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College celebrates expanded welding lab, industry partners

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour deftly wields a plasma cutter to sever a metal ribbon during a dedication ceremony for a greatly expanded welding facility at the college.

An expanded and enhanced welding lab – at 55,000-plus square feet, believed to be the largest such facility in higher education nationwide – was dedicated on Feb. 6 at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The Welding Expansion Project, funded in part by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, added 35,000 square feet of instructional space to the lab in the college’s Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, allowing for enrollment of up to 60 more welding students annually – more than 300 in total.

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Gilmour named to NCAA Division III Presidents Council

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour was appointed recently to serve on the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, the highest governing body for Division III athletics.

Gilmour, who has served on the NCAA Division III Chancellors/Presidents Advisory Group, began serving her four-year term in January.

Presidents Council establishes and directs the general policy of Division III and establishes its strategic plan. It may also make recommendations to the Board of Governors, the NCAA’s highest governing body, on matters related to Division III championships, and approve the use of funds allocated to the division.

Faculty & Staff General Information President

Gilmour elected vice chair of MSCHE, Executive Committee

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour has been named vice chair for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education – a nonprofit association performing peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges – and its Executive Committee.

Middle States serves higher education institutions in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other geographic areas in which the Commission conducts accrediting activities.

The Executive Committee consists of seven members elected annually by the Commission, including officers. The Executive Committee has authority to act on behalf of the Commission as necessary between meetings to continue operations of the corporation, as well as to take action on accreditation and institutional membership. It includes administrative, faculty and public representatives.

Alumni President Scholarships

President, provost launch fund for new-student scholarships

A fund established to develop an innovative scholarship program at Pennsylvania College of Technology will empower a group of alumni to aid in the college’s recruitment activities.

The Tomorrow Makers Fund, created with philanthropic support from Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour and Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs/provost, will be promoted by engaged alumni who are participating in the college’s Tomorrow Makers Program as they help recruit the next generation of “Tomorrow Makers.”

“Our alumni are an invaluable resource in recruiting new students,” Gilmour said. “What better way to convince someone to enroll here than by having them hear directly from a graduate who had a great experience at Penn College and went on to find success in his or her professional career. I am proud to support a program that facilitates this unique scholarship opportunity.”

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President nurtures seeds of success during all-college message

Midway through the academic year and at the on-ramp to a metamorphic new decade, transformation – the college’s internal modifications to enhance students’ life-altering opportunities – was very much on the mind of President Davie Jane Gilmour during Friday’s Spring 2020 kickoff. “Like any other organization or institution, we need to assess, adjust, change and adapt. This assessment is an ongoing process and will continue as we move through this spring semester,” she told faculty and staff assembled in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium. “I believe in our future, in the power of a Penn College education and in our ability to change lives.”

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Partnership extends scholarship support to ‘YES’ program grads

A partnership between Pennsylvania College of Technology and the Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Council is creating a scholarship opportunity for YES (Your Employability Skills) Northeast Program graduates who enroll at the college. Administered by the council, YES is a year-round elective course addressing the shortfall of basic skills that employers say are lacking in many job applicants. Celebrating the partnership recently are (from left) Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management/associate provost at Penn College; Courtney L. Fasnacht, executive director of the Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Council; NEPA MAEC President Darlene J. Robbins; Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour; Matt Shuey, communications and program director for the council; and Audriana L. Empet, the college’s director of admissions.

The Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Council and Pennsylvania College of Technology have announced a partnership and a scholarship opportunity for YES (Your Employability Skills) Northeast Program graduates.

YES, which is administered by the council, is a 120-hour, one-credit, year-round elective course that addresses the shortfall of basic skills that employers say are lacking in many job applicants. The course covers 38 modules in all, including communication, team building, interview/resume/cover letter writing, completing a job application, personal finance, conflict resolution, and time management.

Alumni Events Faculty & Staff President Sports Students

‘Wildcat Pride’ abundantly displayed at combined celebration

Brandon R. Weirman (center), a freshman in electrical technology from Audubon, enjoys a photo op with his parents, sister and grandmother.

