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Alexander dealerships recognized for all-star support of students

Aubrey Alexander accepts a framed #9 Wildcat jersey, representing his Penn College graduation year.

The Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships, with 18 locations that employ a number of Penn College alumni, was honored Wednesday for its inspiring generosity and ongoing dedication to Wildcat Athletics. Through scholarship support, mentorship and other substantial contributions – including new scoreboards in Bardo Gymnasium – the Alexander family’s financial commitment was noted by the Wildcat Club as “creating lasting impact for our student-athletes and the athletic facilities they call home.” Among those on hand for Corporate Partner Day during a basketball doubleheader against the College of Saint Elizabeth was Aubrey Alexander, a 2009 business administration graduate and member of the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors.

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Admissions Events Faculty & Staff

Penn College offering FAFSA completion session

The Financial Aid Office at Pennsylvania College of Technology will help current and future college students and their families complete the 2019-20 Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA online application is required by colleges and universities to determine student eligibility for federal and state grants, federal loans and some scholarships.

Penn College’s free FAFSA completion session is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 24, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The session will be in Room 1049 of the Student & Administrative Services Center on the college’s main campus. Students enrolled or planning to enroll at any college or university are invited. Students who are 23 or younger should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

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Events Faculty & Staff Students

Downtown walk ushers in ‘Dream Week’

"Dream Week"

Penn College students and employees are encouraged to participate in “Dream Week” activities centered around the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, beginning with a Peace Walk through downtown Williamsport on Saturday, Jan. 19.

The walk will form at First United Methodist Church, 604 Market St., at 10 a.m.; transportation will be provided from the Bush Campus Center Loop at 9:30. Refreshments and a musical celebration, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” will follow in the church.

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Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Information Technology

Faculty’s cybersecurity outreach featured in Washington Post

Miller (left) and Gorka, during an earlier presentation about their National Science Foundation-funded plan to involve pre-college students in cybersecurity awareness.
Miller (left) and Gorka, during an earlier presentation about their National Science Foundation-funded plan to involve pre-college students in cybersecurity awareness.

An effort by two members of Penn College’s information technology faculty to extend cybersecurity education to high school students – and younger – is featured in Jan. 11 editions of The Washington Post. Jacob R. Miller and Sandra Gorka, associate professors of computer science, will attend the ShmooCon hacker convention in the nation’s capital and offer a Jan. 18 presentation about a dual-enrollment program to interest pre-college students in cybersecurity careers. “If you go into a first- or second-grade class and ask, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ it’s doubtful anyone would say information security analyst,” Miller told The Post’s Joseph Marks. “But we want to raise the profile so when they’re thinking of doctors, nurses and firefighters, they’ll also think of IT pros and security in IT. That’s the holy grail of where we want to see this project go.” The college offers four IT baccalaureate degrees: software development and information management, information assurance and cyber security, information technology: network specialist concentration, and game and simulation programming. Students may also seek an associate degree in information technology: technical support technology emphasis.

Faculty & Staff

Penn College appoints VP for academic operations

Michael J. Reed

Michael J. Reed has been named vice president for academic operations and associate provost at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Reed joined Penn College in 2014 as assistant dean of the School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications. He became interim dean in 2015 and has been dean of the school since January 2016. Previously, he was head principal at Williamsport Area High School and director of SciTech High School, a STEM magnet school partnering with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

In his new role, Reed’s responsibilities include coordinating and aligning initiatives and support services within Academic Affairs, including providing leadership to the outcomes assessment process and oversight of the Academic Affairs and academic school budgets. He will also provide leadership, fiscal planning and staff evaluation for functions related to the Madigan Library and the Office of Assessment, Research & Planning. Reed will serve as a member of President’s Council and as co-chair of Deans’ Council at the college.

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Communication & Literature Faculty & Staff Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications

Jan. 19 service set for ‘Master Teacher’ Ned S. Coates

Ned S. CoatesA memorial service will be Jan. 19 for Ned S. Coates, 1996 recipient of the Master Teacher Award and a retired professor of English at Williamsport Area Community College and Penn College. Coates, a faculty member from September 1967 through the 2003-04 academic year, died Sunday, Jan. 6. The service is scheduled for 2 p.m. at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 1400 Market St. Complete details (“Anyone who knew Ned will not be surprised to learn that he wrote this obituary himself,” his family notes) are in Friday’s editions of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

Dining Services Faculty & Staff

Penn College names dining services director

Mark J. Leo

Mark J. Leo has been appointed director of dining services by Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Leo, who began his duties Jan. 8, comes to Penn College from American Dining Creations, where he had been employed since 2000. Most recently, he was district manager for the company’s Mid-Atlantic Region, managing 22 corporate accounts.

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Alumni Events Faculty & Staff President Students

Freeze-framing a day to remember

As faculty march to the stage, anticipation and fulfillment blend on a student's radiant face.

