The resources and services of the University supplement and enhance the learning process.
Trexler Library
he Trexler Library, dedicated to the memory of local industrialist Harry C. Trexler, is located at the center of the campus. Built in 1988, this 36,000-square-foot facility seats 300 and is designed to accommodate 160,000 volumes.
The current collection numbers more than 550,000 items, including 132,000 volumes and 40,000 electronic books, more than 12,000 electronic journals and newspapers, and 400,000 microfiche. The periodical collection includes 550 paper and microform subscriptions. Paper and computer indexes help students to access the collection.
The library staff, in consultation with the faculty, selects reference materials to meet curriculum requirements and general information needs. In the general collection, book selection is based primarily on the various majors offered at DeSales University. The library collections of the other five independent colleges of the Lehigh Valley, totaling more than one million volumes, are also available to DeSales University students through an interlibrary loan system. Students may access more than 35 million titles across Pennsylvania via the E-Z Borrow System for quick interlibrary loan. State-of-the-art computers and audiovisual equipment are available to faculty and students. The library is a member of PALINET (Pennsylvania Library Network) and is directly connected to the national bibliographic center, OCLC.
The library’s on-line catalog and electronic resources are available within the library and from the library’s web page- www.desales.edu/library. Extensive information concerning library services is provided at the public service desk and on the library’s web page.
Healthcare Simulation Center (HCSC)
The Healthcare Simulation Center (HCSC) is a 20,000 square foot state-of-the-art clinical simulation center, home to some of the most advanced simulation technology in the healthcare field. We provide medical simulation services to our students at DeSales as well as our partners in clinics, hospitals, and the healthcare industry. The HCSC mission is to provide clinical simulation services in an environment that provides the opportunity for learners to develop competence in their specialized fields of study, demonstrate leadership, make significant contributions, and develop the skills necessary for advanced clinical applications.
Experiential learning through the use of simulation is becoming more prevalent in the education of health professionals. Such strategies allow learners to practice critical technical skills and care coordination to enhance patient safety and performance in a safe environment. As DeSales seeks to improve the quality of care delivered by graduates and health professionals, experiential learning will play a critical role. Overall, the HCSC provides a safe learning environment for all learners to practice and refine hard skills such as medical procedures and soft skills such as communication techniques prior to employing those skills in a clinical environment with actual patients.
Human Patient Simulators (HPS)
HPS, also known as high fidelity manikins, are life-like models of the human body with software/computer equipment components to mimic human bodily functions. The HCSC has recently upgraded their manikin family to include top-of-the-line simulators from Gaumard Scientific including Victoria Comprehensive OB/GYN Simulator; HAL S2225, a state of the art 5 year old simulator, Gaumard’s Tori Newborn Simulator, and HAL 3201 Adult simulator. Each simulator is capable of replicating a variety of situations that could be encountered in any real clinical location and tailored to any level of learner.
Clinical Skills Lab
Our clinical skills suite provides both a 12 bed in-patient and a 12 bed out-patient practice environment. Task trainers help students gain expertise in technical procedures and clinical skills like central line placement, peripheral IV insertion, or pelvic examination. The staff of the HCSC has also developed an ability to make simulated silicone skin, injection pads, and incision and drainage abscess pads for the students to develop skills.
Standardized Patient Program
This on-campus suite replicates a functioning healthcare office, complete with a waiting room and 8 fully equipped examination rooms. Standardized patients are real people who are trained to portray different patient scenarios, where they are examined and assessed as real patients by DeSales learners. They actively participate in the instruction, practice, and assessment of the medical examination skills of our students, nurses, physician assistants, and other health care providers by giving written and oral feedback after some encounters.
Education Management
Our Education Management Solutions SIMULATIONiQ™ system (EMS) provides a comprehensive solution for the Center. Digital AV software and hardware allow faculty to capture both the simulation and standardized patient environments for further review. The results provide a digital video record of individual and team performance, which assist in evaluating a student’s performance when faced with realistic clinical challenges. This system also allows for data capture and grading of students for each encounter. Students can use this system to review and critique their own performances in a safe, secure, and individualized manner..
Information Technology
The University provides extensive computing and information technology resources and services as well as universal access for all students, faculty, and administrators in all of its campuses. The use of technology as an interdisciplinary problem-solving tool, as a change agent, and as a vehicle for education has been encouraged and integrated for the whole of the learning environment. Facilities are continuously updated to meet the most current and the latest educational trends and standards.