The fourth annual Homecoming and Parent & Family Weekend (Oct. 4-6) provided another exhaustive opportunity for alumni, current students and families to (re)connect. The celebration opened with Friday’s 40th reunion of the dental hygiene program, a blazing bonfire, Hall of Fame banquet and convivial tent party; continued Saturday with a presidential breakfast, car show, scenic bus excursions, tours of academic labs, a golf tournament, on-campus sporting events, the dedication of UPMC Field and celebration of corporate benefactors, arts and crafts, a 40th anniversary paramedic commemoration and an alumni event at New Trail Brewing Co.; and concluded Sunday with an intrasquad baseball game. And the numbers were as impressive as the activities. More than 400 alumni and guests returned for Homecoming (double the alumni attendance from a year ago) and another 370 families – amounting to nearly 1,000 overall guests – participated in Parent & Family Weekend.

President STEM Workforce Development

President delivers keynote remarks at statewide conference

"We must continue to seek new ways to encourage more youth – and more career-changers – to enter STEM fields of study," President Davie Jane Gilmour concludes. "Our economic future depends on it." — “We must continue to seek new ways to encourage more youth – and more career-changers – to enter STEM fields of study,” President Davie Jane Gilmour concludes. “Our economic future depends on it.”

Penn College’s president was among the keynote speakers as the two-day Pennsylvania Home Performance Conference & Trade Show kicked off Monday at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College.

Davie Jane Gilmour talked about how the college’s time-tested strategy of hands-on education mitigates the skills gap and promotes lifelong careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Alumni Corporate Relations Events Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies PIRC Plastics & Polymer President STEM Workforce Development

Dedication held for Shell-funded plastics facility at Penn College

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour (right) presents a timeline of the college’s plastics program – capped with Shell Polymers’ funding of the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence – to Hilary Mercer, vice president, Pennsylvania Chemicals, for Shell. The center was dedicated in ceremonies taking place Sept. 24.

The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence was unveiled Sept. 24, and Shell was honored for its generous support for facilities that aid in the instruction of aspiring plastics professionals at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

In a dedication ceremony attended by representatives of the college and Shell and a host of industry partners and stakeholders, participants celebrated the enhanced and upgraded academic and research lab, located in the Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center at Penn College.

The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence will boost the college’s efforts to produce highly skilled graduates for the plastics industry while helping to ease the skills gap in plastics manufacturing. It also enables the college – which operates the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center – to assist plastics companies with research and development and the training of incumbent workers.

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Collegial campus officially says, ‘Welcome!’

Wrestling and Residence Life team members revel in a fun moment with President Davie Jane Gilmour. From left are Dylan R. Gettys (wrestler), Terrance E. Davis, Residence Life upperclassmen area coordinator; Richard E. Shnyder, assistant wrestling coach; Gilmour; Resident Assistant Joseph “Joey” C. Suto; Colin J. Jens (wrestler) and head wrestling coach Jamie R. Miller.

Oppressive heat was no match for Saturday’s impressive help to first-year students, as accessible members of the campus community eased the anxiety and/or excitement of entire collegiate carloads. Anecdotal evidence confirmed a corresponding drop in stress levels with every helping hand, and – as there was ample representation from administration, faculty/staff, alumni, student-athletes and their classmates – that’s a lot of hands! The first day of Welcome Weekend ended with a convocation procession into Rose Street Commons, along with introductory remarks, the return of a favorite hypnotist and fireworks to light the official start of the Fall 2019 semester. Activities continued Sunday, including a special orientation focused on the challenges that veterans and military students may face in their first-year transition to college. And on Monday, students grabbed their schedules, campus maps, a steely dose of confidence … and snacks from Wildcat Welcome stations conveniently located on the road to early morning classes.

