Chad Serfass, son of Todd and Kathy Serfass of Lehighton received his Masters in Education degree from DeSales University on January 22. He graduated from DeSales University in 2007 with his BA in Elementary Education. Upon graduation he was immediately employed in the department of Student Affairs and was recently promoted to the Assistant Director for the DeSales Experience in Character and Leadership. The DeSales Experience is a program designed to integrate character and leadership development of the students over their four years at the university. Chad is developing this program from the existing first-year experience program Character U, for which he is the coordinator. In addition to running these programs, he is the advisor for the PACE (Peers Advising Counseling Educating) team. As an undergraduate student he was one of the original members of the team; as an advisor he has helped PACE become nationally recognized for their work on campus through the Bacchus network, a national organization of over 1200 schools dealing with peer wellness and education. Bacchus awarded Chad the Alumni of the year in 2010, after he received the regional award for outstanding alumni in 2009. Chad is also a consultant for the Senior Success Series, the Alcohol Task Force and LEADSU (Leaders Emerging at DeSales University). With all this experience, Chad wrote his graduate thesis on Character Development in Higher Education. Working closely with first-year students, Chad devoted his thesis to what aspects of character development are important to these new students in higher education at a Catholic Institution.