Paola (Lola) Beber Sanches

Class of 2024

Currently Studying: BBA in Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications / BBA in Digital Marketing (double major)

Current Internship: Ad Sales Intern, Spectrum Reach

Pronouns: She/Her

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Paola (Lola) Beber Sanches is already making waves in the marketing industry as a Lubin School of Business student. Not only did she serve as President of the Brand Marketing Team during her junior year, but she was also awarded the Brand Marketing Award from the University and had the opportunity to present at the National Advertising Student Competition. Paola says opportunities like these offered to her at Lubin are helping her find success at her summer internship with Spectrum Reach.

How has the Lubin School of Business helped you prepare for your current internship?

Being part of the Brand Marketing Team and working with Professors Conrad Nankin and Larry Chiagouris, PhD is probably the greatest experience I have had as a Lubin School of Business student. It really prepared me for this internship. I can confidently join conversations and sit in on meetings, as I clearly understand the topics discussed and have developed a great understanding of what working on a team is like. It also helped me tremendously with my self-confidence and public speaking, as I was able to be a presenter at the National Advertising Student Competition.

Moreover, my social media marketing class with Professor Randi Priluck, PhD, and media planning class with Professor Nankin have been two of the greatest classes I've taken at Pace University. They both make sure their students not only understand the concepts but know how to apply them.

Being part of the Brand Marketing Team and working with Professors Conrad Nankin and Larry Chiagouris is probably the greatest experience I have had as a Lubin School of Business student. It really prepared me for this internship. I can confidently join conversations and sit in on meetings, as I clearly understand the topics discussed and have developed a great understanding of what working on a team is like.

What attracted you to this internship?

This internship allows me to work with many different departments and, therefore, gain a better understanding of marketing campaigns and B2B relationships. As an Ad Sales Intern, I work closely with the sales department and many other departments, such as client success, field marketing, product management, and creative. What attracted me to this internship was the opportunity to learn about the industry, apply what I have learned in school, and network with people from various departments at a corporate company.

Describe what a typical day looks like as an intern at Spectrum Reach.

It always starts with coffee! Then, I check my email and messages, and work on the intern project with fellow interns from all over the country. Each day is a bit different—most days involve a lot of meetings with managers and account executives or sitting in on meetings with clients. I work on projects such as creating a TV spot for clients using AI or doing research to create a list of prospective clients. Spectrum Reach also provides interns with a lot of great resources and training, so when I have free time, I take advantage of that. Currently, I am taking a course on digital marketing with a focus on programmatic buying.

What has been the highlight or most enjoyable aspect of your internship so far?

The highlight so far has been working with such knowledgeable and welcoming people. I've had the opportunity to learn from people from many different departments, including my own. Everyone is eager to share what they know and do, which has allowed me to learn a lot and have a clear understanding of how the theory I've learned in class applies to the "real world."

How has this experience shaped or impacted your career goals?

This experience has helped me better understand how fragmented the marketing/sales department can be and what I want to pursue upon graduation. For example, field marketing was not initially an option for me, as I wasn't even aware of what it meant, but now I have an interest in potentially pursuing a career in it.

How will this experience impact your next semester at Lubin?

It's now easier for me to understand how concepts apply to the "real world" and how all the elements come together. I also now have an interest in sales, so maybe I will join a new club.

Do you have any advice for other Lubin students who would like to pursue an internship in the future?

During the application process, do research on the company and the people who you will interview with. I did my part, found out about how Spectrum was applying AI to their business, and when I brought that up during the interview, it became a great conversation point between the managers conducting the interview and myself. If you show that you care enough to do your homework before the interview, they will remember you. Once you get that internship, make sure to ask questions, network, and learn as much as you can from the people around you—they will be happy to help you and they know you do not know all the answers.

