General Information

Drive-through alternative allows show to go on

The Community Arts Center is keeping alive a yearend custom – the Skip Hunsinger Christmas Spectacular – while exercising COVID-era caution. Inspired by an event held at the former Capitol Theater, which included a free movie and gifts for children, the Christmas Spectacular has become a holiday tradition. This year, however, pandemic protocols have prompted a novel approach. In an attempt to keep the event safe for the community, the 14th annual spectacular has become strictly a drive-through experience. From 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 5, cars can line up in front of the CAC (220 W. Fourth St.) to get a goodie bag for their kid(s) and enjoy a few socially distanced Christmas festivities, including a visit from Santa Claus! The volunteer corps will be joined by musical guests Repasz Brass, Repasz Winds and the Autumn Breeze Sax Quartet, which will play seasonal favorites.

General Information

Donation supports body cameras for Penn College Police

A donation from the Newberry Independent Club is supporting Penn College Police officers.

The organization, also known as the Polish Club for the ethnic group that founded it in 1933, has a long and rich history of community empowerment, assisting local families and organizations.

Past support includes the donation of K-9 units to the City of Williamsport and South Williamsport police departments. This year, the club is supporting the Penn College, Old Lycoming and South Williamsport police departments with $3,500 donations each.

General Information

To make a ‘lawn’ story short

Traditionally involved in smaller projects closer to their Schneebeli Earth Science Center home base, horticulture students unroll sod on a sizeable (and well-prepped) tract near the PDC.

Pallets of sod line the work site, as students diligently show what they've learned. — Pallets of sod line the work site, as students diligently show what they’ve learned.

A fresh blanket of green dazzles under twilight's illumination. — A fresh blanket of green dazzles under twilight’s illumination.

The Penn College grounds department worked with horticulture students to install sod alongside the Thompson Professional Development Center earlier this week. General Services readied the area and delivered 2,500 square feet of sod in time for Monday’s 2 p.m. Turf Management class with horticulture instructor Justin Shelinski and Wyatt C. Forest, laboratory assistant for horticulture. Grounds personnel recently completed a new landscape design and adjusted the bed edges, creating a larger section of turf … but, due to the lack of rain, crews couldn’t get the grass to grow. So, when Shelinski asked if any campus spaces were in need of sod, General Services readily offered the PDC area for students’ hands-on involvement.
Photos provided by Andrea L. Dildine, General Services horticulturist/grounds and motor pool manager

General Information

Student photographer’s eye records fall’s magnificence

Leaves make their way groundward, honoring the calendar's cyclical inevitability. — Leaves make their way groundward, honoring the calendar’s cyclical inevitability.

Seasonal color overtakes the College Avenue Labs water feature.

The southern hills are splattered by nature's paint job, as is the foliage that lines the campus mall. — The southern hills are splattered by nature’s paint job, as is the foliage that lines the campus mall.

The fire pit on the Bush Campus Center patio comfortably combats the chill.

Fall near the Field House: When even the Wildcat can't resist leaf-peeping! — Fall near the Field House: When even the Wildcat can’t resist leaf-peeping!

No less a weather authority than Winnie-the-Pooh greeted autumn’s arrival with a glee that resounded through the Hundred Acre Wood, and his message is one that “bears” repeating. Travel Penn College’s main campus with Public Relations & Marketing’s Tim Wegman and celebrate “a time of hot chocolatety mornings and toasty marshmallow evenings, and best of all, leaping into leaves!”

General Information

Service to be scheduled for former foundation member

A celebration-of-life ceremony will be held in the spring for Philip R. Boob Sr., a former member of the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors, who died Monday, Oct. 19, at age 80. The Montoursville resident enjoyed a full career in aviation, with employment at Airmotive Corp. in Lock Haven; at Piper Aircraft there and in Vero Beach, Florida; and as president of Textron’s Lycoming Division from 1984-97. He served on the foundation board from 1993 to 2005, and on its executive committee from 1995 to 2003. A full obituary, including details on making contributions to a memorial scholarship to benefit aviation students, was published in Wednesday’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

General Information

Penn College offering free FAFSA assistance

The Financial Aid Office at Pennsylvania College of Technology is providing assistance for current and future college students and their families to complete the 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA is required by colleges and universities to determine student eligibility for federal and state grants, federal loans and some scholarships. The college is hosting a free FAFSA completion group session on its main campus and offering one-on-one help in the Financial Aid Office.

Registration is required for both options.

Faculty & Staff General Information Students

Guest readers celebrate child care center’s vital mission

The president visits with "Birds" at the CLC. (Photo by Tiffany L. Tyhanic, Children's Learning Center group leader) — The president visits with “Birds” at the CLC. (Photo by Tiffany L. Tyhanic, Children’s Learning Center group leader)

In honor of “Celebrating Campus Children’s Centers Week” (Oct. 5-9), Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour visited the Dunham Children’s Learning Center to read the story “Fall Leaves Fall!” to children.

In return, children from the Birds Nest presented Gilmour with a thank-you card that looked just like the owls they had made in class.