Faculty & Staff President

Semester of ‘exploration, cooperation and collaboration’ begins

With the undeniable promise (and inevitable hiccups) of the 2019-20 year front and center on the agenda, Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour met with faculty and staff Thursday morning to chart a confident course for the fall semester. After recapping a typically busy summer – marked by newsworthy accomplishments across the board, some of them record-breaking – she closed with a deliberative strategy for navigating the not-so-smooth path. “We have serious challenges ahead,” the president told her all-college audience in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium, “and we can meet them with a commitment to our mission and to continued exploration, cooperation and collaboration. It will require careful and measured use of our resources. I have full faith that we will respond to the urgency at hand.”

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Little Leaguers enjoy food, fellowship on eve of Series play

The very definition of a "good sport," Penn College Police Officer Jeffrey E. Kriner makes a fashion statement in a photo op with Mexico players from Guadalupe, Nuevo León. "Making a child smile takes little effort," Kriner explained, "but leaves a lifetime of memories."

With convenient proximity to the start of Wednesday’s Grand Slam Parade route, and historic community ties to Little League Baseball, Pennsylvania College of Technology warmly welcomed visitors to the 73rd annual Little League Baseball World Series (Aug. 15-25). For the 11th year, the college hosted a Wednesday picnic for players, coaches, team “uncles,” umpires and officials outside the Bush Campus Center; students and employees also participated in the evening’s parade through Williamsport, for which five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson served as grand marshal.

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Heartfelt commemoration keeps alive a powerhouse legacy

"I will continue to brag that I am Veronica Muzic's daughter," Laycock proudly admits, adding a special wish for her mother: "I hope Part II of your 'new adventure' is the trip of a lifetime."

A “life celebration” of Veronica M. Muzic, an inspiration to students and colleagues throughout nearly five decades as a faculty member and administrator, was held Saturday in Penn College’s Student & Administrative Services Center. The three-and-a-half-hour gathering attracted a cross-section of those who benefited from Muzic’s no-nonsense counsel and dedicated leadership – family, faculty/staff, former students and community members – and who marked the day with remembrance, reverent and otherwise, sprinkling their anecdotes with laughter and honest tears. Among those offering remarks were Marcianne Muzic Laycock, one of the honoree’s two daughters; niece Lisa Halberstadt, who read “When Great Trees Fall” by Maya Angelou (a March 1987 visitor to Williamsport Area Community College as part of a Women’s Series initiated by Muzic); President Davie Jane Gilmour; and Lynn Hanson, now a professor at Francis Marion University and co-director of the Baruch Institute for South Carolina Studies. The event also included music from a Williamsport Symphony Orchestra quartet and informal tours of “Veronica’s Garden” on the building’s second floor. Muzic, who died June 18 at the age of 82, joined WACC as an English instructor in 1968 and was awarded its first “Master Teacher” award in 1982. She retired as vice president for academic affairs/provost, served part time service as a special assistant to the president and holds emeritus faculty status.

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Appropriations boost recognizes college’s vital workforce role

The approved 2019-20 state budget delivers appropriation funding to Pennsylvania College of Technology reflecting its long history of success in producing skilled workers, while leveling the playing field with other publicly funded institutions in the commonwealth, the college’s board chair said Friday.

“Finally, Penn College is being recognized for the invaluable hands-on education and training it provides to students, who become highly skilled members of the workforce – addressing the skills gap that continues to impact industry and hinder the economy,” said Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the college’s Board of Directors. “All we have ever asked for is to be treated with parity in funding with other state institutions. With this budget, we have made real progress.”

Events General Information President

Little League, college hold ‘Send-Off to Cooperstown’ for Mussina

Little League International Board Chair Hugh E. Tanner (right) joins artist Fred Gilmour (left) and Mussina alongside a composite painting.

Little League International and Pennsylvania College of Technology sponsored a lively “Send-Off to Cooperstown” event Tuesday night for Montoursville’s own Mike Mussina, who will take his place among the ranks of baseball immortals next month.

Mussina, who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21 for a stellar 18-year pitching career with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, was honored in a 90-minute session at the Thompson Professional Development Center on the Penn College campus.

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