant, was preparing to leave Elon, he gave Robert Buchholz a call. It was 2008, and Buchholz was trying to return to his home state of North Carolina. Buchholz recalls Eng telling him that he should come to Elon because “this was a very special place,” Buchholz recalls. 

“Ed was right,” Buchholz says. 

That was a decade ago, and now Buchholz is preparing to retire from Elon at the end of May. It was a time filled with “many wonderful memories,” in particular the family the 福利亚洲国产精品 community is, Buchholz says. 

“As a part of Physical Plant, what I will remember is how the Physical Plant staff has responded to so many challenges and events, and how we do things as a world class team,” Buchholz says. “The move-ins, the commencements, the homecomings, the admissions events, the bats, the ice storms — there are so many times when the TEAM worked together and made things happen. And they always did it with such a positive attitude. They are an amazing team.”

Buchholz started his work career selling newspapers at the age of 12, and now looks forward to traveling. “My immediate plans after May 31 and 53 years of working is to be adventurist in traveling,” he says. “Pam and I are going traveling this summer to the Colorado River/Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park and the Northwest.  We will be visiting kids, seven grandkids and family.”

Buchholz said he’ll also be finding time for “a little fishing, golfing and visiting shipmates in various locations around the country.”

When not traveling, he and his wife, Pam, will continue to call Burlington home.  “Pam and I love it here because of the people, Elon and we think North Carolina is the best place in the world to live,” Buchholz says.

Kay Carroll, service desk analyst

Carroll came to Elon in 1988 as a switchboard operator in large part becasue it was closer to where she lived. Now after 30 years at the university, she’ll be retiring at the end of this month. 

She’s served the university in a variety of ways through the years, moving from switchboard operator to become a secretary in academic computing, a PC software support specialist and now retires as a service desk analyst.  

“I will miss the people that I work with,” Carroll says. “We have worked together for many years, and they are like family to me.”

In retirement, Carroll plans to spend more time with her grandchildren and work on projects around the house. She’ll also be making time to visit her brother and sister-in-law at the beach. 

Billy Crayton, shuttle bus operator

For the past 20 years, Crayton has been behind the wheel, shuttling students, faculty, staff and visitors around Elon’s campus.

As a shuttle bus operator, Crayton has been known for his dedication to the job, often willing to step in to cover shifts and ensure Elon could meet the transportation needs of the community, said Drew Hambright, transportation support technician, in his remarks honoring Crayton at the annual Staff Appreciation Day. Hambright estimates that Crayton has driven more than 400,000 miles during his time at Elon. 

“He would often come through in a crunch,” Hambright said.  

Bruce Nelson, director of counseling services

Nelson concluded his service to Elon on Jan. 31 after joining the university in April 2001. 

During the past 17 years, Nelson was instrumental in the growth and development of the Department of Counseling Services, and moved to the role of counselor in 2016. 

“Bruce has provided exemplary attention and caring to students and their families during the past 17 years, many of whom where wrestling with the most difficult and debilitating circumstances,” said Jan Lynn Patterson, associate vice president for student life and dean of students at the time of Nelson’s retirement. 

Also retiring this year i​s Linda Wegwart, senior buyer.

Susan M. Kirkland will join Elon Dec. 1 as assistant vice president for finance, reporting to Senior Vice President for Business, Finance and Technology Gerald Whittington. She comes to Elon from Barry University, Miami Shores, Fla., where she has most recently served as associate vice president for finance and chief accounting officer.

Kirkland has been a member of Barry University’s senior business and finance management team, supervising the accounting, treasury, cashier and grant compliance functions with a staff of 25. She joined Barry in 2002 as director of financial operations in the business and finance division. She was named controller in 2005.

Prior to her work at Barry University, Kirkland worked in a variety of financial positions at GlaxoSmithKline in Research Triangle Park, N.C. She is a North Carolina native, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has a master’s degree in business administration from Barry University. Kirkland is a certified public accountant in both Florida and North Carolina.