A number of computing laboratories and smart classrooms provide the University with both the ‘virtual’ and the ‘real’ learning environments. All computing laboratories have broadcasting systems for instructor control and interaction with client stations.
Academic computing is provided through a distributed client server environment, which is connected to high speed Internet access using a network backbone. Wireless Ethernet allows access to local as well as Internet resources.
The University provides a variety of services to its members. In addition to a wide variety of software resources, an e-mail address is available for each registered student. Student and user consultants as well as faculty are available for assistance. The Trexler Library supports on-line catalog, as well as educational, scientific, and accounting databases.
Center for Educational Resources and Technology (CERT)
The CERT department provides a variety of student resources and services for online and hybrid courses, video conferencing, and other delivery technologies.
Distance Education
Student resources for distance education include:
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Blackboard Learn is DeSales’ online learning management system (LMS)-the means by which most online interactions and course material are delivered. The Blackboard Learn web site can be accessed directly or through MyDSU almost any time of the day or night and includes a moderated, self-paced student orientation where students can practice using all of the Blackboard tools. It is strongly recommended that students complete the orientation before starting a distance education class. Blackboard Learn can also be accessed from mobile devices through the free Blackboard Learn app. The resources page in Blackboard contains links to technical guides, library helps, and academic support resources.
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Zoom is a live web conferencing tool that allows students to interact with instructors and classmates in real time using audio, video, and chat. Zoom sessions are created within Blackboard Learn.
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DeSales University offers access to assistive technologies including captioning, secure online testing environments, online tutoring services, academic success series, student professional development workshops every month, and quarterly synchronous online student welcome orientations with Trexler library and CERT staff.
Instructional Technology
DeSales is deeply committed to ensuring access to the latest classroom technology for the University community. We provide the highest quality academic experience for students and the most advanced teaching tools for our professors. Through investigative research and equipment upgrades, we strive to keep all of our classrooms up-to-date with the latest audiovisual and computing systems. In addition to smart classrooms, DeSales currently has four video conference classrooms, two at the Center Valley campus, one at the Easton campus, and one at Lansdale campus, as well as a mobile video conference system.
Student Services
Counseling Center
The Counseling Center provides personal counseling services, which are designed to help students develop their full potential and overcome obstacles to their educational and/or personal growth. Counselors offer confidential assistance to any student who is experiencing difficulties of a personal, emotional, or social nature, or who simply feels the need for support and/or encouragement. The use of this service is never made a part of academic or any other permanent record. Unless a student is perceived to be imminently dangerous to self or others, all meetings are completely confidential. The center’s goals are promoted through outreach programming, faculty/staff and student workshops, training programs, social media sites, and other special programming events.
Academic Success Center (ASC)
The ASC Writing Center assists graduate and non-traditional undergraduate students by:
- offering strategies for enhanced learning in individual courses as well as for long-term success across the curriculum.
- collaborating with library staff members to promote research and information literacy skills that enhance student writing.
- assisting with documentation in several disciplines (MLA, APA, Turabian), grammar, and mechanics.
- assisting non-native/multilingual students and English language learners who must write in academic English.
- providing individual tutorial sessions to facilitate deeper academic writing-through-content skills (as appropriate).
Career Development Center
The Career Development Center at DeSales University offers one-on-one coaching sessions, programs and webinars to serve the specific needs of our graduate, non-traditional undergraduate and veteran students. Areas of expertise include (but are not limited to) initial full-time employment, job transition, best hiring/job search practices and re-entering the work force.
With the intention of making the time spent on campus pleasant and productive, the University also provides a variety of services for the graduate students
Descriptions of these services are available through the graduate directors.
Veterans and Military Services
The Office of Veterans and Military Services helps active military students and student veterans achieve personal, academic, and professional success by encouraging participation in the human community and by emphasizing the dignity of the individual in the Salesian tradition.
We understand that the commitment to military service may find a student deployed with little notice. This may make pursuing educational goals, at that time, difficult or impossible. DeSales seeks to support military students in achievement of those goals and has adopted a deployment policy, which is designed to be responsive to and flexible for the student. To obtain a copy, please contact the Office of Veterans and Military Services.
For any student using Ch. 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill® or Ch. 31 Voc-Rehab benefits, even if the VA has not yet paid tuition and fees, it is the policy of DeSales University to permit enrollment without assessing late penalty fees, requiring alternative or additional funding, or denying access to university resources.
Theatre
The acclaimed and respected Labuda Center for the Performing Arts managed by the Performing and Fine Arts Department presents several productions throughout the season. Student discount tickets are available on occasion. Interested students should consult the theatre’s box office.
