Siena College
06/30/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/30/2026 09:46
Siena Science Faculty to the Rescue
Patrick Gilday was in a serious jam. The Bethlehem Middle School science teacher promised his 8th grade Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) class a field trip to RPI, but just weeks before the end of the school year, the university backed out. This wasn't going to be any ordinary field trip. To earn a seat in this highly selective class, students must maintain a minimum GPA and write an essay. They'll continue the course into high school and ultimately receive three college credits. This first college prep course builds momentum all year toward the students' first real college experience, but the 46 8th graders were about to be robbed of that opportunity. Fortunately, Emma Dolen is in that class... and her mom hatched a Hail Mary of an idea.
"Emma told me they were canceling the field trip," said Erin Dolen, Ed.D., assistant professor of nursing. "I reached out to her teacher and told him I could try to pull something together at Siena, but this was on two weeks notice. I don't want to say that I was shocked because I have faith in my colleagues. Everyone in the School of Science is so phenomenal. But I really did think it was a Hail Mary. And then they all delivered."
Dolen was overwhelmed by the number of colleagues who wrote back and said they would come in on June 8 to host Bethlehem Science Day at Siena. In all, Dolen recruited five members of the faculty (way more than that volunteered) to run concurrent 20-minute sessions. The students broke into five groups - Dolen chaperoned one of them - and they rotated through the five sessions during their two and a half hours on campus. The students explored the observatory, got their hands on equipment in the physics engineering lab, and were able to check out the SAInT Center.
"When we heard about the opportunity for Mr. Gilday's engineering class to stop in for a visit, a bunch of us rushed right in to help out," said Dan Moriarty '93, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who led one of the sessions. "There were honestly more people willing to come in and help then there was space for his class. All of us realize the importance of encouraging middle and high school students who have an interest in STEM topics to pursue it and see if it's something they would like to study at the next level. Siena is all about teaching and helping others, and the actions of everyone involved just emphasized that to me. They were a great group of students who represented their school very well, and I'm hoping we can make it a regular event going forward."
RPI has a world renowned reputation for engineering, but it's not the only university in the area that delivers a world class education in the IED space. The 46 local 8th graders who opted into this intensive science course and will be searching for a college in a few years now know that well.
"I did this because it was a great way to get Siena's name out into the community, and it was a great way to help my daughter and her class. I let it be known to Mr. Gilday and the principal that Siena should be their first choice next year. Imagine what we could do with more than two weeks notice? It was amazing the way my colleagues answered the call. I'm forever grateful. I do hope we can start this as a permanent partnership and get more Bethlehem kids to enroll at Siena."
Siena College published this content on June 30, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 30, 2026 at 15:46 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]