Penn State on Course to Meet Needs of Businesses
By Pfoutz, Yvonne
“As a land grant institution [colleges given land and financial support through federal laws first enacted in 1862] Penn State must meet the educational and workforce development needs of the state,” says Dr. David C. Gnage, chancellor of Penn State Mont Alto, one of the university’s 24 campuses. “Because Pennsylvania is large and quite varied, three years ago, the university reorganized to give the campuses more autonomy so each one could meet the needs of its service area. Ours is Franklin and Fulton counties and parts of Cumberland and Adams counties.
“Franklin County is a rapidly growing area with a very low unemployment rate [3.1% according to the Franklin County Area Development Corp.'s 2007 report], which is very different from other areas in the state. A workforce development need here is to increase the skill levels of those currently employed.
“When I arrived in 2002 and started meeting with business and education leaders to learn the local issues, I heard about the need for post secondary adult vocational courses but we didn’t have the facilities to offer those courses. The Franklin County Career and Technology Center [FCCTC, the county's vocational high school], was offering some adult evening vocational programs, but had concerns about [time and staff required for] marketing and registration for those courses. So we took over administration of their adult education classes.
The advantage for us is now we have the use of facilities to offer programs that employers want. We had been offering some classes at the Chambersburg Mall, which was very expensive space, so we moved the credit programs to our campus and the non-credit programs to the career and technology center.”
Dr. David C. Gnage has led Mont Alto School since 2002.
Teresa Shank, Penn State Mont Alto’s director of continuing education whose office is at FCCTC, says, “The career and technology center already had classes in electronics, HVAC, plumbing, welding, masonry, welding, state auto inspection and medical billing. Penn State had non-credit classes in areas including computers, food safety certification, and real estate certification. In the last year, we’ve added courses in machining, cabinet making, home remodeling maintenance, and Adobe Photoshop, which is helpful for Realtors.
“Earlier continuing education catalogs divided the courses into Penn State and career and technology center sections but then we realized that all students wanted to know was how and where to get the classes they wanted. Now when people register, there’s no difference between the classes.”
In addition to the evening classes open to any adult, Penn State Mont Alto’s continuing education department also works with area businesses through the South Central Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board to develop specialized courses including industrial maintenance classes in hydraulics, programmable logic controls and industrial electricity and long-term healthcare super-visors’ training. These courses and the 75% state tuition reimbursement are only available to businesses that are members of a consortium, because Shank says, “the group puts in the effort in planning and addressing issues within an industry. However, the monthly meetings are open; participating makes you a member.”
Penn State Mont Alto’s continuing education department also, creates customized training programs for businesses. “We can build just about anything,” says Shank. “Upcoming courses include customer service and sales skills. The supervisors’ boot camp is also popular, for people who were promoted because they were good at their tasks but now they are overseeing their former peers. The supervisory training covers communication, conflict resolution, problem solving, employee retention and delegating. With any in- house training programs, we tailor the course and examples to specific industries and situations.”
“Healthcare education is another need here,” says Gnage. “With support from Summit Health, we’ve had three different expansions in enrollment in six years. Most recently, we’ve gone from 60 to 120 students in the past two years in the nursing degree programs.”
In addition to health care degree programs-bachelor’s and associate degrees in nursing and associate degrees in physical therapist and occupational therapist assistant-, Penn State Mont Alto also offers bachelor’s degrees and associates degrees in English; business administration; human development and family studies; and letters, arts and sciences; a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership; and associate degrees in forest technology and information sciences and technology.
“The letters, arts and sciences degree [LAS] is new this year. A few years ago we ran focus groups to find out what else we should be offering. There were a number of degree suggestions but not enough students interested in any particular degree. The LAS degree is unique in that it allows students, with their academic advisers, to design their junior and senior years, to customize their degree. For example, they might combine business and English courses for a career in business communications.”
Enrollment at Penn State Mont Alto was up this fall with 1,204 students; the campus had the largest percentage of enrollment growth of all the Penn State campuses. People applying to Penn State University can specify their top two campus choices.
“We’ve been pro-active in marketing and recruiting,” says Gnage, “reaching out to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Washington County. And students who’ve come here from major urban areas in Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh and Philadelphia-have had good experiences and told their friends about us.”
Urban teens on a rural campus can face culture shock, but Gnage says that the college has a very active co-curricular program, with activities in the evenings and on weekends including van transport to nearby entertainment like bowling alleys, and longer bus trips to cities including Washington and New York.
Students are also helped by what Gnage calls “the climate of nurturing on campus. What attracted the to Mont Alto was the concern within the faculty and staff for the students. I’ve worked on other campuses [in Florida, Arizona and New York state] but never experienced a faculty and staff so committed to students. They know students by name and celebrate their successes. Some of that campus culture begins with the founders who come with certain values and hire people with those same values.”
The campus opened in 1903 as the Pennsylvania State Forest Academy, the third forestry school in the country. In 1929, the school merged with Perm State College and for over 30 years offered only the first year of a four-year forestry degree. In 1963, the campus began offering additional college classes, but for several decades, students had to transfer to complete a degree elsewhere.
“Now, about 40% of our students still transfer to University Park or other campuses after completing their first two years here,” says Gnage, “but the rest finish locally. The bachelor’s degree programs were added because a survey showed the need to develop four-year programs for those want a bachelor’s degree, but need to stay in this area because of work or families. We expect to offer additional four-year programs.
“There are other trends in our service area which affect us. The growing increase in our Hispanic population, which has different sets of educational needs, as well as the language issues for employers. For example, we’re offering classes in Spanish for the medical profession.
“Learning styles change. Students today are more visual and able to multitask so we have to address our delivery to meet these needs, with more computer-assisted instruction and courses on-line.
“The median family income in our area is $48,000 but our tuition is $10,454 a year. Even with state and federal financial assistance, there is still a gap for some students. We need to develop more scholarship funds because it’s a shame to have talented young people not able to go to Penn State and be productive.
“Employers tell us there’s an increased need for engineering because many practicing engineers in the area are within five to 10 years of retiring. We have seen enrollment in our engineering programs doubling each of the last three years. The demand for computer programming, however, is tapering off.
“We continually assess the needs of our service area and where appropriate, meet those needs.”
Gnage is currently meeting with area business, education and political leaders for strategic planning. He also works with an on- going 40-person advisory board that helps with planning, policies and development.
“Futurists tell us that our graduates will have five to seven different careers in their lifetimes,” says Gnage. “The most important thing we can do is to give our students the skills and abilities to be life-long learners.”
Copyright News for Business, Inc. Feb 2008
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