The Bears Bunch also had a guest reader as part of the celebration. Hillary E. Hofstrom, the college’s vice president for human resources, and a past parent of the center, read the book “Duncan and Delores.”

Dining Services Faculty & Staff General Information Students

Dining Services’ COVID response noted in national trade publication

Penn College Dining Services’ efforts to maintain continuity during the coronavirus pandemic, both during a spring shutdown and after in-person instruction resumed with the fall semester, are featured in the Summer 2020 cover story of Campus Dining Today, published by The National Association of College & University Food Services: Campus Dining Today

General Information Students

Center receives grant to assist students with child care costs

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Dunham Children’s Learning Center was granted $92,118 from the U.S. Department of Education to help reduce fees for eligible students whose children are enrolled at the early childhood education facility in 2020-21.

General Information Penn College at Wellsboro Workforce Development

EMT course scheduled at four area sites for spring semester

An Emergency Medical Technician course, beginning the week of Jan. 19 and running through early May, will be offered at four locations by Workforce Development at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The course meets the National Emergency Medical Services Educational Standards and Instructional Guidelines and is intended to prepare students for National Registry cognitive and psychomotor examinations at the EMT level.

General Information

Board authorizes Penn College/Community Arts Center merger

The Community Arts Center hosts a Penn College commencement ceremony.

Pennsylvania College of Technology and the Community Arts Center, its wholly owned subsidiary, can proceed with plans to merge their corporations, which will effectively transfer administrative oversight of the CAC to the college.

The Penn College Board of Directors on Thursday approved the consolidation proposal. Before being finalized, the merger must also be approved by the Charitable Trusts and Organization Section of the state Attorney General’s Office and the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas.

General Information

Board OKs CAC merger, emeritus actions, property sale

The Pennsylvania College of Technology Board of Directors on Thursday authorized a merger with the Community Arts Center, approved emeritus status for three retired faculty members and gave the green light for the sale of a 425-acre property in Nippenose Township.

The board also approved parameters for its 2021-22 state budget request and reelected its slate of officers for 2020-21.

Brewing & Fermentation Science Business, Arts & Sciences General Information

Brewing certificate begins Fall 2021 at Penn College

Starting in Fall 2021, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s associate-degree major in brewing and fermentation science will become a one-year certificate offering, reducing the time needed to complete the program, while maintaining the rigor and quality of the instruction.

Brewers are always tinkering, crafting new and better beers, and the same can be said for the innovative brewing education at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Starting in Fall 2021, the college’s brewing and fermentation science major is evolving from a two-year associate degree into a one-year certificate, narrowing the time it’ll take for students to move through the program, but maintaining the rigor and quality of the training. The certificate is designed for adults 21 and older who wish to work in the dynamic commercial brewing industry; ideal for either returning-to-education or recently graduated individuals.

Applications are now being accepted.

Events General Information Students

Thinking about community service? Here’s something to chew on!

Student Engagement provided all the materials with which to make a dog's day. — Student Engagement provided all the materials with which to make a dog’s day.

The second floor of the Bush Campus Center, equipped with the necessary technology for group instruction, also provides ample room to responsibly spread out.

Handcrafted with love, and destined for a doggie donation

Seventeen service-driven Penn College students, many of them representing campus organizations, took part in the Office of Student Engagement’s recent “(community) Service Saturday” in Penn’s Inn. “We made dog toys from T-shirts and dog-friendly tennis balls using a ‘recipe’ packet I compiled and watching YouTube video tutorials,” said Shannon L. Skaluba, student organization and information center specialist, who facilitated the Sept. 12 activity (and provided the accompanying photos). “Many learned how to tie square knots during the event, an essential skill in making homemade dog toys. We had a great time!” The box of toys fashioned by the properly masked and socially distanced group will be donated to the Lycoming County SPCA. “(community) Service Saturday” events, held the second Saturday of the month, provide Penn College students with opportunities to volunteer within the Greater Williamsport area. The next will be held from 9-11 a.m. Oct. 10, when participants will clean up off-campus neighborhoods and Ways Garden. All appropriate supplies will be provided; the group will meet in front of the ACC for 9 a.m. Those interested should sign up in advance by submitting the “(community) Service Saturday” registration form on the Student Engagement portal page. Questions? Email the office for answers!

General Information

Community Arts Center merger with Penn College proposed

The Community Arts Center hosts a Penn College commencement ceremony in 2017.

Pennsylvania College of Technology is recommending a merger of its corporation with that of the Community Arts Center, a wholly owned subsidiary of the college, pending approvals by the college’s Board of Directors and state and county entities.

Costs related to both the operations and infrastructure of the Arts Center are largely, and increasingly, subsidized by Penn College, although the center also relies upon philanthropic support from the community (led by the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania), as well as local government and Visitors Bureau grant funding, and investment from a partnership with Lycoming College, now in its fourth year.

Nevertheless, the venue’s closure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the need to identify significant efficiencies for the long-term sustainability of the facility.

Older posts

Newer posts