Connect with Paola:

• Connect with Paola Beber Sanches on LinkedIn
• Follow Paola Beber Sanches on Instagram

Gen-Z has led the charge towards heightened awareness and advocacy for mental health. Despite this activation, college students are actually reporting even increased mental health concerns, with “almost three quarters of students reported moderate or severe psychological distress” in 2021, according to the National College Health Assessment (PDF).

There are many factors that could contribute to this increase, from the shared trauma of a global pandemic to anxiety over climate change and societal instability, to increased reporting because of mental health awareness. As multi-faceted as the reasons may be, so must be the response.

The Student Perspective: Seeking Belonging

Stephanie Spruck ’25 has a unique perspective on student mental health. She’s pursuing a bachelor’s in applied psychology and human relations, but her passion for mental health was ignited through the RADical Health program at Pace.

The program, founded and facilitated by the RADical Hope Foundation, is a four-week, peer-led discussion group that discusses and builds on concepts like emotional intelligence, resiliency, self-awareness, stress management, and more. “One of the main goals of the group is to foster self-awareness and growth, both personally and interpersonally with others. Building connection and meaningful relationships starts with the relationship with yourself,” Spruck explains. “We identify the building blocks of who we are - our values, interests, strengths, and goals - and create a plan for how we can deal with the stresses of life. From there, we learn how to foster meaningful relationships with others."

Spruck’s first year at Pace was online due to the pandemic and it was because of her desire to connect with fellow students that she signed up for RADical Health. The experience spoke deeply to her so when the opportunity to volunteer for RADical Health was presented to her by Sue Maxam, EdD, who had led her group, she jumped at it.

For college students there is this intense pressure to know what you want to do and have life all figured out, and I think there’s a lot of identity crisis.

She served first as a co-guide and is now a full-fledged guide, leading groups of students through the program that so inspired her. And it’s given her a unique perspective into the particulars of mental health among college students.

“I learned that the main thing that us students really need, especially coming from quarantine and even still really feeling the residual effects of the pandemic, is connection,” Spruck reveals. While of course she’s facilitated conversations surrounding anxiety and depression, there’s a common theme throughout her groups that seems to reoccur—loneliness.

She believes this is because for many college students, this time period is often when they begin to first tackle the existential questions of self, values, and purpose, and that their usual support systems might not be in the same place they were. That’s where RADical Health comes in.

“For college students there is this intense pressure to know what you want to do and have life all figured out, and I think there’s a lot of identity crisis,” Spruck says. “There’s that sense of ‘who are we? Are we what really what our parents taught us all of our lives? Are we what our friends say we are?’”

Spruck found that RADical Health helped her realize she was not the only person feeling this way, and each program reveals more and more that connecting with students going through the same issues is a huge step in accepting these struggles. “RADical Health taught that I don't need to have life all figured out. I don't need to have this blueprint of where I'm going to go in life. I just need to figure out first who I am,” says Spruck. Instead, the holistic approach focuses on care-plans, understanding values, physical and mental health practices, and mindful connection building. “I just need to take the first step to figure out first who I am—my interests, passions, and values—and that will be my compass on the journey.”

You don't really need to do grand gestures, just asking someone how they are and checking in on your student really goes far.

The concept of their students changing can be an alarming concept for parents and families who are already dealing with their own pain of letting their child out of the nest into their own world, but Spruck has advice for them as well. “I think that sometimes family might not see how we are changing, or realize that our interests and dreams might change. No matter what, we're still who we are inside, and we want nothing more than to be understood, seen, heard, and loved.”

Further, she adds, “And I think that they [parents and families] should know that really asking someone if they are okay or do they want support or do they need anything goes a long way. You don't really need to do grand gestures, just asking someone how they are and checking in on your student really goes far.”

The Parent Perspective: Finding the Words

Jolina Halloran ‘89, ‘93 has been spreading this very message to parents for the last few years.

Halloran and her husband ‘90 have strong roots at Pace, where they met as undergraduates After receiving her MBA in International Business and working 13 years in the corporate world, she left to be a stay-at-home mom, but eventually returned to Pace and is now the Assistant Director of Academic Advising.

