News about Students

The Student & Administrative Services Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology will soon bear the name of retiring President Davie Jane Gilmour.

The college’s Board of Directors convened a special meeting to approve the action at a gala event honoring Gilmour’s 24-year presidency. The board also granted emeritus status to Gilmour, who retires June 30.

The Student & Administrative Services Center, known in campus shorthand as “the SASC,” houses offices for student services such as Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Veterans & Military, the LEAP Center (first-year student assistance) and more. The upper floors of the three-story facility, which opened in 2003, includes spaces for People & Culture (formerly Human Resources), Financial Operations, Information Technology Services, Public Relations & Marketing and executive offices, including the President’s Office and Academic Affairs.

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Nearly 140 campers from near and far participated in the past week’s seven Pre-College Programs, giving teens a taste of Penn College through an engrossing variety of academic adventure and social interaction: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience, Automotive Technology, Aviation, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs and Health Careers.

A second week of camps, featuring an equally tantalizing menu of opportunities spread among eight more programs, convenes in mid-July.  Registrants for both weeks hail from 14 states – some from as far away as Connecticut, Florida and Virginia – and include a camper from Santiago, Chile!

Don’t think high school students are the only ones in on the fun, however! Pre-College Programs include My Tomorrow, a middle school career exploration day camp sponsored by the Soars family, from June 28 to July 1 and July 12-15.

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The 36th Annual Penn College Foundation Golf Classic, featuring six-time PGA Tour winner Rocco Mediate, recently raised a record-setting $140,360 for student scholarships at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

With this year’s support, the Penn College Foundation Golf Classic Scholarship Fund now totals nearly $2.1 million. Proceeds from the annual Golf Classic and accumulated investment income created the endowed scholarship fund, one of the foundation’s largest.

Mediate, a Greensburg native who has also won three times on the Champions Tour, including the 2016 Senior PGA Championship, hosted a driving-range exhibition and played three holes with seven foursomes during the event, held at the Williamsport Country Club.

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Ready to see what hands-on learning is all about? Here’s a teasing glimpse of the action that’s set to unfold in the Pennsylvania College of Technology episode of The College Tour, produced nationally and streaming on Amazon Prime when Season Five drops on Aug. 31:

Now that your interest is piqued, watch the full episode at Penn College’s College Tour website. Filmed over five days during the spring semester and edited into 27 brisk minutes, the video features 10 standout students in dedicated segments: Ashlee Felix, human services & restorative justice (Business, Arts & Sciences); Caila N. Flanagan, who earned two business degrees (Wildcat Life); Alejandro F. Huaman, a building science & sustainable design: architectural technology concentration alumnus (Engineering Technologies); Dacia J. James, dental hygiene (Nursing & Health Sciences); Jesse D. Laird V, a nursing student and ROTC cadet (Commitment to Service); Danielle E. Malesky, construction management (Momentum Guaranteed); Maggie J. Mangene, a softball player and heating, ventilation & air conditioning design technology student (Stay Wild); Wesley S. McCray, an engineering design technology grad (Future Made by Hand); Kathryn A. Plankenhorn, physician assistant studies (Explore Campus & Beyond); and automotive technology management alumnus Dhruv Singh (Come Ready, Leave Prepared). After hearing their stories and getting the inside track on campus life, we’re sure you’ll agree with host Alex Boylan that “There’s so much to love here!”

After 17 years of racing, the Penn College Baja SAE team finally captured a coveted first-place finish. Twice. First in Tennessee and next in New York, the all-star team outperformed a strong field from around the world in the famed endurance event. “Going into Tennessee, we really didn’t know if we could do it. It was a lot more of a surprise,” said Dakota C. Harrison, of Lewisberry, Baja club vice president and one of two drivers for the endurance race. “By the time we finished Tennessee, that gave us the confidence to show up to Rochester. We knew that we could do it, but there’s so many things out on the track that could have taken us out at any time.” Rugged terrain, changing elevation, and tight turns were no match for the team’s grit and their buggy’s durability. Meet the team. Hear their story. And relive the victory that will fuel all future competitions.

Recent graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s landscape/plant production technology program were chosen for both of this year’s Fred Winter Memorial Awards for Excellence in Horticulture from the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture.

