PCToday

Your official news source for Pennsylvania College of Technology

Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business, Arts & Sciences Students

Summer restaurant internship develops skills, flexibility

Resourcefulness and flexibility became the theme of a summer culinary internship for Penn College student Janelle R. Becker, of Fort Loudon, due to changes in the restaurant industry associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Pennsylvania College of Technology culinary arts student Janelle R. Becker arranged for a summer internship with a Pittsburgh restaurant, she had hoped to enhance her kitchen skills. As a result of the coronavirus, she’s also practiced resourcefulness and flexibility.

Becker, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts and systems, completed most of her internship at Alta Via Ristorante, a modern Italian restaurant in O’Hara Township, just outside the Pittsburgh city line. The restaurant, part of the big Burrito Restaurant Group, gathers its influences from the fresh cuisine of the California wine country and the mountain towns of the Italian Alps.

Becker interviewed with Alta Via early in the spring semester, making arrangements for a summer internship well before cases of the coronavirus emerged in Pennsylvania.

Faculty & Staff

Penn College hires Children’s Learning Center director

Pennsylvania College of Technology has appointed Linda A. Reichert as director of the Dunham Children’s Learning Center.

Reichert has more than 16 years of experience in the early childhood education field. She has been a preschool and elementary school teacher and served as director at four child care centers, including the opportunity to open the Child Care Center at Hort Woods on Penn State’s main campus. She also led the ESPN Kidscare Center in Connecticut.

Alumni Electronics & Computer Engineering Technology Engineering Technologies

Penn College alum honored with NSF faculty award

The National Science Foundation recently honored Pennsylvania College of Technology alumnus Gregory C. Ditzler, a Lebanon County native, with a Faculty Early Career Development Award, the NSF’s most prestigious grant to faculty in their first academic assignment. Ditzler is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Arizona (which provided the photo).

A middling student in high school, Gregory C. Ditzler believes “the light” went on for him at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Today, he helps “flip the switch” for the next generation of students, an effort recognized by the National Science Foundation.

The NSF recently honored Ditzler with a Faculty Early Career Development Award, the agency’s most prestigious grant to faculty in their first academic assignment. Ditzler – an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Arizona – received $500,000 in funding for the next five years to support his academic and research endeavors in and out of the classroom.

“The award is about more than setting you up for five years of funding,” said Ditzler, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics and computer engineering technology from Penn College in 2008. “It’s about how it sets you up for the next 10 or 15 years of your career and where your research leads.”

Aviation Corporate Relations Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students

Executive trio donates corporate aircraft to Penn College

A CL-600 Challenger business jet donated to Penn College by a trio of corporate executives will be used for instructional purposes at the college’s Lumley Aviation Center, next to the Williamsport Regional Airport.

Three partners in a corporate aircraft have donated it to Pennsylvania College of Technology for instructional use in the college’s aviation maintenance program.

The Bombardier (formerly Canadair) CL-600 Challenger jet, valued at nearly $825,000, is being donated by Ira M. Lubert, Anthony F. Misitano and Judith M. von Seldeneck.

Engineering Technologies Heavy Equipment Penn College Magazine Penn College Magazine Feature

Penn College Family: Scooping up skills

Jonathan G. Vasconcelos sits in a Volvo EC220 excavator recently loaned to the college by Volvo Construction Equipment, facilitated by Highway Equipment & Supply Co.

From the Spring 2020 Penn College Magazine: “Volvo is king in Portugal,” said heavy construction equipment technology student Jonathan G. Vasconcelos as he sat in a Volvo EC220 excavator recently loaned to the college by Volvo Construction Equipment and facilitated by Highway Equipment & Supply Co. Vasconcelos was born in Massachusetts, but his family hails from the Azores, a nine-island archipelago off the coast of Portugal. Read more about his experiences as a member of the Penn College Family in “Scooping up skills.”

General Information

Waldron grant boosts funding for CAC Educational Series

A $2,500 grant from the Waldron Memorial Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania has been awarded to the Community Arts Center, specifically to assist Muncy School District students in attending the facility’s 2020-21 Educational Series shows.

The Educational Series, offered free to students, serves nine school districts in Lycoming and Sullivan counties. All costs related to the program – including artists’ fees, technical labor and busing – are absorbed by the CAC.

Sports Students

Penn College, NEAC cancel fall sports schedule

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s fall athletics season was canceled Friday following a unanimous decision by the North Eastern Athletic Conference Presidents’ Council and Board of Athletic Directors.

