Recently in Staff Category

Last week, the College of the Liberal Arts hosted an awards reception at the Nittany Lion Inn to recognize its staff. Staff and faculty members from across the College gathered to celebrate another year of outstanding work. Reception attendees were able to mingle with colleagues, listen to the music of Irreconcilable Differences, and even enjoy some tasty treats (including a chocolate fountain or two).

At the reception, a select number of Liberal Arts staff members were recognized for their various achievements. Dean Susan Welch presented the following awards:

Exceptional Service Award:  Amy Barone, Administrative Support Coordinator in the English Department

Esprit Award: Karen Davis, Administrative Support Coordinator in the English Department

Rising Star Award: Jillian Balay, Program Assistant in the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies Office

LASER Awards: Sherri Bumbarger, Administrative Assistant in Alumni Relations and Development; Sondra Morrison, Staff Assistant in the Sociology Department; and Connie Stahlman, Financial Coordinator in the Liberal Arts Financial Office

Outstanding Teamwork Award: Liberal Arts IT Staff Members involved in the Win Install Team: Joseph Carlson, Melissa Price, Shane Freehauf, Scott Varrassa, Jasun Lego, and Bradley Winters

The following staff members were also recognized for ten years of service to the College: Steven Dotts, Intormation Technology Systems Design Specialist;  Kimberly Miller, Staff Assistant in the Anthropology Department; Clifford Evans, Clinical Specialist in the Psychology Department; Lynn Setzler, Administrative Support Assistant in the Department of English; Lisa Knudson, Res Coordinator in the Psychology Department; Diane Shoop, Research Project manager in the Sociology Department; Maxine Laslo, Staff Assistant in the Economics Department; and Bradley Winters, Information Technology Specialist.

The Dean also recognized numerous staff members currently working towards Associate, Bachelors, and Masters degrees for their efforts to continue their education, and members of the staff involved with CLA's United Way Campaign for their service to the community.

Congratulations again to all of the College of the Liberal Arts staff. Your work is truly valued and appreciated!

For more information, visit the Liberal Arts Staff Awards website.  In the meantime, check out some photos of the event:

Hi everyone!

Let me start off by introducing myself! My name is Marlee Kattler and I am a senior Public Relations student. Last year I decided to join a Communications Committee for THON 2010. I fell in love with the cause and I instantly knew that I wanted to do more. Now I am the Campus Outreach Faculty Communications Captain for THON 2011.

Looking back on my four years here at Penn State, it all seems a blur. What sticks out in my mind as my best memories are my THON memories.

Every week something new is happening or in the works involving THON. There is always something new to learn, and I continue to learn every week.

Since this is my very first blog, I figured I should give you all a little look into what your students are doing outside of the classroom when they are involved in THON. So much has happened thus far, so stick with me as I try to catch you up!

As a Captain we have our weekly meetings every Monday night. It is here that our Overall Chairperson runs our meeting and keeps us up-to-date and informed about everything happening with THON. This can include things like fundraising events, blood drives, and merchandise sales.

This year I get the privilege to have a Committee of 30 members who my Co-Captain and I interviewed at the beginning of the semester. We have our meetings on Wednesday nights where we go over important dates to remember and brainstorm ideas to increase Faculty and Staff involvement as that is our specific role within THON.

November 16th marked the fourth annual Faculty and Staff Luncheon held at the Hintz Alumni Center. This was my Committee's big event! I began working on planning this event at the beginning of the semester with my Overall, Elaine. I worked with the Public Relations Graphic Design Captain in order to design an invitation for the event, which came out awesome, she is so creative! Once we had a general idea of how many invitations we were going to need we got them ordered and printed at ProCopy. Then the distribution began and RSVPs started rolling in.

The luncheon was held at the Hintz Alumni Center from 12-2. All Faculty and Staff were encouraged to come and go at their convenience. Once everyone was settled with their food, the presentation began. The presentation included facts and figures about THON and what it is all about. I was pretty nervous about speaking, but once I got going I felt at ease! We were fortunate enough to have two Faculty members who are also Four Diamond parents speak about their personal encounters, which was extremely moving. Two THON Captains who are Four Diamond Families also spoke at the event which gave a very powerful perspective to everyone in attendance.The turn-out at the event was great, and I felt it ran very smoothly! You can all look forward to another luncheon next year that will be hosted by my successor.