Athletic Facilities
Students interested in using the University’s athletic facilities should consult the Athletic Department for availability and hours.
Parking
Ample parking is available in the proximity of the classrooms. Parking permits can be obtained through graduate program offices or university police. It is mandatory that all students get a parking permit at the beginning of every new school year.
Financial Information
Tuition Payments
Tuition payments are accepted at the Bursar’s Office, located on the second floor of Dooling Hall, during regular business hours. Payment of tuition expenses can be made by cash, check, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. You may also make payment on-line using the “Make a Payment” link in WebAdvisor. Payment of tuition and fees must be made before the start of the semester in which you are registered unless you are receiving financial aid or employer reimbursement. If payment is not made before the first day of classes for a given session, a Financial Hold will be placed on your student record, which will prohibit you from receiving a transcript or registering for future classes and/or sessions.
Tuition Deferment
Tuition deferment is available for students in graduate programs who have provided the Bursar’s Office with a copy of their employer’s tuition assistance policy. Upon completion of a semester, the student will have eight weeks to make payment for the deferred tuition expenses. Please note that even though a student is using employer reimbursement, she/he is still responsible for payment of the deferred amount by the end of the eight week grace period.
Tuition deferment is also available for students who have applied for financial aid. To be eligible for deferment of expenses, the student needs to have filed all the necessary paperwork with the Office of Financial Aid. If you have been selected for verification, you will again need to make sure that you have complied with all the paperwork requirements. Please note that if your financial aid information is incomplete, you are responsible for payment of the outstanding balance.
Tuition deferment is a privilege given to graduate students at DeSales University and can be revoked if this privilege is abused. Please note that you, as the student, are responsible for payment of your tuition balance in the event that your financial aid/loans or employer reimbursement is not received by the Bursar’s Office within the stated time period.
Tuition deferment will not be offered to an individual who has been previously sent to a collection agency for nonpayment of their tuition expenses. Such students are required to pre-pay for their classes for one year. Upon the completion of the year, the situation and student account will be reviewed for potential reinstatement of deferment eligibility.
Payment Plans
Payment plans are available to graduate students. If you are interested in a payment plan, please contact the Bursar’s Office at 610.282.1100, ext.1376 for additional information.
Bursar’s Office Information
The Bursar’s Office bills for each session in which you are registered for courses. You will receive a statement for the session even if you are receiving tuition deferment for financial aid or employer reimbursement. Any question regarding your tuition bills, tuition deferment and/or payment plans should be directed to the Bursar’s Office at 610.282.1100, ext.1376. The Bursar’s Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Outstanding Financial Obligations
Students who separate from the University, voluntarily or involuntarily, with an outstanding balance due are subject to being turned over to a third-party collection agency. If this action is taken, the University has the right to collect the associated collection fees charged to the University by the agency. Collection fees for a third-party collection agency can range from 25 - 50%. Transcripts and/or diplomas will not be issued until the total financial obligation and associated collection fees have been met.
Please note that non-payment of the graduation fee constitutes an outstanding financial obligation as well. The graduation fee covers various expenses associated with commencement and is a required fee. Non-attendance at commencement does not remove the financial obligation. In addition, the student’s diploma and transcripts will not be released and a financial hold will be placed on the student’s record. The financial hold will be removed once the outstanding financial obligation has been resolved.
Refund on Withdrawal Policy
A refund of tuition payments will be made to a student who withdraws from a course. In all cases, credits will be calculated from the date the student completed the official withdrawal form, and the rebate will be based on the schedule shown in the Refund Amount Sections of the student’s graduate program.
Refunds apply to tuition only. If a student is allowed to enroll by use of the deferred payment procedure, any funds due the University are immediately due and payable upon withdrawal.
Financial Aid
Degree candidates who receive no or less than 100% tuition reimbursement may be eligible for financial aid. All financial aid programs are loans and depend on the candidate’s student status and financial need. Additional information may be obtained through the Financial Aid Office or through the appropriate graduate program office.
Assistantships
Assistantships may be available to qualified students who have been admitted to one of the graduate programs. Such assistantships provide professional growth and personal development to the participating student. Specific duties, activities, and responsibilities are drawn by the appropriate program director. Graduate assistants receive tuition remission, which is based on the nature and amount of work they are required to perform.
Assistantships are limited and applications are considered on a competitive basis. Interested students should consult their program director about the availability of assistantships in their area of interest.
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