Penn College’s Fall 2020 plan for the return of in-person instruction was announced Friday morning by President Davie Jane Gilmour, who matched that commitment with assurances to students and parents alike of the expansive pandemic protocols “to mitigate risk and offer safe interaction on campus.”
News about Faculty & Staff
Alumni Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff General Information Students Welding
Penn College welding faculty, students build ‘Living Chapel’
A massive structure meant to encourage the “ecological awakening of humanity” can trace its foundation across the Atlantic Ocean to the welding expertise and facilities offered at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Nine instructors and 15 students spent 10 weeks fabricating the structural framework for the Living Chapel, unveiled this week at the Botanical Garden of Rome during Global Catholic Climate Movement activities. Its formal unveiling via streaming video is scheduled for June 5, U.N. World Environment Day.
When social distancing rules permit, the open-air sanctuary – made of aluminum and recyclable and repurposed materials – will be placed at the Vatican before being moved to its permanent home in Assisi, Italy, the birthplace of St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology, whose small church provided the footprint for the Living Chapel.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, what it’s going to mean to everybody,” said James N. Colton II, assistant professor of welding, who led the Penn College fabrication team. “It’s definitely a big deal.”
Brewing & Fermentation Science Business, Arts & Sciences Faculty & Staff
Brewing instructor offers insights at honors colloquium
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s brewing and fermentation science instructor shared his expertise at Susquehanna University earlier in the Spring 2020 semester as part of its yearlong Honors Sophomore Colloquium.
Timothy L. Yarrington presented “The Piracy of Brewing: How Brewers Exploit Natural Systems for Personal Pleasure and Financial Gain” at the colloquium, which has focused on the topic of alcohol as part of the centenary of Prohibition.
Dental Hygiene Faculty & Staff General Information Nursing & Health Sciences Students
Speaker provides timely inspiration to dental hygiene students
Last week, the Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene program held a special event for its first- and second-year students, engaging an international motivational speaker who is well-known in the dental field to speak with students via videoconference.
“Our students have been going through such turmoil during this COVID-19 pandemic, that we felt the need to lift their spirits,” said Shawn A. Kiser, the college’s director of dental hygiene.
Diesel & Power Generation Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Heavy Equipment Students
Diesel instructor receives Caterpillar ‘Pathfinder’ award
A member of the diesel equipment technology faculty has been honored by Pennsylvania College of Technology and Caterpillar Inc. with the annual “Pathfinder to Excellence” award.
John D. Motto, an instructor at the college’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood, is the latest recipient of an award presented since 2003 to someone who “develops effective teaching techniques, enhances learning materials, demonstrates a keen sensitivity to student needs and maintains high academic standards.”
Art & Graphic Design Business, Arts & Sciences Faculty & Staff
Graphic design faculty art exhibited in Lithuania
Six wood engravings created by David M. Moyer, assistant professor of graphic design at Pennsylvania College of Technology, captured the first place prize in an exhibition at the Vilnius Graphic Art Center in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The exhibition, the 10th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms Vilnius 2020, was on display March 10 through April 4.
Aviation Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students
Penn College aviation students receive industry scholarships
Four Pennsylvania College of Technology students were recently awarded aviation scholarships: two from the Helicopter Foundation International/Helicopter Association International and two from Women in Aviation International.
All four are enrolled in the four-year aviation maintenance technology major, based at Penn College’s Lumley Aviation Center in Montoursville.
Alumni Faculty & Staff
Paramedics serve amid uncertainties during pandemic
In a word, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in “uncertainty.”
Kyle G. Stavinski, a 2015 graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s emergency medical services major who is a full-time critical care flight paramedic and educator for Geisinger’s Life Flight, part-time paramedic with Susquehanna Regional EMS and a part-time paramedic instructor at the college, says that, while danger has always been inherent to the work of emergency medical technicians and paramedics, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new causes for uncertainty.
Faculty & Staff Students
Penn College grads commissioned in online ROTC ceremony
Six Pennsylvania College of Technology seniors were among eight Bald Eagle Battalion Army ROTC cadets commissioned as second lieutenants Saturday during a virtual ceremony, the culmination of their four-year transformation from cadets to officers.