This week my Committee and I will be making THONvelopes before our meeting on Wednesday. It's always more fun to do it with  friends!! For those of you who don't already know, THONvelopes are another way that we fundraise FTK (For The Kids). They are letters that we send out to our families and friends that explain what THON is and encourage them to donate. The THONvelopes include an addressed return envelope, making it simple for them to mail their donations back.

This weekend is the second Canning trip and my Committee is going to Pittsburgh. There are four designated Canning weekends throughout the year where student volunteers stand outside of store fronts requesting donations from passerbys. No matter the weather conditions, you can be sure to see Penn State students bundled up with their signs and cans!  

Stay tuned for a recap of how the weekend went. Keep your fingers crossed for no snow and rain!

Until next time!

For The Kids,

Marlee

I'm actually not a huge Rolling Stones fan, but the words popped into my head, so I went with it. I'm John Dolan, and I have the honor of taking on a brand new role here in the College of the Liberal Arts as the Director of Digital Media and Pedagogy. This is a shared position between the College and Penn State's Education Technology Services, whose primary mission is to provide leadership and support in the appropriate use of technology for teaching, learning, and research.

My role here serves several purposes. I will be working closely with Associate Dean Chris Long and the LAUS office to coordinate and direct the effective use of technology for teaching, research and student engagement. I will also be working with our faculty, departments, institutes and staff to better understand the impact of technology on the liberal arts and to help the College adopt and implement pedagogical strategies that take full advantage of the affordances new technologies offer. Ultimately, my goal is to ensure that the College is positioned to play a leading role in the creative and effective use of technology in education.

Though I am new to the College of the Liberal Arts, I am not new to Penn State. In fact, I am originally from State College, and returned to Happy Valley in 2002 after being away for about 13 years. During those years, I lived in Washington, D.C., Nashville and Atlanta, and then Washington D.C. again, before returning with my wife and two sons to be closer to my family. I received my B.A. in Advertising from Penn State and my M.B.A. from Vanderbilt, with an emphasis in marketing. I am currently in the "ABD" stage of my doctoral work in Penn State's College of Education, with an emphasis in human resource/organization development. The topic of my dissertation is the use of social media in the workplace. In addition, I am an adjunct instructor of public relations for the College of Communications.

I've been working in the technology space for many years. I was a product manager for several years with Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (now called Washington Post Media), where I was responsible for the management of several online classified advertising products. This was in the heyday of the web economy, and I got to see the swell of excitement and then the crash back to reality.  Before coming to Penn State, I was an online general manager for two Knight Ridder (now McClatchy) newspaper properties as well. I have also worked at BellSouth (now AT&T), AT&T (still AT&T, sort of) and The Washington Post newspaper. I come to the College from Penn State Outreach, where I was the assistant director of Continuing and Professional Education (now called Penn State Business Solutions). (Are you getting the sense that my departure from organizations seems to lead to upheaval, mergers and name changes? Me, too.)

I have been an avid producer and user of social media tools for several years now-- podcasts, vodcasts, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, Flickr, etc. and am looking into even more in the future. To commemorate my new role, I have started a new blog, called "Walking in LA", which chronicles some of my thoughts and observations about the use of social and digital media in education. I am also the co-host of a podcast called "The U Report", which profiles Penn State faculty, staff and students to try to make this huge university seem a little bit smaller. This can be found on iTunesU and via Facebook, Twitter and our blog. I also incorporate social media into the course I teach, and will experiment this spring with the new "groups" feature on Facebook to see if that will be a viable source for communication and collaboration in my class.

Social media tools are sometimes described as "disruptive technology", a term that is credited to Harvard professor Clayton Christensen from an article he wrote in 1995. Disruptive technology is an interesting term, as it connotes some sort of out-of-control software program wreaking havoc in the workplace, turning desks upside down and spilling boxes of paperclips and folders all over the floor. However, what I believe it to mean is that it's the development of technology tools that improve (fill in the blank). It is disruptive because it is shaking up what was being done previously, not because it is passing notes in class. Any innovation, whether technology-based or not, could be considered disruptive to what was the state-of-the-art previously. It was said at the Educause conference I just attended last week that at one point in our history, a disruptive piece of technology in the classroom was this:

Which of these tools will we still see in classrooms 100 years from now? I couldn't venture to say, but I am excited to be part of the journey.

