Graduates of Penn State Altoona's bachelor's degree in electro-mechanical engineering technology have a 100 percent job placement rate upon graduation.
In only its second year at Penn State Altoona in 2007, the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team was recognized as Regional Champion, moving on to compete in the national round. At Nationals, Penn State Altoona SIFE finished as second runner up in its league and in the top sixty overall.
Penn State Altoona was honored as a 2005 inductee into the Blair County Arts Hall of Fame in the category of Public Art/Architecture. The college received this recognition for its strong commitment to the arts, exhibited by its mission to serve as a source of cultural enrichment by fostering a diverse cultural environment and by presenting an array of artistic and cultural programs celebrating local, national, and international cultures.
In 2007, the Penn State Altoona Continuing Education and Training Department was honored by Penn State Outreach for securing the most contracts for management development customized training throughout the Penn State system. In addition to selling the most training, over 25 percent of all management development enrollments statewide came through Penn State Altoona.
Penn State Altoona's Health and Wellness Center was one of only six institutions awarded a 2007 Innovation Grant out of eighty applicants across the country. The Program to Assess and Transform Health (PATH) received $6,118 in a first-ever grant awarded by the Jed Foundation. PATH formed in 2006 to address the holistic health and wellness needs of Penn State Altoona college students abusing alcohol and has grown to include those suffering from depression or at high risk for suicide.
Penn State Altoona students and faculty chaperones have been spending their spring break in the Dominican Republic as part of the Orphanage Outreach Project since 2001. Penn State Altoona was awarded the 2006 Orphanage Outreach Hero's Circle Award for its significant partnership in providing opportunities to the orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children of the Dominican Republic.
Penn State Altoona was selected as a member of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce's Business Hall of Fame, honoring those Blair County businesses that consistently demonstrate the highest levels of leadership and vision. Five Hall of Fame inductees are selected each year from more than 100 applications and are chosen by an independent panel of judges from outside Blair County.
Faculty Superlatives
Ten Penn State Altoona faculty have been recipients of Penn State's George W. Atherton Award since its inception in 1978 as the AMOCO award. The Atherton Award honors excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level and is presented each year to Penn State faculty members who have devoted substantial effort to undergraduate teaching.
Dan Lago, assistant professor of human development and family studies at the College, received a grant for $287,000 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish an academically-focused Community Outreach Partnership among Penn State Altoona, the Altoona Housing Authority, and a network of affiliated human services agencies in Blair County.
Carrie Freie, assistant professor of education, explores class, racial, and gender identity construction among white, working-class students in her book Class Construction: White Working-Class Student Identity in the New Millennium. Freie goes into River City High School to find out what happens to the adolescent children of working-class families when economic changes such as globalization and technological advancements alter the face of working-class jobs.
Tulay Girard, assistant professor of marketing, received the Best Paper Award at the Academic Business World International Conference. The paper evaluated which online features of the top 100 U.S. retailers' Web sites significantly affected their business performance.
Erin Murphy, assistant professor of English, was awarded a fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The fellowship is supported by the Vira I. Heinz Endowment which underwrites residencies of visual artists, writers, and composers from southwest Pennsylvania so they may work in a supportive and secluded environment.
Robin Reese, assistant professor of theatre arts, was one of five playwrights selected to take part in Philadelphia's The Cardboard Box Collaborative Speed the Muse Competition at the 2007 Philadelphia Fringe Festival; she wrote a new play that was performed at the Festival.
Todd Batzel, assistant professor of electrical engineering, won the 2007 Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding Teaching Award, recognizing outstanding engineering educators for excellence in teaching and for contributions to the art of teaching.
Marieta Staneva, senior instructor in geography, received the LaMarr Kopp Achievement Award for faculty, recognizing one faculty and one staff member who have contributed significantly to the advancement of the international mission of the University.
Lee Ann De Reus, associate professor of human development and family studies and women's studies, was one of six recipients University-wide of the Spirit of Internationalization Award, conferred by the University Office of International Programs, in partial celebration of International Women's Day 2008. For the past eight years, De Reus has organized a Penn State Altoona Alternative Spring Break trip to work with an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Recently, she traveled to Africa to conduct AIDS education as well as speak with Darfur, Sudan, refugees. De Reus also co-founded the Save Darfur: Central Pennsylvania chapter.
Valerie Stratton, associate professor of psychology, was recognized with the 2006 McKay Donkin Award. Established in 1969 in honor of the late McKay Donkin, vice president for finance and treasurer of the University from 1957 to 1968, the award is presented to a full-time faculty or staff member or retiree for duties or services performed above and beyond those regularly assigned, and who has contributed most to the economic, physical, mental, or social welfare of the Penn State faculty.
Ian Marshall, professor of English, and Kenneth A. Womack, professor of English and head of the Division of Arts and Humanities, are recipients of the Penn State Teaching Fellow Award. This award, made possible by the Penn State Alumni Association, the Undergraduate Student Government, and the Graduate Student Association, recognizes distinguished teaching and provides a forum for encouraging effective teaching.