With family members and other supporters joining them in person and on computer screens, Penn College students sworn into service are Hayden N. Beiter, of Cogan Station; Casey A. Curtin, of Berwick; Alex Hackenberg, of Middleburg; William M. Johnson, of Glen Mills; Jordan H. Murray, of Chambersburg; and Austin S. Weinrich, of Jenkintown. Curtin is a plastics and polymer engineering technology major; Hackenberg is enrolled in information technology: network specialist concentration; and Beiter, Johnson, Murray and Weinrich are graduating this year in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration.
Architecture & Sustainable Design Construction & Design Technologies Faculty & Staff Gallery Students
Online architecture exhibit showcases students’ talents
Celebrating the talents of graduating seniors, Architecture & Sustainable Design 2020 is viewable on The Gallery at Penn College’s webpage.
The online exhibit showcases the work of students earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s building science and sustainable design major.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a May 14 opening reception was planned for the exhibit in The Gallery at Penn College; however, a shift from the physical space to an online showing was required.
Art & Graphic Design Faculty & Staff Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Students
Graphic design students offer perspective in remote roundtable
A half-hour Zoom conversation among three Pennsylvania College of Technology graphic design majors, moderated by instructor Nicholas L. Stephenson, provides potential students and their families with valuable insight on the collaborative and rigorous four-year program. Join Ali D. Petrizzi, of Langhorne; Joey M. Morrin, of Morrisville; and Hailee B. Mercy, of Felton, as they discuss their decision to attend Penn College, their classes and projects, their adaptation to online-only learning, what they like best about their chosen career field, and much more.
Faculty & Staff Industrial Design Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Students
Penn College student creates board game for senior project
An industrial design student at Pennsylvania College of Technology has “rolled the dice” with his senior project. And his move looks like a winning one.
Cullen S. Berfield, of Jersey Shore, has designed a board game for his capstone. Complete with innovative rules, dice, player pieces, boards and cards, the unique endeavor marries his affinity for strategy games with his artistic instincts.
“I’ve always loved board games because they bring people together,” Berfield explained. “Bringing people together for a chunk of time, whether it be for a half hour or a few hours, is something that I find special.”
Alumni Faculty & Staff Landscape/Horticulture Students Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies
A grateful college brings May flowers
Plants nurtured throughout the pandemic by the horticultural hands at Penn College’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center brought a burst of National Nurses Week sunshine to UPMC Susquehanna campuses Thursday. About 850 potted flowers and hanging baskets, originally cultivated for a plant sale, were delivered to Williamsport, Divine Providence, Muncy, Lock Haven, Cole (Coudersport) and Wellsboro hospitals for distribution to nurses – among the tireless health care workers on the front line of a global health crisis. A troupe of ESC faculty and staff, General Services employees and a college alumnus/retiree loaded and unloaded the colorful cargo at hospital campuses in Lycoming and Clinton counties; UPMC handled transport to the Northern Tier locations. Helping to keep the greenhouse stock thriving in students’ absence were horticulture faculty; Wyatt C. Forest, laboratory assistant for horticulture; and Sean C. Golden, a landscape/horticulture technology: plant production emphasis student and work study employee.
Alumni Faculty & Staff Students
Student Development Assistants team up with alumni to honor faculty
Recognizing the impact that faculty have had on their Pennsylvania College of Technology experience and that of their peers, Student Development Assistants expressed their gratitude during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 4-8).
Handwritten notecards, emails, social media posts, videos and a blog were shared while Penn College students were completing coursework remotely.
Faculty & Staff President Students
No on-campus instruction on May 11
Pennsylvania College of Technology has further revised plans for completing the Spring 2020 semester, postponing Monday’s intended reopening for limited in-person coursework. In asking for students’ continued patience as the institution weighs its academic diligence against broader health concerns, President Davie Jane Gilmour vowed that case-by-case guidance for all affected students will be issued by May 15.