I can be contacted via email at dolan@psu.edu, via Twitter @dolanatpsu, by phone at 814-867-4412, or in my office in 100 Sparks. 100 Sparks doesn't yet have a number or my name on it, but it's next to 101 Sparks and has a Lion Shrine stained glass hanging in the window, so you can't miss it.  

I would love to meet you, either in person or virtually, and talk, Tweet or exchange posts with you about your perspectives on the use of digital and social media within the College.  I'm thrilled to be here.  

Last week liberal arts staff and faculty joined forces to participate in the third annual Office Olympics. The Office Olympics, sponsored by the liberal arts staff United Way Committee, is one of the yearly events designed to raise money for the Centre County United Way. Staff and faculty from across the College form teams to fundraise for the United Way and to compete in the office-themed Olympic games. This year, the teams raised a total of $3,782 - the largest amount raised to date.

After weeks of constant and rigorous practice the teams came well prepared for the Office Olympics. (For proof, see the video below of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies team using LAUS Dwight as a target for rubber band archery).


The day began with the opening ceremony march around the Sparks lawn, led of course by Dean Solomon and her infamous tiki torch. After a few inspirational words from Dean Solomon, the teams were ready to tackle the dizzying array of events. In Rubber Band Archery, teams had to shoot rubber bands into distant and miniscule targets.  In Office Supply Shotput, teams had to try to throw calculator tape into trash bins that were tens, maybe even hundreds of feet away. In the Office Obstacle Course, team members had to undergo a series of taxing events including: the Office Chair Spin, Office Hoops, and the dreaded Shredded Paper Bag Toss. Teams also participated in the Enhanced Water Relay Race and Quittich - games which are perhaps too difficult to explain here.
 
After an exhausting day, Dean Welch led the awards ceremony. Trophies and gold, silver, and bronze "medals" were handed out to the winning teams of each event.  The Psychology team also received a special trophy at the awards ceremony for raising the most money - over $2,000.

Thank you to everyone who planned and participated in this year's Office Olympics. A big thanks also goes out to those who sponsored a team and helped us raise such a significant amount of money for a great cause. 

Photos from the 2010 Office Olympics:

Associate Dean Long, Ashley Tarbet, and Jillian Balay led the workshop.  The presenters talked about the ways that LAUS is currently making use of social media.  They discussed the LAUS blogs, Facebook page, Twitter accounts, Flickr account, and You Tube channel.  The presenters emphasized that the overall goal of LAUS' new social media initiative is to build a community around the undergraduate experience in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State.

Take a look at a screencast of the Invitation to Participation Prezi below:


The workshop participants had the opportunity to brainstorm ways that their departments or units could also begin using social media technology. Several Liberal Arts staff members thought that creating departmental Facebook pages would be a good way to begin to build an on-line community.  Others thought that Flickr pages would allow their units to draw attention to certain events by posting pictures in a more public domain.   

The workshop was a great way to bring Liberal Arts staff together to begin talking about ways that all Liberal Arts departments can use social media to build an even stronger community.

Take a look at some pictures from the workshop:

A lot of excellent work went in to making today a wonderful celebration for our graduates from the College of the Liberal Arts. Of course, our students did an enormous amount of work to earn their degrees. And they earned a celebration worthy of their accomplishments.

The Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies staff gave them just such a celebration today!

Robin Robinson is the master organizer of graduation for the College of the Liberal Arts. She and her staff on the Records side of our office, Andrea Crews, Tanya Hockman and Sarah Derber, organized all the tents, food, diplomas, ceremonies and celebrations that we enjoyed so thoroughly today.

There were also a number of other members of the LAUS staff who worked today during the graduation celebration, including Holly Dickey, Mary Fleming, Ashley Tarbet, Earl Merritt, and Jillian Balay (aka @LAUSatPSU).

