Of the 268 speech-language pathology programs in the United States, Penn States's graduate program in speech-language pathology (communication sciences and disorders) is ranked 17th (U.S. News & World Report, 2005)

Of the 30-plus graduate programs nationally with an emphasis in augmentative and alternative communication, Penn State's communication sciences and disorders program is ranked 3rd (peer review)

The Master of Health Administration program offered by the department is currently ranked 19th in the nation (U.S. News & World Report, 2005)

The Penn State hospitality management program has been ranked consistently as one of the five best hospitality management programs in the nation for decades (peer review)

The human development and family studies graduate program is currently ranked 6th out of all developmental psychology graduate programs in the nation, also making it the highest ranked human development program on that list. (U.S. News & World Report, 2005)The Recreation, Park and Tourism Management Student Society was awarded the 2004 Student Branch Award at the National Recreation and Park Association Congress in Reno in October. Excellent recognition for a very strong club associated with a major. We have had students win the state recognition award (Penna. Recreation and Park Society Student Honor Award) for both 2004 and 2005 but were very excited to be recognized nationally.

Shaver's Creek Environmental Center, a unit of Penn State Outreach, has been honored with a national Award for Distinguished Service by a Center for its service to environmental education on the local level. The North American Association for Environmental Education presented the award to Mark McLaughlin, interim director of Shaver's Creek, during its annual conference in Biloxi, Miss., earlier this month. The association is a network of professionals, students and volunteers involved in environmental education in North America and more than 55 other countries. Each year, the association honors individuals and organizations that promote a healthy and sustainable environment through education.

Shaver's Creek was honored for the wide range of environmental education programs it offers to people of all ages. The center's portfolio of programs includes the long-running Outdoor School for fifth graders, teambuilding activities for youth and adults, teacher-training programs, live animal exhibits, interactive learning displays, family rock-climbing programs, bird walks, programs for Boy and Girl Scouts and maple harvest and Halloween festivals. Staff members conduct programs at the center and at locations throughout central Pennsylvania. The center also is home to a Raptor Center that houses about 20 birds of prey. It is one of only a few facilities in central Pennsylvania licensed to conduct educational programs with permanently injured (nonreleasable) birds.

Children in 92,000 schools in Pennsylvania and the other 49 states are eating better school lunches, thanks to Penn State’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Recreation Management, which developed and tested more than 50 new and healthier recipes for the USDA.

Recreation, Park and Tourism Management (RPTM) undergraduate students planned community special events and assisted with programs that served 2,058 youth and adults in cooperation with 124 local businesses and service agencies. The department partnered with 370 professional agencies to provide academic internships to RPTM undergraduate students.

The Penn State School of Hospitality Management has been ranked consistently as one of the five best hospitality management programs in the nation out of more than 150 four-year programs of its kind since its inception in 1937 (peer review).

FACULTY SUPERLATIVES

Dennis Scanlon in HPA was the 2002 John D. Thompson Award for Young Investigators from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration.  He was also awarded the prestigious Investigator in Health Care Policy Research Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study whether private and public sector health care purchasers can drive improvements in quality and reductions in medical errors.  Dennis is also working on evaluating the incentive and rewards pilot programs of The Leapfrog Group, a highly visible national demonstration of 160 employers that buy healthcare and are working to initiate improvements in safety, quality, and affordability.  Dennis Scanlon, associate professor of health policy and administration in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, has been appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell to serve on the cost-containment panel, one of four panels of consumer, business, labor, industry and legislative representatives that will work with the Governor's Office of Health Care Reform on ideas to expand access to affordable, quality health-care coverage for every Pennsylvanian.

Pamela Farley Short, Penn State professor of health policy and administration and director of the Center for Health Care Policy and Research, has been selected by the Institute of Medicine to serve on its newly formed Cancer Survivorship Committee.

Larry Baronner, Critical Access Hospital Coordinator at the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, received the State Rural Health Leader of the Year Award at the 2006 Pennsylvania Rural Health Conference, June 26-27 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.  This award recognizes an outstanding leader who has organized, led, developed or expanded an exemplary multi-dimensional state rural health education program or initiative that benefits rural Pennsylvanians. 

Lisa Davis, Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, has been selected to serve as the Co-chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health.  She also was selected to serve as the state representative to the Appalachian Regional Commission's Appalachian Health Policy Advisory Council.

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