Always Working: Rose State Staff Make a Difference Published November 24, 2015

What do Rose State leaders do when they’re not working? They work.

Meet Alyssa Loveless, the Coordinator of Residence Life at The Village at Rose State. She organizes student life for 170 residents at the college’s new apartments. That job entails everything from organizing events at the clubhouse to getting students back in their homes after a lock-out.

But on the side you’ll find her and her four-legged friend doing more. She and her dog Parker, a certified therapy dog, volunteer at the Del City Library at the Children Reading to Dogs program. That program allows children who need assistance with their reading skills to read to a canine as it is less intimidating and helps with reading skills.

Her cohort in crime is Parker, a 2 ½ year old black Chihuahua (weighing in at 5 pounds). He was certified as a therapy dog over a year ago through the New Leash on Life program out of Oklahoma City.

Now Alyssa is starting a program at Rose with Parker to provide stress relief at study breaks for students living in the apartments. The therapy she says, is known to assist with homesickness and relief of stress often associated with finals.