News about Admissions

Brewing Up Some Major Promotion

Major swag: Glasses, openers and coasters promote the new brewing and fermentation science degree.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s new brewing and fermentation science degree was highlighted at the Billtown Brewfest on Saturday. Held in downtown Williamsport at Midtown Landing, an area behind Trade and Transit Centre II, the festival featured 30 craft breweries offering tastings. Representatives from the college’s Admissions, Alumni Relations and Corporate Relations offices were on hand for the event, answering questions about the new major and greeting alumni in attendance. Also participating was Timothy L. Yarrington, instructor of brewing and fermentation science and an award-winning brewmaster, who visited with fellow brewers and promoted Penn College’s academic entry into the industry. “I thought it was a great event in a great location,” Yarrington said. “It was good to see so many of my brewing peers here in Williamsport and be able to taste so many great products. I enjoyed catching up with some old friends and also making some new ones. I look forward to this becoming an annual Williamsport tradition.” Organized by the Lycoming County Visitors Bureau and Brickyard Restaurant & Ale House, the celebration of craft beers offered two three-hour tastings and featured entertainment by two local bands – The No Maddz and The Family Ties. Penn College’s brewing and fermentation science degree begins this fall.

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Last updated July 24, 2017 | Posted in Admissions, Alumni, Brewing & Fermentation Science, Faculty & Staff, Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications | This gallery contains 8 photos. | Tagged as | Leave a comment

Penn College Becomes Full Member of NCAA Division III

A new era in athletics

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Wildcat Athletics teams will compete as full members of NCAA Division III when students return this fall.

The NCAA Division III Management Council notified Penn College on Thursday that it has successfully completed the provisional membership process. As a full NCAA Division III member, the college will be eligible to compete for national championships and will have voting rights on NCAA legislation.

“This is wonderful news for Wildcat Athletics and for Penn College,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said. “Full Division III membership will help us attract more student-athletes. These students enter our gates with a heightened sense of grit and drive, and we know that Penn College student-athletes find the competition, discipline and teamwork required of a collegiate athlete integral to their record of success as leaders in their chosen professions.

“The college’s work toward full NCAA membership has already injected a welcome boost to campus spirit, which was on full display when we recently introduced our new Wildcat Athletic logo to a capacity crowd of students, faculty and staff. I want to commend everyone at the institution who played a role in moving this process forward.”

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Penn College Partners with STEM Premier

Gathered on the Penn College campus to commemorate the partnership among the college, STEM Premier and UGI Utilities Inc. are, from left, Shelley L. Moore, director of career services; Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management/associate provost; John Welch, STEM Premier co-founder; Ann Blaskiewicz, community relations manager north for UGI Utilities Inc.; and Ashley R. Murphy, director of admissions.

With backing from UGI Utilities Inc., Pennsylvania College of Technology is enhancing its commitment to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce.

The college has partnered with STEM Premier, the first online platform connecting STEM students from middle school through college to academic institutions, corporate entities and governmental agencies. The program helps students design career pathways, schools recruit top achievers and employers develop a talent pipeline.

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Penn College Displays Excitingly Enhance STEM Expo

Instructor (and 2013 alumna) Kendra N. Tomassacci shares her passion and expertise in computer aided drafting and design.

Penn College was well-represented at the recent Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology event at West Chester East High School, offering hands-on glimpses into “Taste of Sweet & Savory Technology” and “3-D Printing in Engineering and Industrial Design.” Students, faculty and staff from the schools of Business & Hospitality and Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies, as well as the college’s Admissions Office, gave fifth- to 10th-grade girls a memorably experiential entree into career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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Online Learning Options at Penn College Offer Enhanced Flexibility

Penn College offers a beautiful, modern campus in Williamsport, but for students who need the flexibility of online programs, the college provides a variety of options.

Pennsylvania College of Technology is renowned for its “degrees that work,” and for those needing additional flexibility to attain a degree from the college, online options abound.

Online learning at Penn College offers more choices to students who are balancing work and family responsibilities. The offerings feature the same academic rigor and accreditation as on-campus programs, but there is no requirement to ever attend class on the campus in Williamsport. Online students may choose to enroll full time or part time.