“Given the current state of the pandemic and the most recent NCAA recommendations, the NEAC Presidents’ Council has unanimously determined that our eight member institutions will not participate in intercollegiate athletic competition during the Fall 2020 season,” the council announced. “NEAC institutions will work together in collaboration with the conference office and the NCAA to seek alternate opportunities to provide a meaningful student-athlete experience throughout the fall season.”

Faculty & Staff Scholarships Students

Administrators boost support for diversity, student leadership

At a Pennsylvania College of Technology commencement ceremony, Elliot Strickland (left) and Carolyn R. Strickland, flank student speaker Hashim Abbas Alfulful. The Stricklands are boosting support for their efforts to enhance diversity and further develop student leadership opportunities at the institution.

Two senior-level administrators at Pennsylvania College of Technology are amplifying their financial support for efforts to enhance diversity and to further develop student leadership opportunities at the institution.

Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management and associate provost, and Elliott Strickland, vice president for student affairs, have a two-decade history of philanthropy that has empowered student success at Penn College. As advocates for student development through leadership, service, scholarship and global experiences, they appreciate the precise balance of learning opportunities that Penn College provides inside and outside its renowned classrooms and labs.

Faculty & Staff President Students

College shares strategy for resumption of in-person instruction

Pennsylvania College of Technology remains committed to reopening for hands-on, face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020, rolling out a map for safely and responsibly – and collaboratively – navigating the road ahead. “We continue to be guided by a moral obligation to reduce the spread of COVID-19, an ethical obligation to provide the best possible educational outcomes for our students and their families, and a professional obligation to provide future workforce leaders,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said Thursday afternoon. “To deliver on our mission-driven promise, we will be unfailingly diligent in our efforts to safely educate, house and feed students during these extraordinary times.”

Dining Services General Information Students

Penn College part of food allergy college database

Pennsylvania College of Technology recently became part of the FARE Food Allergy College Search database, which allows students to view the food allergy-friendly accommodations made by colleges and universities as part of their college search. Penn College’s accommodations include posting ingredient information, developing cross-contact procedures, offering roommate accommodations and more.

Pennsylvania College of Technology recently became one of 94 colleges and universities across the nation to become part of the FARE Food Allergy College Search database.

The database is operated by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education). FARE is dedicated to improving life and health for 32 million Americans with potentially life-threatening food allergies, advocating for research and providing resources, support and hope for the food allergy community.

Corporate Relations Faculty & Staff

College names assistant director of corporate relations

Pennsylvania College of Technology has appointed Chris S. Macdonald as assistant director of corporate relations.

Macdonald joins Penn College after 21 years serving as a Class A PGA professional in the private club golf industry. His unique path affords him an extensive understanding of high-level customer service, public relations, marketing, targeted fiscal growth and strategic program development.

Events Scholarships

Foundation’s Golf Classic adopts innovative format for 2020

A new format is in place for the 34th Annual Penn College Foundation Golf Classic – sponsored by Compass Group North America – a fundraising event that has generated more than 700 scholarship awards totaling nearly $900,000 in student support since its inception.

Adapting to ongoing pandemic restrictions, this year’s event enables foursomes to register and complete their rounds during the month of September at the Williamsport Country Club while enjoying a complimentary lunch on the course. Additionally, all teams will receive gift certificates for a “Let Le Jeune Chef Cater Your Friday Night” five-course, take-home dinner, along with a choice of individual player gifts. At the end of the tournament, there will be awards for the low individual and team scores on both a net and gross basis.

General Information Workforce Development

Apprentices complete inaugural mechatronics program

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s first apprenticeship training program began four years ago, upskilling mechatronics technicians from companies in the Bloomsburg area. In June, 11 employees from SEKISUI KYDEX and Arconic (Kawneer) finished the four-year apprenticeship.

Successful apprentices earned four industry credentials and received extensive training in industrial electricity, programmable logic control, mechanical components and fluid power throughout the life of the program.

Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business, Arts & Sciences General Information

Le Jeune Chef earns Wine Spectator Magazine award

Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, a live learning laboratory for culinary and baking and pastry arts students at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was recognized with a “Best of Award of Excellence” as part of Wine Spectator Magazine’s 2020 Restaurant Awards program.

The casual fine-dining restaurant is operated by the college’s School of Business, Arts & Sciences.

The Restaurant Awards are the focus of Wine Spectator’s July-August issue, which hit newsstands on July 14 and reaches 3.5 million readers. Information about award winners is also accessible via Wine Spectator’s website, app and free restaurant search database.

Faculty & Staff

College hires director of enterprise applications, systems

Laurie A. Fullerton has been named director of enterprise applications & systems within Information Technology Services at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

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