Pennsylvania College of Technology held its Fall 2018 commencement on Saturday, Dec. 22, in the Community Arts Center, bringing down the curtain − as winter officially arrives and the new year nears − on another season of academic success. The student speaker was Katherine Lynne Mertes, of Williamsport, who was awarded a bachelor’s degree in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration. Also addressing the Class of ’18 was Joanna K. Flynn, associate professor of mathematics, who was presented with the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award in May. Civil engineering technology alumna Margaret A. Jackson received the Alumni Achievement Award during the ceremony, at which more than 300 degrees were conferred by college President Davie Jane Gilmour and Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC Susquehanna and a member of the college’s Board of Directors.

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Faculty & Staff Students

Children’s ‘Wish List’ fulfilled by college family

Destined to make the holidays merrier for local boys and girls, gifts await pickup near the Student Activities Office.
Destined to make the holidays merrier for local boys and girls, gifts await pickup near the Student Activities Office.

Gadalla, an aviation maintenance technology major from Mechanicsburg, shuttles the colorful bounty to a transport cart ...
Gadalla, an aviation maintenance technology major from Mechanicsburg, shuttles the colorful bounty to a transport cart …

... and helps Steve Wenzel, gym coordinator at The Salvation Army, during the load-in.
… and helps Steve Wenzel, gym coordinator at The Salvation Army, during the load-in.

The generosity of Penn College employees and students will once again benefit the greater campus community, as the Wish List Tree generated 80 gifts for local children aged 3 months to 12 years. The Office of Campus and Community Engagement facilitated donations, which were collected in the Bush Campus Center for pickup by The Salvation Army. Community Peer Educator David A. Gadalla organized the ornament gift tags, decorated the tree and helped load the presents for their joyful delivery.
Photos by Katie L. Mackey, director of campus and community engagement

Business & Hospitality Construction & Design Technologies Faculty & Staff General Information Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Nursing & Health Sciences Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Students Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies

Farm Show offers ‘inspiring’ look at college’s varied majors

School of Business & Hospitality majors from Penn College take part in a Student Cooking Challenge at the 2018 Pennsylvania Farm Show. All six of the college’s academic schools will again be represented at the Jan. 5-12 event, the nation’s largest indoor agricultural expo. (Photo by Davey Rudy)

Throngs of visitors will soon converge on Harrisburg to celebrate the commonwealth’s agricultural prominence, and Pennsylvania College of Technology students and employees will be there to help honor the event’s 2019 theme of “Inspiring Pennsylvania’s Story.”

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Accounting & Finance Brewing & Fermentation Science Business & Hospitality Business & Hospitality Management Digital Media & Marketing Faculty & Staff Innovation & Entrepreneurism Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Technology Management

Papers to be published in Journal of Business Leadership

From left, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Chip Baumgardner, associate professor of business administration: management; Lisa Andrus, dean of business and hospitality; and Steven J. Moff, professor of business administration: management and marketing, presented papers at the annual conference of the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International, earning “Best Paper of Session” honors. Andrus also chaired the conference. Timothy L. Yarrington (not pictured), instructor of brewing and fermentation science, co-wrote one of the papers.

Two papers presented by Pennsylvania College of Technology employees at the annual conference of the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International were selected “Best Session Paper” and will be invited to be published in the Journal of Business Leadership.

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Building Construction Construction & Design Technologies Faculty & Staff Students

Concrete industry welcomes tomorrow’s workforce

Apropos the hands-on education in their school of choice, Penn College students were granted access to real-world equipment.
Apropos the hands-on education in their school of choice, Penn College students were granted access to real-world equipment.

Students and faculty oblige their hosts for a fun photo op.
Students and faculty oblige their hosts for a fun photo op.

Penn College construction majors traveled to Malvern this month for an eye-opening perspective on the commercial concrete industry. Instructors Franklin H. Reber and Harry W. Hintz Jr. accompanied students from their Concrete Construction (BCT238) classes on a visit to Forcine Concrete & Construction Co. “The company took a lot of consideration into the presentation of what they do,” said Josh E. Rosenberger, of Chambersburg, a residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration major. “We got our hands on everything from power trowels to pump trucks to total stations. We sat through several information sessions throughout the day pertaining to Forcine and its sister company, Durable Surfaces. Coming from a residential background, I was flabbergasted to hear that they pour over 1,000 yards of concrete per day with a crew of five or six.” Students were permitted to operate equipment – both at headquarters and at a nearby site where a pour had just occurred – and were given an extensive tour of the facility. “Forcine Concrete is very encouraged to finally have found a partner in Penn College that is teaching the next generation work skills that we can utilize in our growing industry,” said Derek Cressman, president of Durable Surfaces, who, given the caliber of students that visited, said company officials look forward to maintaining the relationship with the college. Of the students in attendance, five are enrolled in the concrete science technology major that began during the just-ended Fall 2018 semester (and can be completed in only one year beyond a building construction technology degree). The first cohort of students from the new major will enter their internship experience this summer.
Photos provided