College Transitions

College Transitions Events Faculty & Staff

‘Readiness’ conference fortifies educators’ toolkit

Randy J. Zangara, dean of college transitions and first year initiatives, welcomes educators in the Student & Administrative Services Center.

Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management/associate provost, corrects misconceptions that she hears about Penn College.

Educators board trolleys to visit the Schneebeli Earth Science Center and the Lumley Aviation Center. Tours were available in each of the college’s six academic schools.

Middle school and high school educators got a close-up view of the offerings at Penn College on Friday, courtesy of the College & Career Readiness Conference, hosted by the college’s College Transitions and First Year Initiatives Office. The educators, many of them school counselors who serve as an important resource for students as they consider their futures, toured Penn College’s academic facilities and attended sessions geared toward middle school educators, high school educators, and the skills gap in advanced manufacturing.

Accounting & Finance Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Brewing & Fermentation Science Business & Hospitality Business & Hospitality Management College Transitions Collision Repair & Restoration Digital Media & Marketing Early Childhood Education Electrical Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Engineering Design Technology Events Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Information Technology Nursing & Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Assistant Physical Therapist Assistant Radiography Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications STEM Students Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies

High-schoolers preview not-so-distant future at Career Day

Chef Craig A. Cian, associate professor of hospitality management/culinary arts, helps a student from the Lycoming Career & Technology Center to form pizza dough.

Career Day brought hundreds of ninth-12th graders to campus on Thursday to explore more than 30 activities offered by employees and students to help high-schoolers learn about the wide variety of career options available to them. The event is coordinated by the College Transitions and First Year Initiatives Office.

College Transitions Dining Services Events Faculty & Staff Students

The world at your fingertips

Trio Los Claveles, from Rochester, N.Y., entertains dinner patrons.

Students line up for tasty dishes "from the kitchen." — Students line up for tasty dishes “from the kitchen.”

Naim N. Jabour, assistant professor of architecture, stands ready to discuss an upcoming trip to Spain.

Penn College offers a growing number of study abroad programs, from short-term stays to semesterlong adventures and internships.

Students this week took note of Penn College’s place in the global community, from cultural celebration to international study. Tuesday’s Hispanic Heritage Dinner, a collaboration of Student Engagement and Dining Services in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), filled Capitol Eatery with authentic cuisine and live music. On Wednesday, in a Global Experiences Expo facilitated by College Transitions & First Year Initiatives, faculty and students who have traveled abroad answered questions outside the Keystone Dining Room about their experiences.
Photos by Juvy A. Orillaza, student photographer

College Transitions Faculty & Staff General Information Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Information Technology STEM

NSF cybersecurity grant extended for Penn College

The National Science Foundation recently rewarded Pennsylvania College of Technology’s commitment to tomorrow’s cybersecurity workforce by extending a grant for an additional year.

The grant – “Improving the Pipeline: After-School Model for Preparing Cyber Defense and Information Assurance Professionals” – facilitates interaction between information technology faculty and high school students to introduce rewarding career possibilities in cybersecurity.

Art and Graphic Design Automated Manufacturing & Machining Automotive Building Construction Business & Hospitality Civil Engineering & Surveying College Transitions Communication & Literature Construction & Design Technologies Digital Media & Marketing Emergency Management Events Faculty & Staff Ford Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Landscape/Horticulture Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Students Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies

Career Day sets middle schoolers’ sights on tomorrow

Led by Franklin H. Reber, instructor of building construction technology, and students, Career Day visitors create concrete stepping stones.

College employees rallied to provide nearly 40 educational sessions for middle schoolers from across the region who visited campus on Monday for the college’s twice-a-year Career Day. Facilitated by the college’s College Transitions Office, the event provided 1,267 students with opportunities to explore a wide variety of careers in each of the college’s six academic schools. Visitors included 13 schools and home-schooled students.

Automotive College Transitions Construction & Design Technologies Faculty & Staff Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Information Technology Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Students Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies

Dual-enrollment students attend Penn College NOW visit days

Daniel J. Harris, instructor of HVAC technology, talks with a group about classes in air conditioning and refrigeration while showing them a lab.

More than 400 high school students, all enrolled in Penn College classes at their respective high school or career and technology center, visited campus on Friday. A visit to campus is a required part of every course offered through the college’s Penn College NOW dual-enrollment program. The program offers Penn College classes at more than 50 partner secondary-education facilities throughout the state. College Transitions and First Year Initiatives hosts visits for participating schools throughout the year. To ensure that courses offered through Penn College NOW maintain the same rigor as those offered on campus, secondary teachers work with Penn College faculty liaisons who train them to teach the course curriculum, visit each school at least once a year, and grade high school students’ final projects. In addition to hosting Penn College NOW student visits – including a March 19 trip, also documented in this photo gallery – College Transitions and First Year Initiatives conducts frequent group visits for other secondary students, providing college and career exploration, including a campus tour. On April 2, Lycoming Career and Technology Center plans to bring 200 students to campus for sessions with Career Services, the Academic Success Center and more.

College Transitions Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer

Students explore plastics careers during campus visits

PlastiVan educator Elizabeth Egan demonstrates a particular polymer’s ability to absorb oil.

Joshua J. Rice, instructor of plastics technology, answers questions from Montoursville Area High School students about a speaker part molded on the college’s thermoformer.

Jose M. Perez, instructor of plastics technology, talks with visitors about the thermoforming lab and the hands-on learning that students do there.

Five area school districts who have students taking Penn College courses through the Penn College NOW dual enrollment program brought students to campus to gain a lesson in polymer chemistry from the Society of Plastics Engineers’ PlastiVan. They also toured the college’s plastics and polymer facilities. Feb. 19 brought a visit from the Jersey Shore High School and Sullivan County Middle School – which also attended a special session exploring personality types – and on Feb. 22, students from Montoursville Area High School, Central Mountain High School and Troy Middle School visited. The PlastiVan’s visit was sponsored by Sekisui SPI.

