St. John Fisher University Named Apple Distinguished School

PITTSFORD, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- St. John Fisher University has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2022-2025 for its iFisher: Next Generation Learning Initiative. Designed to enhance teaching and learning at the University, iFisher is an extension of the institution's commitment to providing students with transformative experiences designed to help them achieve their educational goals and early career outcomes.

Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence. They use Apple technology to inspire creativity,
collaboration, and critical thinking across the teaching, learning, and campus environments, and have documented results of academic accomplishment. At Fisher, this initiative means equipping both students and employees with the technology, tools, and classroom spaces of the future.

Beginning in fall 2021, the University provided an iPad, keyboard case, and Apple Pencil to every undergraduate student on campus. To date, almost 300 faculty have engaged in Fisher Apple Academy training, with more than 240 receiving the recognition of Apple Teacher. The result is an integrated learning experience where faculty and students can seamlessly connect and collaborate, sharing course materials and tools for daily assignments as well as in-depth research projects.

"I am deeply gratified by the ways in which our faculty have embraced this initiative and applied new skills and methods in our classrooms" said Dr. Kevin Railey, provost of the University. "They are in the process of transforming the classroom experience for our students and engaging them in active learning on a daily basis."

A major component of the iFisher: Next Generation Learning Initiative is not only the deployment of iPad to create a common learning platform, but also the renovation of the spaces where learning takes place to support the types of active and mobile learning that faculty and students want to create and participate in during their classes.

"The selection of Fisher as an Apple Distinguished School highlights the University's success as an innovator, recognizes the compelling learning environment we have created to engage both students and faculty, and provides tangible evidence of our commitment to academic achievement," said Katie Sabourin, director of the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence and co-leader of the iFisher initiative.

For more information about iFisher, visit go.sjf.edu/iFisher.   

About St. John Fisher University

St. John Fisher University is a liberal arts institution that provides a transformative education to approximately 3,800 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students each year. Across its five Schools, Fisher offers nearly 40 majors in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, business, education, and nursing; 11 pre-professional programs; and master's and doctoral programs in business, nursing, education, pharmacy, and public health. Located just beyond Rochester, New York, the University's residential campus boasts a robust living and learning community and a successful intercollegiate athletics program.

An independent institution today, the University was founded by the Congregation of St. Basil in 1948 and remains true to its Catholic tradition. As Fisher moves forward into the next 75 years, it celebrates its Basilian heritage by embracing their motto, "Teach Me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge."

SOURCE St. John Fisher University