But her experience with student mental health is not from her professional experience. It’s personal.

On January 23, 2018, she and a coworker found themselves in a discussion about life, jobs, and children. They remarked that the loss of a child seemed like an event that could not be survived. She left the conversation and thought to text her son Brian, but she knew he’d likely be in class, where he was in his second semester at the University of South Carolina. The moment passed, and her day went on.

If you see someone struggling, ask them straight out.

Seven hours later there was a knock on the door. Halloran and her husband Brian received the worst news parents could receive. Their son had lost his life to suicide.

Halloran recounts the story as especially traumatic. The officer who reached out to them had no information, not even the name of her son. With two sons in college, this meant they had to ask the right questions to get a full understanding. Now, it’s common practice to send a social worker to help families, but the Hallorans were left in the wake of this horrible news to fend for themselves.

To say that day changed their lives forever would be an understatement.

But now the Hallorans are changing their lives and the lives of others for the better.

“That same year, in July of 2018, New York State mandated that all New York State schools had to have some type of mental health education, somehow,” Halloran explains. “But they never provided any resources, meaning they didn't provide any extra funding, any clinicians, and they didn't provide any curriculum.” So, some schools could add a one-hour unit into their health classes and have fulfilled their requirement, without actually bringing anything of lasting value to the students.

“We did not feel like that was enough,” Halloran says.

She and her husband founded the Break The Hold Foundation, in honor of their son. Break The Hold is a play on words, a football-inspired homage for their son, who loved football. And the acronym is also his initials—Brian Thomas Halloran.

The Hallorans formed the BTH Foundation under the Mental Health Association of Westchester. Within six months, the nonprofit had already organized its first Into the Light walk—which has now been an annual tradition for five years—and they were able to raise around $50,000 to pay for a mental health clinician in their school district. In addition to fundraising, the BTH Foundation has been awarded two grants from Westchester County, totaling $170,000.

He didn’t have the verbiage to express how he was feeling.

One of BTH’s main goals is to set up school districts with trained mental health clinicians who provide Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) STEPS-A training to students. DBT STEPS-A is a unique social emotional learning curriculum that offers a universal approach for teaching emotional regulation skills and coping strategies specifically designed for middle and high school students. It has four main modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. All clinicians hired by the BTH Foundation are trained in DBT STEPS-A at the CBC in White Plains, NY before they are assigned to a school.

To date, they’ve established clinicians in three middle and two high schools in the Westchester area. “We pay for the first year to deliver the program, to roll it out, and then usually after that the schools are able to build it into the budget so that they can continue it.” Though, when they can’t, the BTH Foundation continues to fund the clinicians’ salary so that school has access to mental health care.

Halloran also organizes programming for parenting classes that the foundation offers, so that work that their clinicians are doing in schools carry over in the home. In her own experience, students often struggle to put their feelings into words, which can make it difficult for parents to spot the warning signs. “After Brian passed, a lot of his friends came to us and they said he was already talking about ‘feeling funny,’” Halloran says. “He didn’t have the verbiage to express how he was feeling.”

Say the words, be honest, and then tell students where to get help.

A way to give students that verbiage is by allowing them more opportunities to practice speaking for themselves. “One of the things that I learned, and I wish that I did more for my children when they were growing up, is not to solve all their problems,” she says. “I feel like these days as parents, we jump in so quick.” She’s learned in the program to listen without judgement, ask them to describe their feelings, and guide them to find their own solutions. It builds trust, confidence, and emotional resilience, while safely allowing students to practice putting their feelings into words, solving conflict, and managing stress.

The other advice she has for parents, or for anyone who is worried about someone, is to not be coy about offering help. “If you see someone struggling, ask them straight out,” she says. “Do not be afraid. Ask ‘Do you feel suicidal or like taking your own life? Do you feel like hurting yourself?’” There is a common misconception that asking someone if they are suicidal may plant the idea in their head or increase risk, but it’s actually the opposite. Openness about suicide reduces risk.

