At the end of the spring 2023 semester, six Penn State Commonwealth Campuses named faculty members as Open Champions, recognizing their work with open education in the second year of Penn State’s Open and Affordable Educational Resources (OAER) Champion Awards. A collaboration between Penn State University Libraries and the University-wide OAER Working Group, the OAER Champion Award began as a pilot initiative in 2022 and seeks to recognize excellence, innovation and impact in open educational practices at Penn State campuses.
Numerous undergraduate research programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are offered at Penn State University College campuses, providing students with a special chance early in their post-secondary academic careers.
Laura Guertin, distinguished professor of Earth science at Penn State Brandywine, celebrated National Ocean Month in June in a most appropriate way — she spent two weeks aboard a research vessel in the Gulf of Alaska. Guertin joined the expedition through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Teacher at Sea program. The NOAA ship Oscar Dyson’s mission was to assess the population and distribution of walleye pollock in the Gulf of Alaska.
Twelve Penn State students had the opportunity to travel to Oaxaca, Mexico, for "Maymester in Mexico: Language, Culture & Community," a four-credit, study abroad program designed by faculty in the College of Education in partnership with Penn State Brandywine and the Universidad Autonóma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca.
Nineteen Penn State students had the opportunity to travel to Seoul, South Korea, for Maymester in a new course called “Sociology and Culture in Seoul, Korea,” a three-credit study abroad program in partnership with the University’s Sociology department and Konkuk University in Seoul.
The University College at Penn State is the collective administrative umbrella for 14 of Penn State's campuses distributed throughout the commonwealth. A key area of the college is the records office, located at the University Park campus, where work is done to help support the successful graduation of students and assistance of faculty and staff across the 14 campuses.
Penn State University Libraries presented its sixth annual "Undergraduate Research Award: Excellence in Information Literacy" honors at the end of the spring 2023 semester to 136 students at 20 undergraduate Penn State campuses.
Jennifer Nesbitt, professor of English at Penn State York, has been appointed interim director of academic affairs at Penn State Brandywine, effective June 21. Nesbitt, who will serve in the interim role for the 2023-24 academic year, brings 20 years of research, teaching, and service along with extensive experience in administrative and committee leadership roles.
