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location provides a high level
of public access. |
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With
spectacular views of Mount Nittany,
a spacious lobby, high-tech broadcast
studios and open workspaces, a new building
in Penn State's Innovation Park will
serve as the new home for the Outreach
organization, encouraging synergy among
once-separately-housed Outreach units.
The location of the $27 million, three-story
building in Innovation Park, and near
a major new highway interchange (I-99),
enables a level of public access and
visibility unavailable in the normal
campus environment.
The building dedication will take place
on Sept. 8.
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Celene
Elm, 45, is geographic information systems
(GIS) indigenous planning director for the
Reservation of the Oneida Nation, a Native
American tribal community in Wisconsin.
"We are a sovereign nation that's in
the process of buying back our land,"
she said. "My department's job is to
analyze and present geographic data to a
committee that makes decisions that will
impact our community for generations."
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Celene
Elm wears many hats as a GIS professional
and grandmother. |
She was pleased to discover that Penn State's
World Campus offers a certificate program
in GIS that would allow her to develop cutting-edge
skills, completely online. The practical
courses provided Elm with an immediate return
on her investment.
"While taking these
courses, I was accomplishing things that
used to take four hours in just five minutes,"
she explained. "It was fantastic!"
Elm,
a grandmother, added that an online education
fit perfectly into her busy life. "I
wear many hats," she said.
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| PENNTAP
helped save Creekside Mushrooms
$47,000 a year. |
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Water,
electricity and natural gas consumption
cost Creekside Mushrooms Ltd. big money
until Roger Price of Penn State's Pennsylvania
Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP),
along with specialists from the Electrotechnology
Applications Center at Northampton Community
College, conducted a pollution-prevention
and energy-efficiency site assessment
for the company. Their recommendations
are saving the company, one of the world's
largest underground mushroom-growing
facilities, about $47,000 a year, plus
a one-time initial savings of $600,000.
The project earned an Outstanding Project
of the Year Award in the partnering
category from the University Economic
Development Association (UEDA).
PENNTAP garnered recognition from UEDA
for other work. For example, PENNTAP
senior technical specialist Bill Paletski
designed multimedia computer-based instruction
modules to train Fairchild Semiconductor
employees in Occupational Safety and
Health Administration standards, eliminating
the need to hire a full-time company
trainer that would cost more than $56,000
annually. The project won UEDA's Outstanding
Project of the Year Award in the technology
transfer category.
In addition, PENNTAP senior e-business
consultants Brian Goss and Greg Snyder
helped Quehanna Boot Camp train its
inmates for future careers installing
and repairing copper- and fiber-optic-based
cabling systems. UEDA recognized this
project with an Outstanding Project
of the Year Award in the special assistance
category.
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Vice
President for Outreach Dr. Craig D.
Weidemann is the 2005 recipient of the
Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary
Leadership, an esteemed University Continuing
Education Association (UCEA) honor.
First established in 1965, the award--named
after a pioneer in the field of continuing
higher education--is given to an individual
in recognition of "extraordinary
contributions to the cause of continuing
education on the regional, national
and/or international level."
UCEA also recognized Senior Director
of Penn State Conferences and Institutes
Dr. Michael E. Ostroski with its Stanley
C. Robinson Distinguished Service Award,
which recognizes outstanding long-term
leaders in continuing education for
commitment and contributions to the
field of conferences and professional
programs.
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Preparing
children to learn, increasing the number
of health-care workers, educating the
workforce: These are important issues
for Pennsylvania and also areas where
Penn State has significant expertise,
according to a recent strategic analysis.
Outreach
teams analyzed the University's scholarly
resources and identified three areas where
Penn State's expertise matches state priorities,
as outlined in Gov. Ed Rendell's budget.
Vice President for Outreach Craig D. Weidemann
explained, "We can maximize our outreach
contributions to the Commonwealth by marshaling
Penn State's faculty expertise in health,
preK-12 education, and workforce and economic
development."
Initiatives are already
under way. Here are some examples:
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A new community-university engagement
model under development will embed
outreach into the university to
enhance service to communities.
Penn State received $1.8 million
from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
for this national effort.
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In
partnership with Pennsylvania's
Department of Labor and Industry,
Penn State is creating a statewide
training curriculum and credentialing
program for CareerLink staff.
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Penn
State's new Office of Economic and
Workforce Development
is collaborating with the U.S. Department
of Commerce's Economic
Development Administration to plan
a symposium to bring together
business leaders to discuss approaches
for economic growth,
including university-led initiatives.
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Dr.
Kristine Clark fields a question
from a caller on WPSX-TV's "Your
Health." |
Where's
Charlie? He could be anywhere in the
WPSX-TV coverage area. In a popular
segment in the new "Pennsylvania
Inside Out" program, which airs
weeknights at 7 p.m., viewers get to
decide where to send producer/director
Charlie Gudeman.
"Our viewers enjoy the segment
because they get to see Charlie in their
communities," Penn State Public
Broadcasting Station Manager Tracy Vosburgh
said.
In addition to spotlights on Pennsylvania
communities, the half-hour public affairs
program opens with Weather World and
features interviews with Penn State
faculty and other experts, tours of
Pennsylvania sites and weekly current
issues discussions. On Tuesdays, the
program expands to one hour for a rotating
series of live call-in shows, simulcast
on WPSU-FM, that include "To the
Best of My Knowledge with Graham Spanier,"
which also is carried statewide on Pennsylvania
Cable Network.
Upcoming "Your Health" call-in
programs in May will include information
on gastric bypass surgery to treat obesity,
with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center surgeon Dr. Timothy Shope.
"Our goal is to inspire, inform
and intrigue and to engage with our
communities in new ways," Vosburgh
said.
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