Halloran’s suggestion for colleges trying to improve the mental health of their students is much along the same line. “One thing I feel that colleges need to change, they just need to be more open. Say the words, be honest, and then tell students where to get help,” she says. “I feel like we tiptoe around the topic, and I hope that changes.”

The University Perspective: Mental Health and Pace

Harriet R. Feldman, PhD, RN, FAAN, understands wellness. She is a nurse herself and has been at Pace for 30 years, seventeen as Dean of the Lienhard School of Nursing and College of Health Professions, and for the past two years she’s served as Pace’s inaugural Chief Wellness Officer.

The position was one of the recommendations from an internal study on mental health at Pace, though the position itself is focused on wellness in all its forms: emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, financial, social, and environmental. Since she’s taken on the role, Pace has created a wellness website and a Wellness Strategic Plan, hosted a Wellbeing fair, and introduced new programming across all campuses.

It’s a far cry from where it all began. “We had nothing essentially,” Feldman says. “In the first six months of the position I did what I called a listening tour.” She spoke with students, faculty, and staff, one-on-one, in small and large groups, with the hopes of uncovering two things: what did they see as the main issues, and what was Pace already doing to support wellness. “I was surprised to hear how much was actually going on,” she says. “But unfortunately, a lot consists of separate small initiatives; nothing really that pulls everything together or provides support it in a specific way. So, when we worked on a strategic plan, we tried to address the gaps by looking at how we can help faculty, students, and staff to attain or maintain wellness.”

We want to promote belonging as a sense of belonging is key to mental health and student retention.

She and her team have worked to expand programming aimed at improved mental health. Programming has included book discussions, rock painting, kindness boards, and more. “We’ve worked closely with the Kindness Foundation that Lady Gaga and her mother founded. We’ve taken a number of their programs and students really to seem to resonate with it.” The Wellbeing Fair brought together resources from within Pace and the surrounding communities in Westchester and NYC, with nearly 650 people attending and 100 tables of resources and opportunities across the 3 campuses.

Despite the massive increase in programming and great support from our Psychological Counseling centers, Feldman believes there’s still a need for more. “A lot of this programming needs to be expanded. I think we need to pull many more students in, involving them in developing the kinds of programs they want and participating in the various wellness committees we have. We want to promote belonging as a sense of belonging is key to mental health and student retention.”

The other recommendations are mostly logistical. One challenge is understanding which programs and initiatives are the most effective, which requires the infrastructure to gather and understand metrics. “Besides program surveys, we really don't have data to measure improvement. . And that is something that some of the universities do; they are able to show health improvement through actual metrics on different health measures,” Feldman says. “I would love to see us build to that level. It's going take a number of years to do so, but from what I can see the University has a strong commitment to seeing this happen.”

We want to help people be in touch with who they are and how they handle issues.

And of course, with programming comes costs. “I would love to see donors to help fund this initiative. I think that would be extremely helpful, whether it's a board member, alumni, or others. It would be really terrific if we could get an endowment, or something specifically designated for wellness initiatives.”

Feldman’s observations on student’s mental health reflect the observations of RADical Health peer leader Stephanie Spruck—students want to feel connected. “I think the whole sense of belonging ties into mental health. The self-sense of belonging, the confidence that people have in themself and their abilities are certainly a piece of it. We want to help people be in touch with who they are and how they handle issues.”

These mental health programs and initiatives not only bring necessary resources, but also remind students that they aren’t alone, and connect them with people who may understand.

The Right To Mental Wellness

Mental health is a nebulous term, one thrown around often as a hot button issue without real clarity on either the main issues nor solutions. Despite the uncertainty, there is one resounding truth.

Mental health care should be a right for everyone. And while we may not be able to do everything help, we should be willing to do anything.

