Professor on Wheels is a community service and outreach program. Through it, faculty volunteer their time, sharing their knowledge with members of local community groups and senior centers. The opportunity to share what we love with an audience that is genuinely interested is invigorating. It’s an enriching experience for all involved.

Serving the community for more than a decade, the program includes more than 30 rehabilitation, senior and retirement centers; a handful of libraries in Suffolk County; and the Bellport Boys and Girls Club.

This year, under the guidance of our new FA president Dante Morelli, the Professor on Wheels program is expanding to include an overall coordinator along with individual campus representatives. The two-pronged goal of this expansion is to recruit more faculty as presenters and more widely promote the program on all three campuses.

Christina Bosco will continue as coordinator, focusing on outreach and continued relationships with nursing home and senior centers. Lisa Behnke, as the new coordinator, will reach out to alternative high schools and Boys and Girls Club organizations.

Volunteering for Professor on Wheels is not about giving a classroom lecture. This is a chance to share what you know and what you love with others in Suffolk County.

If you’d like to volunteer, email Christina Bosco or Lisa Behnke with a subject and summary for a presentation. Your presentation will be added to the Wheels catalog sent out each semester to the facilities we work with and as we make new contacts. The centers reach out to the faculty directly to work out best times and dates. There is no limit on the number of presentation topics; if you’d like to share it, add it!

For our volunteers already in the catalog, thank you! Thank you for your time and expertise. We, and all the centers we work with, deeply appreciate your efforts which enrich and enliven all who participate.

And if you’re not currently participating in the program but want to get involved, please contact Christina Bosco or Lisa Behnke. Also, if you know of a community center or group that might be interested in Professor on Wheels, please let us know.