We also had a number of student advisors helping with the graduation ceremony itself at the BJC: Mary Cameron, Julianna Chaszar, Shery Crater, Rebekka Egger, Tracey Melnick, Whitney Merinar, Maureen Mulenga, Courtney Orr, Charlene Peters, Katelyn Perry, Karen Sones, Marie Villefranche.

Before I became Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the College, I came to graduation and enjoyed the spirit of celebration and accomplishment. Now that I see all the work that goes into putting such an event together, I am struck by how lucky we are to have such a professional, organized and talented staff.

A sign of their success is the degree to which no one notices all the little things that are done behind the scene to make the event run smoothly. The danger of this sort of success is that the hard work and excellent organization that goes into it will not be recognized.

So, on behalf of all the graduates of the College of the Liberal Arts and for the faculty and administration too, I would like to thank Robin first and foremost, and also the rest of my excellent staff, who made this truly a day to remember.

It was wonderful to have Robin join us on Liberal Arts Voices episode 9 to talk about graduation. On that episode, you can also hear Nikki Hatza, our College Marshal, who gave a marvelous valedictorian speech this evening, talk about her Penn State experience. If you want to learn more about Ron Suskind, who also gave a well received speech tonight, take a look at his personal website and his wikipedia page. 

Personally, I am grateful for the help Robin gave me with the names of the student marshals I had to read (I hope I did justice to them this evening) and for her tips about how best to keep an excited crowd in order.  I am also grateful to Ashley and Jillian for helping me practice the World Campus Graduation talk I gave today. 

In all, it was a beautiful day for a celebration of excellent students.  Congratulations to all our graduates and thank you to the staff that made this day a great success.

Here are some images from the day:

 

Last week we celebrated the work and dedication of the College of the Liberal Arts staff at the CLA 2010 Staff Awards Reception. A few Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies staff members were recognized in particular for their various achievements.



Karen Sones, CLJ and SOC Lead Adviser was presented with the Liberal Arts Staff Employee Recognition (LASER) Award. The LASER Award is the highest award a staff member in the College of the Liberal Arts can receive. See our original blog post about Karen's award for more details. 

Next, Tracey Melnick, ENGL Lead Adviser was recognized for her thirty years of service to the College of the Liberal Arts. 

Lastly, several LAUS employees were presented with Staff Enrichment Awards in recognition of their continuing education. Heidi Shoemaker, daughter of LAUS staff member Holly Dickey, was awarded the Children of Staff Scholarship Award. Heidi is currently a freshman Nursing major at Penn State Altoona. Jillian Balay of LAUS received a Staff Scholarship Award to support her as she works towards her MA in Art History at University Park.

Congratulations again to all of our LAUS staff.  We appreciate everything you do!

Visit the College of the Liberal Arts web site for a complete list of the 2010 CLA staff award winners.

The Liberal Arts Office of Undergraduate Studies (LAUS) would like to congratulate one of our staff members, Karen Sones, Lead Adviser in Crime, Law, and Justice and Sociology, on receiving the Liberal Arts Staff Employee Recognition (LASER) Award. The LASER Award is the highest award a staff member in the College of the Liberal Arts can receive. Recipients of the award have demonstrated superior performance in their position, have exceeded expectations, and have significantly impacted the College for the better.

Karen has been with the College of the Liberal Arts for thirteen of her almost twenty three years as an employee at Penn State. She began in the Liberal Arts as an adviser in the Crime, Law, and Justice and Sociology Departments. She is currently the Lead Adviser in the same department. Karen's main responsibilities include advising students; supervising advisers in her work unit; and serving as project lead for College initiatives as well as University sponsored programs for the College, such as FTCAP and Accepted Student Offer Sessions. Additionally, Karen supports the department by overseeing a student newsletter and serving as a member of the Justice Association Advisory board, SOC Undergraduate Committee, and CLJ Undergraduate Committee.

In addition to her job related duties, Karen has extended her service to the University community at large. For the last ten years she has devoted her time to the Fast Start Mentor Program as well as taking an active role in adult learner advocacy by serving as a member of the Hendrick Best Practices Subcommittee for the Commission for Adult Learners. In other student support roles, Karen is a member of the LGBT Support Network and is a mentor for foreign exchange students.

Congratulations on this prestigious award, Karen!

See the Liberal Arts Staff Awards web site for a complete list of 2009-2010 recipients.  