“What I found out with my son,” Halloran says, “is that people who struggle with suicidal thoughts are the strongest people. They fight every day to get up, to be normal or seem normal, and to get through the day.”

Spruck has a simpler message for students: “Your mental health matters and you deserve to be taken care of.”

Take action with the Break the Hold Foundation.

Learn more about RADical Health by emailing smaxam@pace.edu or check out Pace’s Wellness website for wellness resources for students, staff, and faculty.

If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal ideation, please utilize the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Did you know Fred Kelley, brother to Gene, taught dance at Pace? Or that the public speaking requirement was a passionate value of founder Homer Pace? Or that Pace used to have a championship fencing team?

If there’s a niche fact about Pace history, chances are Ellen Sowchek knows it.

For 42 years, Ellen Sowchek has been keeper of Pace University’s archives. “I have a number of responsibilities, but to give a very glib answer, it’s my job to care about Pace history and make other people care about Pace history,” she explains.

It’s my job to care about Pace history and make other people care about Pace history.

When she started in April 1981, Pace did not have an archive. Boxes of items related to Pace history were awaiting an enthusiastic custodian to rescue them from basement storage in 41 Park Row, and Sowchek was thrilled for the challenge. “I knew nothing about Pace before I started here,” she said. “It was the ideal situation for me because everything I learned came from reading through documents and processing the collections.”

On a day-to-day basis, Sowchek is managing curiosity—from the curiosities within the archives, to the curious inquiries of those reaching out to solve a mystery. She gets requests from everything to alumni looking to confirm a course they took decades earlier, to tourists who want to know the history behind a statue on campus.

After 42 years of being the person charged with being curious about Pace’s history, she’s naturally discovered some favorites over the years. Here are five interesting points in Pace’s history:

Dr. Mortola’s First Day at Pace Recording

Capturing an oral history of Pace has been an ongoing project, so you can find recordings in just about every format in the Pace archives, from reel-to-reel tape to digital files. The first phase of the oral history project resulted in 26 lengthy interviews recorded between 1982-1986, capturing the recollections of figures such as Robert Pace, Charles Dyson, Joseph Lubin, Gustav Lienhard and more. The current phase of the project, Pace Voices Past and Present: An Oral History of Pace University, expands the number of interviewees and seeks to document life at Pace from a wide range of perspectives, representing members from the entire Pace Community.

One of Sowchek’s favorite recordings is of Edward J. Mortola, PhD, on his first day of work as a new Assistant Dean at Pace College. Sowchek has a soft spot for Mortola. Not only does she believe that “after Homer Pace, he was probably the second most important person to Pace history,” but he was the one who hired her to set up an archive for Pace’s 75^th Anniversary.

In the tapes, Mortola describes his first day on the job. “It's kind of a cute story. I reported at Pace in the building at 225 Broadway, where Pace existed at that time, on the morning of August 15, 1947 and sat outside Dean Alice Ottun's office for a while. I was joining Pace then as Assistant Dean. When she finished interviewing a student who was at her desk, she looked up and said, ‘Oh, you're here.’ She said, ‘I forgot all about the fact that you were coming and I don't have an office or a desk for you.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I'll be happy to go home and come back tomorrow.’ She said, ‘A great idea.’ So, my first day on the payroll of Pace I went swimming at Jones Beach.” The fact that Mortola gave this interview on the anniversary of his first official working day at Pace brings the story full circle.

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9/11 Tributes

After the events of September 11, Pace University closed for two weeks. In the wake of that day, several memorials were erected honoring those lost and memorializing the feelings of a shaken community. Sowchek explains how soon after the return to campus, The Center for Community Outreach distributed quilt squares and fabric pens to the community. The squares were then sewn together into a nearly ten-by-ten-foot quilt immortalizing the feelings of the Pace community in the wake of the attacks.