Rebecca Cornish, of Lewisburg, and Faith E. Mitchell, of Sunbury, will each receive $1,500 in conjunction with the awards, established as a long-term way to honor one of PSPA’s longtime members. The applications from Cornish and Mitchell “rose to the top of the pile” as the selection committee’s four judges sorted through a slate of excellent candidates, a society official told the winners.

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Thirty-four Pennsylvania College of Technology students – half of whom subsequently earned degrees last month – recently attained International Codes Council certification as Building Code Specialists.

The students comprised three sections of construction technology instructor Harry W. Hintz Jr.’s Codes in Construction class during the spring semester. To earn certificates, students had to score 70% or better on a 60-question, 2-hour-allotted, written examination on the building provisions of “The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.”

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Pennsylvania College of Technology has appointed experienced educator Nathaniel E. Woods Jr. to a newly created position: special assistant to the president for inclusion transformation.

Woods comes to Penn College from Grays Harbor College, Aberdeeen, Washington, where he is interim dean of workforce education and a tenured faculty member in human services.

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Meet Tucker D. Phillippe-Johansson, a member of the men’s tennis team who recently graduated with a bachelor’s in residential construction technology & management and an associate degree in building construction technology. “When I’m serving, usually I think about where I want to hit the ball before I do it,” the Mattituck, New York, resident says in a new Wildcat Spotlight video. “I kind of clear my mind so I don’t really think about anything else but the shot that I’m hitting.” It’s that singular focus that brought him success on and off the court, allowing him to compete collegiately and guaranteeing an immersive learning experience.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a 2022-23 total budget of $161.5 million calling for a 1.87% increase in tuition for in-state students.

The total budget represents a 3.22% increase over 2021-22. The operating budget for 2022-23 is $113.3 million.

The state appropriation is budgeted at $28.1 million, based on Gov. Tom Wolf’s state budget proposal, which prescribes a 5% increase for Penn College. The projected appropriation accounts for 17.4% of the college’s total budget and 24.8% of the operating budget.

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Mark R. Bierly and Shawn R. Simmons, both of whom graduated last month in automotive technology: Honda PACT emphasis, take viewers on a tour of Penn College’s automotive majors. In a newly released video, shot in their dwindling time as students, the pair discuss why they chose Penn College and what they like most about their program. “I knew that I wanted to do something that was hands-on and not sit behind a desk all day,” Simmons says. “When I found out about the eight-week classes and the eight-week paid internships, I was sold!” Bierly adds. They also show off the labs, explain the various degree options, and talk about the ease of leveling up from certificate to associate to bachelor’s.

During the past decade, Pennsylvania College of Technology emerged as a top contender in the prestigious Baja SAE endurance race with several top-10 finishes. During the past month, the Penn College team established itself as the best in the world with two victories.

Penn College topped a 77-car field in Palmyra, New York, on Sunday, June 5, to win the four-hour endurance race at Baja SAE Rochester. Three weeks earlier, the team captured the endurance competition at Baja SAE Tennessee Tech. At both events, Penn College bested the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Cornell, Rochester Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.

“I’m overwhelmed by the team’s performance,” said John G. Upcraft, instructor of manufacturing and machining and adviser to Penn College’s Baja SAE club since its inception 17 years ago. “Winning the race once was amazing, but winning twice in three weeks over such outstanding schools is unbelievable. I couldn’t be prouder!”

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Pennsylvania College of Technology awarded its first DAISY Awards in May to nursing student Britney S. Kattau, of Ephrata, and faculty member Karen L. Martin, associate professor of psychiatric nursing.

Award winners can be nominated by peers, colleagues, patients, families or alumni. Winners are selected by a committee in Penn College’s nursing program.

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Boalsburg residents Thomas C. and Rhonda R. Miller have created an endowed scholarship at Pennsylvania College of Technology to benefit students in the college’s automated manufacturing & machining and welding & metal fabrication programs.

Preference for the Thomas C. and Rhonda R. Miller Scholarship will be given to Penn College students who are enrolled full time; are Pennsylvania residents, with first preference to northcentral Pennsylvania; are enrolled in automated manufacturing & machining or welding & metal fabrication majors; and have successfully completed two semesters.

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A local custom furniture business is supporting Pennsylvania College of Technology students in their upcoming global experience in Alaska.

Zach Wahl, founder of Brick Mill Craft Furniture Co., based in Williamsport, donated $300 for 12 human services & restorative justice students to purchase travel-size toiletries and other necessities for their June service-learning trip.

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