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No Foolin’: Open House Showcases Rewarding Careers-in-the-Making

With a warm smile, colorful T-shirt and blooms on hand, Aaron A. Sledge Jr., a freshman in landscape/horticulture technology: plant production emphasis from Pittsburgh, is ready to share his love of plants with visitors.

Friday’s near-April showers caused Saturday’s Open House crowds to bloom, bringing hundreds upon hundreds of prospective students and their families to Penn College for an inside look at a national leader in applied technology education. On a day generally associated with pranks and practical jokes, visitors were instead treated by a knowledgeable and helpful campus community to the seriously life-altering potential of “degrees that work.”

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‘What Does It Take to Succeed?’

That’s the question raised by dental hygiene major Rachel A. Fabie in the third 30-second branding spot added to the Penn College’s YouTube channel. “It takes more than a dream. More than, ‘Someday, I will,'” the Stewartstown resident explains. “It means reaching for greatness and delivering something you didn’t know you had within you.” Cataloging some of the necessary attributes for success, Fabie issues an encouraging challenge to prospective Penn College students: “You’ve got what it takes,” she says. “Show us!” Along with the college’s first two campaign commercials – the first of which was just awarded industry honors – the spots air in a variety of media, including broadcast and cable outlets in Pennsylvania.

Get a Jump on Your Future at Penn College’s April 1 Open House

The modern Pennsylvania College of Technology campus will host prospective students and their families for an Open House on Saturday, April 1, during which visitors can explore 100-plus academic majors in a variety of career fields.

For more than 100 years, Pennsylvania College of Technology and its predecessors have tailored their curricular offerings to students’ dreams and employers’ needs. That responsiveness to businesses and their future employees – and the flexibility to foresee tomorrow’s jobs – will be on ample display at the college’s April 1 Open House.

All of the institution’s newest opportunities, as well as the rewarding careers in time-tested fields, will be available to visitors at the college.

“Open House is such a great opportunity for students and their families to experience what makes Penn College such a unique place to learn,” said Claire Z. Biggs, coordinator of admissions events and services. “Through countless activities, prospective students will get an insider’s glimpse of life as a Penn College student.”

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Take a Minute to Imagine Your Lifelong Career in HVAC

In the Solar Thermal Systems course, renewable energy technologies students at Penn College develop skills in mechanical heating systems and piping while using the sun as a heat source. As Richard C. Taylor, associate professor of plumbing and heating, points out, there is a continual demand for technicians with such proficiency. “When I think about the value of the education here at Penn College in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) … I see a real need for technicians in our society – in our culture – right now,” he says in a video on the college’s YouTube channel. “When your resume shows education and the other person’s does not, whether it shows the associate degree or, even better, the bachelor’s degree program, it’s an advantage for hiring. And we find that here at Penn College. It’s how our graduates get employment. This field, in particular, is one that’s not going to be decreasing over the years to come.”

Scouts’ ‘Merit Badge College’ Returns for Second Year in Apt Locale

Penn College Police Officer Matthew C. Jodun works with a Boy Scout.

Electrical technologies instructor Scott A. Seroskie duplicates the participatory nature of the college courses that he teaches.

Working toward their badges in sculpture, Scouts put into practice the skills learned from David A. Stabley, a member of the college's art faculty.

Stephenson's well-equipped lab is the perfect arena for those earning their Graphic Arts badges.

Penn College hosted the second annual Merit Badge College on Saturday, drawing 170 Boy Scouts from several local councils (and a few from such farther reaches as Luzerne and Centre counties). Scouts could register for up to three badges from among the 22 offered, ranging from sustainability/architecture and fingerprinting to welding and automotive maintenance. Faculty in five of the college’s academic schools taught the labs, providing the young men a true picture of the college’s hands-on approach, and the Admissions Office gave a brief presentation and distributed backpacks full of information. Spyke M. Krepshaw, instructor of web and interactive media, developed and managed the online registration site for the event, and graphic design instructor Nicholas L. Stephenson worked with graphic design senior Ainsley R. Bennett, of Montoursville, on the commemorative patch.
Photos by Grace F. Clark, student photographer

‘The World Is Waiting. Are You Ready?’