Another memorial came in the form of the blue and yellow “Setting the Pace” dog statue located on the Frankfurt Street side of One Pace Plaza. The “Setting the Pace” statue of a German Shepard dog by artist Mike Neville was commissioned by the American Kennel Club’s DOGNY public art project developed in collaboration with the City of New York. The project honors the canine heroes of September 11 who served as search-and-rescue dogs. All statues were auctioned off and the proceeds were donated to a fund supporting the training of first responder dogs.

Finally, each Pace Campus has The Open Book memorial, dedicated to those from the Pace community who lost their lives on September 11. A university-wide competition was held and the book design was chosen. The open pages bear the names of members of the Pace community lost on that day. By listing the names in random, rather than alphabetical order, we are encouraged to read through and remember all of them.

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Virginia Woolf Collection

While the Pace archives are dedicated to Pace history, there are some items that fit outside the scope of the institution’s history, such as Pace’s Virginia Woolf special collection.

The collection arrived at Pace in 2015, with the help of Mark Hussey, PhD, a retired professor from Pace’s English department and a Virginia Woolf expert. He knew the collector Linda Langham, a Woolf fanatic, who wanted to ensure that her collection went to an institution who would not sell off the books individually, but rather keep the collection intact. The Pace University Library agreed to her request and happily accepted the items. Together with a Birnbaum Library colleague, Sowchek cataloged and documented the collection, which has been of special interest in the niche world of Virginia Woolf collectors. “Smith College has a Virginia Woolf collection as well. Ours is just as good, if not better,” according to Sowchek (with a just a touch of Pace pride).

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The Lost Then Later Found Cornerstone Time Capsule

Sometimes, Sowchek finds herself becoming a player in Pace history.

One day, in 1981, Mr. Gordon Dodge, Director of Buildings and Grounds at the time, reached out to her with a strange request. When the building of One Pace Plaza was underway, a cornerstone ceremony took place in 1967, commemorating an important milestone in the building’s construction. Part of the ceremony entails cutting part of the cornerstone out, placing a time capsule in the opening, and then sealing it inside with cement before the stone is put in place in the building’s foundation. Dodge said he had a special addition to the archives–the time capsule itself, which failed to make it into the cornerstone! He begged for her discretion as he explained that the box had somehow been set aside, to be cemented in at the end of the ceremony, and never made it back in. For 14 years, he had kept the capsule in his office, hoping to find a home for this sealed box.

The archives became its new home. Though it is sealed with lead and so far, unopened, Sowchek’s deep dive into the archives revealed documents that explained the mysterious contents: a mini-skirt donated by Barbara Grossman ’71; original accounting textbook written by Homer Pace; April 18, 1968 issue of the New York Times; current issue of a Pace College Bulletin; list of past and current Pace presidents, administrators, and trustees; list of public officials considered friendly to Pace; a student directory; a Pace banner; The cornerstone Journal; list of students recently named to Who’s Who in American Universities; The Pace Report; $1.91; and the latest edition of The Pace College Press.

A History of a Family

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The archives over the years have inadvertently become not just a collection that tells the story of a university, but one that tells the story of a family. The story of the Paces.

Sowchek’s absolute favorite item is a letter from founder Homer Pace asking for permission to get married, “because at the time he was under 20 years of age, and in the state of Michigan, where he lived, he was not old enough to get married without parental consent.” It’s a personal touch that brings the University’s first president into living color.

Sowchek is especially interested in helping promote the impact women have had on Pace history, and Homer’s wife, Mabel, is a particular favorite figure for her to study. There are several items belonging to Mabel, such as images of her and her own report cards.

Lastly, Homer and Mabel’s son Robert Pace, became the second president in 1942, upon the death of his father. That same year he enlisted in the U.S. Army. An accomplished photographer, Robert captured his perspective on the Second World War. Many of those photos, donated by Robert Pace himself, have found their permanent home in the archives.