College Transitions Events Faculty & Staff Students

Young audience absorbed by STEM-onstrations

A pupil from the Sullivan County School District learns the principles of pneumatics, courtesy of West Pharmaceutical Services.

Organizations from across the region came together on Thursday on the Penn College campus to provide fun and educational activities in science, technology, engineering and math for elementary- and middle-school students. Families were invited to an evening event in the Field House, and during the day, fifth-graders from many area schools attended a sneak preview that also included a live science show by The Franklin Institute and the School of Business & Hospitality’s popular “Taste of Technology” presentation – complete with fun and delicious demonstrations of physical and chemical phase changes in food – by Chef Frank M. Suchwala, associate professor of hospitality management/culinary arts, and baking and culinary arts students. Students and employees from several other Penn College academic programs also participated. The event is coordinated on campus by the Office of College Transitions and First Year Initiatives and sponsored by Penn College, Lycoming College and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

College Transitions Events Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer

Families invited to Science Festival on Feb. 21

Local businesses, colleges and other organizations will provide fun, hands-on STEM activities for elementary and middle school students during a Feb. 21 Science Festival in Penn College’s Field House. The free, public event is scheduled from 5-8 p.m.

Elementary and middle school students and their families are invited to a Science Festival on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus on Thursday, Feb. 21.

The festival is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. in the college’s Field House and features hands-on activities designed to spark excitement about science, math, engineering and technology.

The Field House will be filled with fun activities and demonstrations presented by local organizations that include businesses, high school and college faculty and students, and the Society of Plastics Engineers’ PlastiVan. The event is intended to make learning fun.

College Transitions Events Faculty & Staff Students

Career Day focuses teens’ attention on tomorrow’s potential

Students from North Penn-Mansfield High School have fun with therapy tools in the occupational therapy assistant lab.

Approximately 600 students from high schools across the state attended Career Day on Thursday, trying their hands at Penn College’s “degrees that work.” Faculty, staff and several students, giving up time from the Fall Break, provided 34 options for tours, demonstrations and hands-on activities. In addition, employees, students and vendors engaged another 800 high-schoolers in “PA Build My Future” activities.

College Transitions Construction & Design Technologies Events Faculty & Staff

Hundreds of secondary students attend PA Build My Future

Drilling five wood screws into a board, a student from Northern Tier Career Center attempts to “beat the clock” in a timed Pennsylvania Builder Association contest.

PA Build My Future – coordinated by Penn College’s Building Construction Technology Department, College Transitions, and the School of Construction & Design Technologies – hosted approximately 800 secondary students and their chaperones on campus Thursday. The day was designed to allow scores of businesses to engage the students through hands-on activities that display the breadth of opportunities in the construction and design industry, from skilled trades to management. Indoor exhibits were in the Carl Building Technologies Center, Hager Lifelong Education Center and Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center; outdoor exhibits were offered on campus parking lots. WNEP’s Kristina Papa visited campus for the event, which is an outgrowth of a Homebuilding Education Leadership Program grant through the National Housing Endowment. Her report aired during Thursday evening newscasts, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

College Transitions Faculty & Staff

Seasoned Administrator Named to Dean Position at Penn College

Pennsylvania College of Technology has named Randy J. Zangara dean of college transitions and first year initiatives.

As dean, Zangara is responsible for coordinating and aligning first-year programs and services and the development of a collegewide retention plan. He also oversees the Penn College NOW dual enrollment program; K-12 outreach; new student testing, advising and scheduling; and recruitment and retention of identified populations, including veteran students. Additionally, he oversees all aspects of international programming at the college.

College Transitions Corporate Relations General Information

PPL Gift Supports SMART Girls, Penn College NOW Programs

PPL Electric Utilities representatives Mary Baker (left), a forester for the company, and Tracie Witter, regional affairs director, gather with a team of campers who show off the robot they built during Penn College’s annual SMART Girls summer camp. PPL supported SMART Girls and the college’s dual-enrollment program through a $4,000 donation. Joining the group is Elizabeth A. Biddle (back row), director of corporate relations for the college.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s SMART Girls summer camp, which encourages high school-aged girls to continue challenging themselves in math and science at an age when many lose interest or confidence, convened last week.

Among supporters of the weeklong program was PPL Electric Utilities. PPL donated $4,000 to the college through the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. The funds are used to support both SMART Girls and the Penn College NOW dual-enrollment program.

College Transitions Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer

College Captures ‘Telly’ Award for Informational Video

A video promoting a program in which high school students earn college credit garnered honors for Pennsylvania College of Technology in the 39th annual Telly Awards competition, representing the best work from advertising agencies, television stations, production companies and publishers worldwide.

A Bronze Telly in the “Non-Broadcast – General-Information” category went to a news video titled “High Schoolers Earn Free College Credits with Penn College NOW,” which showcased the Penn College NOW dual-enrollment program.

College Transitions Events Faculty & Staff

Spring 2018 Career Day

A student from Midd-West Middle School prepares a mold in a session led by Franklin H. Reber that taught them to make concrete stepping stones.

The College Transitions Office hosted its Spring Career Day on Monday, welcoming 1,283 seventh- to ninth-graders from across northcentral Pennsylvania. Faculty provided more than 40 sessions in Penn College’s labs to help the visitors explore careers and learn about college expectations. Schools attending were Mifflin County Middle School, North Penn-Mansfield Jr./Sr. High School, Cowanesque Valley Junior-Senior High School, North Penn-Liberty Jr./Sr. High School, Milton Middle School, Midd-West Middle School, Jersey Shore Area Middle School and Canton High School.

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