OU-Tulsa Enlists Help to Keep Campus as Safe as ’Paws’ible
OU-Tulsa President John Schumann wants to make sure everyone is aware of the improvements and procedures planned to keep everyone safe as we return to campus. He has called in a special ambassador – Niko, also known as Professor Paws – to help monitor every detail.
Niko is a Labrador retriever trained in service dog skills with the OU-Tulsa College of Allied Health. In his role as Professor Paws, he has been enlisted to sniff out all the enhanced cleaning measures and hold everyone to a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene.
When he’s not on patrol, Niko provides dynamic hands-on learning experiences for students, health care professionals and the community to educate them about the benefits of service dogs. Even though Niko is not training to be placed with someone who has a disability, he has the necessary skills to demonstrate to students how service dogs can assist their owners. Niko is cared for and trained by Dr. Mary Isaacson, director of the master of occupational therapy program and leader of the Professor Paws Project at OU-Tulsa.
Visit ou.edu/tulsa/cleanandgreen to learn more about Clean and Green at OU-Tulsa. Information about the university-wide Clean and Green initiative is available at ou.edu/cleanandgreen.
By Bonnie Rucker
Article Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2020