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Ellen Sowchek is more than an archivist—she's the ultimate caretaker of Pace University's history. In addition to diligently preserving remnants of the past, Sowchek actively participates in Pace's ongoing story, often going beyond her role with Pace artifacts to bear witness to history as it unfolds. Thanks to her unwavering commitment and tireless effort, Pace's rich history remains vivid and alive. As the Pace Community continues to shape its future, Sowchek's work in the University archives ensures that its past is not just preserved, but also celebrated.

At some universities, research is typically the domain of professors only—perhaps walled off from undergraduates in a lab or library and employing only graduate students as research assistants.

Pace operates differently. Our professors are constantly pushing the boundaries of scholarship, of course, but the strong research culture at Pace extends to our undergraduate student body. Through dedicated faculty mentoring, ever-expanding initiatives and inspired administrative vision, the University is positioning itself for leadership in the high-impact pedagogical practice of undergraduate research.

“Immediately, three words come to mind—visibility, access, and expansion,” says Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD, when asked about how Pace’s undergraduate research programs have evolved over the past few years.

Iacullo-Bird, the assistant provost for research and clinical associate professor of history in Dyson College, was recently elected the 2024–2025 president of the Council on Undergraduate Research, a national organization with international reach comprised of 700 institutions and 13,000 individual members dedicated to promoting and supporting mentored undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry. As president of CUR, Iacullo-Bird will further advance Pace leadership in the global undergraduate research community.

Since taking the helm in university-wide undergraduate research, Iacullo-Bird has strengthened existing Pace initiatives such as the Provost’s Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research programs and expanded student access to research opportunities through Federal Work-Study Undergraduate Research Assistantships. She has guided the launch of both the Seidenberg School Summer Undergraduate Research Program and the Dyson College Amelia A. Gould Research Assistantships in the Creative Arts. Iacullo-Bird has increased student presentation options offering a combination of virtual, hybrid and in-person research showcases and has introduced the term “creative inquiry” at Pace to encourage students in the arts to participate in undergraduate research. She advocates for first-year research experiences, and the scaffolding of research within majors, while also raising awareness of existing programs and resources to ensure information is accessible to the Pace Community.

“Over the last several years in developing the Pace University Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) website, we have created a central repository for undergraduate research activity. The website is designed to inform prospective and enrolled students, faculty, staff, and donors about the reach and depth of undergraduate research at the schools and colleges of Pace University,” says Iacullo-Bird

As part of its commitment to experiential learning, Pace offers the Classroom-based Research Awards program which encourages the development of new course-based undergraduate research experiences, a long-standing part of the Pace undergraduate curriculum. Classroom-based research award projects such as the practical application of Jupiter Robots, or exploring podcast creation as an occupational therapy teaching tool, have helped bring the ethos of scholarly research and creative inquiry further into everyday coursework.

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Furthermore, funding for initiatives such as the Pace Student Academic Conference Travel Fund helps students gain valuable experience presenting research at prestigious discipline-based conferences not just in the New York metro area, but around the country and even abroad.

“I am especially proud of the expanding participation of Pace undergraduate students at national and international research conferences. To cite one example, in April 2023, eight students attended the Third World Congress on Undergraduate Research at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. They were approved to present their individual research projects through a rigorous peer review process and several of them participated in international student research initiatives presented at the Congress,” notes Iacullo-Bird.

She adds, “Students have represented Pace at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and continue to present at disciplinary-based conferences both within the US and abroad.”

In looking to the future, Iacullo-Bird anticipates advancing the institutionalization of undergraduate research at Pace—which includes completing a survey of course-based undergraduate research experiences to create an inventory of research courses across schools and colleges; building more student-focused structures that address the responsible conduct of research; commencing long-term funding initiatives to sustain and grow programs; and most notably, continuing to build the best possible undergraduate experience for Pace students.

“I look forward to the expansion of infrastructure to sustain and expand undergraduate research at Pace,” says Iacullo-Bird. “Undergraduate research and creative inquiry are an integral component of Pace experiential learning that will significantly contribute to the distinctive branding of Pace undergraduate education.”

Support Undergraduate Research Initiatives at Pace