Johnathan T. Capps, an applied technology studies major from North Wales, poses that vital question during the second in a planned series of 30-second branding spots newly posted to the Penn College’s YouTube channel. Thanks to degrees that work, Penn College students are empowered to be tomorrow’s dreamers, pioneers and leaders. Along with the college’s first branding-campaign commercial – which featured welding and fabrication engineering technology major Stephanie M. Puckly asking, “What If You Could Change the World?” – the spots air on various broadcast and cable outlets in Pennsylvania and online.

Penn College to Showcase ‘degrees that work’ at State Farm Show

Student Kassandra Sellinger, a culinary arts and systems student from Linden, and Chef Mike Ditchfield perform a cooking demonstration on the Culinary Connection stage at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January 2016.

Nearly 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive entries and 300 commercial exhibits – and more than 100 rewarding career pathways uniquely represented by Pennsylvania College of Technology – will be on display as America’s largest indoor agricultural exposition celebrates its 101st anniversary next month.

In what has become a New Year’s custom, the college will show off its prestigious “degrees that work” from Jan. 7-14 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, where visitors can get a participatory glimpse at a rewarding future.

“Attending the PA Farm Show is a beloved tradition for Penn College. During the weeklong event, Admissions, Alumni Relations and Academic Affairs will showcase all of the amazing opportunities that await students on our campuses,” said Claire Z. Biggs, coordinator of admissions events and services. “We hope that, through our hands-on activities, students, alumni and families will learn why we have so much Penn College Pride! We can’t wait to meet all of the Farm Show guests this year and share what makes applied technology education so special.”

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Holiday Happenstance Puts College Card Into Grad’s Hands

In this Instagram post, Kelvin A. Ortiz-Gomez holds an odds-defying holiday card from his alma mater.

Admissions Representative Sarah R. Shott spearheads the holiday card-signing, enlisting college co-workers to share positive and personal messages to U.S. troops.

For the past few years, admissions representative Sarah R. Shott has headed up a campus initiative in which Penn College employees write grateful messages in holiday cards for American servicemen and women. This season, 1,500 cards were signed and sent to A Million Thanks, an organization that distributes them (along with hundreds of thousands of other cards and letters) in packages for troops around the world. One of those greeting cards was astonishingly delivered to Kelvin A. Ortiz-Gomez, who earned his associate degree in collision repair technology a year ago and is now serving in the Army. “Would like to give a shoutout to @PennCollege,” he said via social media, “especially Disability Services for this holiday card I received, which is funny because it’s been a year since I graduated from Penn College and I was given this bag randomly.”

Biannual Conference Helps Educators Chart Students’ Path to Rewarding Careers

Dennis L. Correll, associate dean for enrollment management, talks about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and how the earlier submission date will affect students and scholarships.

Attendees climbed a poplar tree with ropes and saddles during a session with Justin Shelinski, laboratory assistant for horticulture.

In the Nursing Education Center, guests attend a simulated delivery under the guidance of Jessica L. Bower (at bedside), simulation laboratory coordinator, and Samantha M. Weaver, (background) learning laboratory coordinator.

Instructor Carl J. Bower Jr. shows how computer software aids in landscape design.

A visitor explores the college's information technology offerings.

Secondary teachers, school counselors, co-op coordinators and administrators attended Friday’s College & Career Readiness Conference at Penn College. Among the highlights was a presentation by Hans Meeder, president of the National Center for College and Career Transitions, who detailed how alliances of business, community and education can develop career pathways for students. The twice-yearly event, coordinated by the College Transitions Office, also included breakout discussions, tours and “Have You Ever …?” hands-on demonstrations in a variety of majors.
Photos by Grace F. Clark, student photographer

Penn College Awarded ‘Military Friendly’ Designation

Penn College again attains "Military Friendly" status

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dedication to veterans has earned the institution “Military Friendly” status for the eighth consecutive year.

Victory Media, a veteran-owned business that compiles data-driven ratings to assist service members in choosing post-military education and career pursuits, named Penn College a 2017 Military Friendly School.

The designation is awarded to the top colleges, universities, community colleges and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace military students by dedicating resources to ensure success in the classroom and postgraduation.

“Veterans are an integral part of our student body,” said Chester M. Beaver, the college’s veterans affairs coordinator. “We take great pride in our dedication to the needs of veterans. Providing them with excellent resources to enhance their academic and career pursuits is the least we can do for their service to the country.”

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