Penn College Student Receives Mapworks Scholarship
Published 05.28.2015
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For her response to a national contest regarding how participation in a program offered at Pennsylvania College of Technology helped her, a Penn College student was recently selected to receive a Mapworks Scholarship.
The recipient, Dalaney T. Vartenisian, of Trout Run, is a Dean’s List student in the college’s Web and interactive media major and holds a part-time job on campus as a student photographer.
The Mapworks Scholarship is a national contest for first- and second-year college students who have participated in the Mapworks program. Mapworks is an online retention-management tool that helps facilitate student success. It identifies at-risk students early in the academic year and provides tools to coordinate and manage support and necessary interventions for these students. Penn College began using Mapworks in the fall of 2011 for all first-year students.
Vartenisian, one of five scholarship winners nationwide – and one of only two who received the highest award of $1,500 – explained in a video posted on the Mapworks website that she completed a Mapworks survey during her first semester at Penn College as part of a required First Year Experience course.
Through the survey, she identified that she was struggling with time management as she juggled six classes, homework, a daily commute and the financial necessity to work. She noted that she appreciated the statistical feedback she received directly from the program, but even more, she said she benefited from the talk her instructor, Sara H. Ousby, had with each of her students about their results.
Ousby, associate director of student activities for diversity and cultural life, made several suggestions to Vartenisian, including applying for a job on campus that would allow her to continue earning money in a setting that would work with her class schedule.
“In the end, her giving me the feedback from the results from Mapworks changed my life,” Vartenisian said in the video. “I now have a job at my (college) that I absolutely love that continues to push me and do my best academically, as well. I am now a Dean’s List student while working and being a commuter at the same time.”
For information about Penn College, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.
The recipient, Dalaney T. Vartenisian, of Trout Run, is a Dean’s List student in the college’s Web and interactive media major and holds a part-time job on campus as a student photographer.
The Mapworks Scholarship is a national contest for first- and second-year college students who have participated in the Mapworks program. Mapworks is an online retention-management tool that helps facilitate student success. It identifies at-risk students early in the academic year and provides tools to coordinate and manage support and necessary interventions for these students. Penn College began using Mapworks in the fall of 2011 for all first-year students.
Vartenisian, one of five scholarship winners nationwide – and one of only two who received the highest award of $1,500 – explained in a video posted on the Mapworks website that she completed a Mapworks survey during her first semester at Penn College as part of a required First Year Experience course.Through the survey, she identified that she was struggling with time management as she juggled six classes, homework, a daily commute and the financial necessity to work. She noted that she appreciated the statistical feedback she received directly from the program, but even more, she said she benefited from the talk her instructor, Sara H. Ousby, had with each of her students about their results.
Ousby, associate director of student activities for diversity and cultural life, made several suggestions to Vartenisian, including applying for a job on campus that would allow her to continue earning money in a setting that would work with her class schedule.
“In the end, her giving me the feedback from the results from Mapworks changed my life,” Vartenisian said in the video. “I now have a job at my (college) that I absolutely love that continues to push me and do my best academically, as well. I am now a Dean’s List student while working and being a commuter at the same time.”
For information about Penn College, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.