Penn State Cooperative Extension in Chester County has announced a new outreach effort to provide support to the area's community gardens. Penn State Master Gardeners will now offer free on-site educational programs to help community gardeners get the most from their plots.
Penn State researchers will receive $129 million over the next five years from several federal sources, including the Department of Energy, and an additional $30 million from Pennsylvania to develop ways to make buildings more energy efficient. The funds will create an Energy Innovation Hub at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which will involve a substantial number of researchers from academe, the private sector and two national laboratories in a concerted effort to save energy, cut carbon pollution and position the United States at the forefront of the industry.
Penn State Abington will be celebrating its 60th anniversary throughout the 2010-11 academic year. The kick-off event will be held at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 24, near the duck pond on the wooded campus. Faculty, staff and students can join the party and share birthday cake and ice cream while Chancellor Karen Wiley Sandler and Student Government President Brian Martinowich reflect on the past and contemplate the future for this growing Penn State campus. Attendees will receive a commemorative photo collage poster with more than 100 images depicting campus life throughout the years.
With the scope of campus safety and security becoming more complex across the nation, Penn State undertook an analysis of 21 of its 24 campuses to assess each location's emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Penn State's 19 Commonwealth campuses as well as the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pa., and the Great Valley campus are all part of the University's ongoing examination of emergency operations.
Two lecturers from Penn State Abington -- Steven N. Pyser and Ronald Costello -- enlightened the attendees of the Faculty of the Future Conference held at Bucks County Community College on June 4 by revealing the magic behind successfully teaching with an online learning community.
For the first time in its nearly 100 year history the Sutherland Building on the campus of Penn State Abington is getting a facelift. The planned changes will indeed give a new look and presence to the building, but will have very little impact on the structure of the building itself. According to Dale Hollenbach, chief operating officer at Abington, the design calls for minor changes to the front entrance and the addition of a handicapped accessible entrance on the north side of the building. "All the other changes essentially enhance the front lawn and the approach to the building by adding a more formal plaza area where mostly blacktop paths previously existed," he said.
Penn State Abington recently hired Chris Potash as its next men's basketball coach. Potash had been an assistant coach at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP) since 2008.
Penn State Abington was the host of the 2010 internationally acclaimed American Conference of Irish Studies (ACIS). The three day annual event was held May 5-8 at Toftrees Conference Center and Golf Resort, and the Penn Stater Conference Center. The theme of this year's meeting was, "Ireland: Then and Now."
As companies large and small realize the importance of green computing in their everyday operations, Penn State Abington will be ready to assist them. With the uncapping of electricity rates in Pennsylvania a short six months away (Jan. 1, 2011), a push for environmental responsibility, a constant need for power to run the information technology engine that provides critical business information and cost containment measures inherent in every business decision, green computing has become a necessity.
School kids are just a couple of short weeks away from the start of summer vacation. For students entering grades three through 12, Penn State Abington's Kids and Teen College offers weeklong, summertime programs that are fun, enriching, educational and great for the college resume. Penn State Abington's Kids and Teen College starts the week of June 28 and runs through the week of Aug. 9. Register soon to ensure placement and avoid disappointment, as camps fill up quickly.