LEWISBURG, Pa. — These are Bucknell University story ideas that may interest you in December.
MONEY RESOLUTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR — Many people will ring in the start of a new year with resolutions to take better care of their money. And they should, according to Freeman College of Management Professor Stacy Mastrolia, accounting, who teaches Bucknell’s personal finance class and is an expert in budgeting, saving and investing, and spending wisely. “If you are not budgeting, you need to,” Mastrolia says. “Don’t like the word ‘budget’? How about ‘spending plan’? Either way, you need one. It is very difficult to achieve your financial goals if you don’t make a plan to achieve them — and that plan is a budget.” Mastrolia points out there is a selection of apps you can choose from (i.e.: You Need A Budget, Every Dollar, Mint, etc.), or you can use a spreadsheet program, or a lined pad and pencil. But fancy or simple, “doing a detailed budget makes you feel like you received a raise.” She offers these tips to not only budget, but budget better: CONTACT: Mastrolia, 865-385-3595, s.mastrolia@bucknell.edu
CREATIVE COVID REVITALIZATION — A proposal by the Bucknell University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was approved last month by Gov. Tom Wolf as one of the 220 community revitalization projects throughout the state to receive nearly $36 million in funding. The Bucknell SBDC project, “Creative COVID-19 Revitalization Initiative for Rural Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs,” received $17,250 through the state’s Neighborhood Assistance Program, which supports nonprofits, businesses, and projects in distressed areas or low-income neighborhoods. The funding will support the SBDC’s programs, informational resources, and one-on-one consulting next year to targeted communities such as Sunbury, Milton and Shamokin. “By providing business startup training and consulting we intend to boost self-employment and financial attainment by community members, contributing to sustained development of local economies,” says Steven Stumbris, director, Bucknell SBDC. The proposal calls for the SBDC to offer eight workshops, with a goal of launching at least two new business start-ups and creating 10 new jobs. M&T Bank, Fulton Bank and Northumberland National Bank will sponsor these services and Sholley Insurance Agency will continue to partner with the SBDC on these workshop programs. One workshop on Dec. 14 will introduce the SBDC’s partnership in the newly launched Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program, in which individuals and businesses can apply for $2,000 grants from the PA Council of the Arts. CONTACT: Stumbris, 570-577-3791, steven.stumbris@bucknell.edu
THE GOLD SEAL FOR VOTER TURNOUT — Bucknell’s student-led Bison Votes campaign was successful in increasing student participation rates by 17% during the 2020 general election, rising to 75.6% in 2020 from a rate of 58% in 2016 according to the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), creators of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement. IDHE is located at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. The effort earned Bucknell a Gold Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national challenge designed to empower colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Bucknell’s voting rate exceeded the national average of 66% by nearly 10 percentage points. The University’s overall voter registration increased by 6%, from 86% in 2016 to 91% in 2020. The campus-wide coordinated Bison Votes electoral engagement strategy was the University;s first according to Theresa Cusimano, director of the Office of Civic Engagement. She reports that recent funding by Bucknell alumnus Glen Tullman ’81 and an Enterprise Foundation grant will support this work moving forward. CONTACT: Cusimano (out of office until Jan. 3), 570-577-3985, theresa.cusimano@bucknell.edu
###
CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu