Penn College Students Present to Heartland Partnership

Three Pennsylvania College of Technology students recently presented findings of their final class project to nine members of the Pennsylvania Heartland partnership, organizations brought together to promote the region and encourage young adults to remain in the area after they finish their education.

Offering a critique of the partnership's Web presence were Sarah J. Shaffer, a technology management major from Shermans Dale; Jamie A. Boucher, Prince Frederick, Md., a hospitality management student; and Christopher B. Muller, a business administration-marketing major from Warrington.

The campaign is part of Pennsylvania's "Stay Invent the Future" initiative, which created the site as a tool to educate young adults about the benefits of staying in Pennsylvania.

In January, a representative of the group, Larry L. Michael, executive director of workforce and economic development at Penn College, approached Gerri F. Luke's advertising class in the School of Business and Computer Technologies with a problem and a request.

Created nearly three years ago, the Heartland Partnership felt it was time that the Web site be revised and updated, and Michael asked the class to evaluate the site and recommend appropriate changes. As their final project, members of the class spent the entire semester doing research and analyzing the Web site. Their completed project included a 40-page paper and a PowerPoint presentation.

"The class did an excellent job of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the current Web site. They 'did their homework' in researching not only the intent and mission of the Web site, but also the psychological and technical approaches to improve the site," Michael said. "In addition, their presentation to the partnership was very professional and well-rehearsed, and they have a lot to be proud of in this effort. They provided our organization with very useful information to consider and to implement."

Other members of the class who worked on the project included Dierdre E. Bilger, RR 3 Middleburg, a business administration-management student; Matthew E. Clark, a business administration-marketing major from York; Rasheeda A. Fussell, a business administration-management major from Williamsport; Stephanie J. Miller, Lewistown, a business administration-marketing major; Aaron D. Moyer, Perkasie, a business administration-marketing major; and Gregory C. Wagner, a business administration-management major from Palmyra.

For more information about academic majors offered by the School of Business and Computer Technologies at Penn College, call (570) 327-4512, send e-mail or visit online .