There's No Place Like State College

Nonie Ebeling, the director of major gifts for the College of the Liberal Arts, would be a perfect overseas tour guide. She has traveled extensively throughout India and Central America, visiting sites like the Taj Mahal, the beaches of Goa, Mayan ruins in Honduras, and volcanoes and coffee plantations in El Salvador, to name a few.

But the globe-trotting Nonie feels right at home in Happy Valley and jumped at the chance to work for her alma mater. She started with the College of the Liberal Arts on November 30, 2009. "I was attracted to the idea of coming back to Penn State because of the opportunity to work with a great team of high-achieving professionals," Nonie says. "I'm also eager to tell everyone about the great work happening at this top-notch institution."

Nonie graduated from Penn State in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in speech pathology and audiology and went on to earn a master's degree in public health and education studies from the University of Alabama. While living in Atlanta, she was a public health fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nonie also previously worked in nonprofit development for organizations like the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Most recently, she served as the senior development officer for the Southern Environmental Law Center in Atlanta.

"I hope to use my twelve years of fundraising experience to connect with Liberal Arts alumni in meaningful ways," Nonie says. "I'd like to engage them in ways that not only support the financial goals of the college, but also add value to their personal lives."

In addition to development, Nonie's other professional interest is environmental health. She has published several academic articles in the field and co-wrote a textbook chapter titled "Environmental Justice" for the book Teaching Strategies for Environmental Health. Nonie loves sports, especially Penn State and Georgia Tech football, and is also excited to experience State College's performing arts scene. She lives with her husband and fellow alum, Don Wilson, her 12-year-old daughter, and two Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs.

Please welcome this world traveler back to Penn State!

-Written by Virginia Harrison, Administrative Support Assistant, Development and Alumni Relations 

Georgia Native Races North

Nicki Hendrix, the new major gifts officer in the College of the Liberal Arts, is used to finishing ahead of the competition. The Georgia native holds the 2006 Athens (Georgia) Area Humane Society Soapbox Derby title, which she won while riding a converted kayak. Now, she's applying those same winning ways to her job in development at Penn State. "I'm thrilled to be here," Nicki says. "In my new position, I hope to increase the engagement of Liberal Arts alumni and expand giving to the college."

Nicki started on October 19, 2009, having brought a wealth of diverse talents and experiences with her to Penn State. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in history and has worked in the advertising, marketing, public relations, and sales fields. Most recently, she held the title of assistant director for corporate and foundation relations at her alma mater, where she also previously served as the director of development for the College of Environment and Design and as an external affairs officer. "I look forward to being part of a top land-grant institution," Nicki says. "I'm ready to apply my skills to the advancement of Penn State."

When Nicki, who is working on a master's in historic preservation from the University of Georgia, relocated north, she found the perfect place to live -- Victorian Bellefonte. She and her husband, Christian Olmsted, a State College native, are restoring their Victorian-era home and enjoying the local restaurants. They are kept company by their three dogs, Judah, Nibbler, and Edgar; a cat, Honks; and a horse, A Boy Named Sioux.

In addition to history, Nicki is interested in environmental conservation. She watches hundreds of hours of film per year as a member of the Athens, Georgia Eco-Film Festival governing board. "I'm very environmentally aware and creative, and I like to apply those interests to everything I do," she says. She also volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate for children in foster care.

Please welcome this versatile woman to Penn State!

-Written by Virginia Harrison, Administrative Support Assistant, Development and Alumni Relations

We all have watched the continued devastating news about the disaster in Haiti. As we mentioned in a recent post, the disaster has hit close to home for one of our co-workers. LAUS adviser Marie Villefranche is from Haiti and has several family members in Port-au-Prince.

She has not heard from all of her family members, but has reports from some who have survived; they are living in the street right now and have not had regular access to food or water. Marie is working on plans to move her family members out of Port-au-Prince and place them with relatives in the countryside who were not affected by the earthquake. The logistics of this are costly and difficult.

To find out how you can help, please contact Gay Catherman at glw1@psu.edu or Michele Moslak at mwm5@psu.edu. We are trying to pool our resources in a coordinated effort to help Marie and her family on January 22nd, so please contact Gay or Michele if you are interested in participating.