Newsroom

PTK donates Socks to area Veterans

The Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Beta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) recently started a donation project for two local area veterans’ facilities: Tomorrow’s Hope and The Hollidaysburg Veterans Home. This project, known as Socks For Veterans, began as part of PTK’s Honors In Action program, with the theme of “Veterans’ and Their Families.” The Socks For Veterans project is in collaboration with District 26 VFW and the Ladies’ Auxiliary, focusing on the collection of socks for area veterans.

Socks For Veterans began collecting on December 2^nd and will continue to collect throughout the month of December. The goal of the project is to collect over 400 pairs of socks for veterans. Recently, members of the College’s PTK Officers gathered to distribute the socks collected thus far.

More About Phi Theta Kappa: The purpose of Phi Theta Kappa shall be to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, Phi Theta Kappa shall provide opportunity for the development of leadership and service, for an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and ideals, for lively fellowship for scholars, and for stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.

College partners with Pitt-Bradford on Transfer Agreement

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College has teamed up with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford to make it easier for Penn Highlands’ students to complete their bachelor’s degree at Pitt-Bradford. Under this agreement, Pitt-Bradford will accept 60 credits from Pennsylvania Highlands.

“Programs at Penn Highlands and Pitt-Bradford mesh well together, and this new agreement provides students a way to plan for their bachelor’s degree at our campus much more easily,” said Bob Dilks, Director of Transfer Recruitment at Pitt-Bradford. “This agreement coupled with our transfer scholarships will make Pitt-Bradford a great choice for many Penn Highlands’ students.”

Instructor to present at 6th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College happily announces that Jessica Hanes Barron, Computer Science Instructor, was selected to present at the 6^th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, which will be held at the Inn at Virginia Tech and the Skelton Conference Center from February 5^th through 7^th. Jessica will present on the topic of “Instructional Video Games: Overcoming Usability Barriers in the Classroom.”

The 6th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy focuses on higher education teaching excellence and the scholarship of teaching and learning. The conference showcases the best pedagogical practice and research in higher education today. Sessions address disciplinary and interdisciplinary instructional strategies, outcomes, and research.

Visiting Scholar from Harvard University set to speak on Syria and Arab Revolutions

All community members are invited to attend a presentation by guest speaker and Visiting Scholar from the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, Dr. Sami Hermez. His presentation, “Syria in the Arab Revolutions: Two Years On,” will take place in the auditorium of the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Richland Campus on Thursday, November 7th, at 11am.

Dr. Hermez, will focus on the transformation of the Syrian uprisings over the last two years and provide an analysis of both the geopolitical and grassroots forces. His talk will pose such questions as: how can we begin to understand the conflict in Syria; who are the different actors on the ground; and what positions might we consider taking in this country?

Previous to being a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, Dr. Hermez held posts as a Visiting Professor of Contemporary International Issues at the University of Pittsburgh, a Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Mt. Holyoke College, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Lebanese Studies, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. He obtained his doctorate degree in January 2011 from the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University, where his research was with former militia fighters and current political activists, and dealt with questions of the anticipation of war in everyday life in Lebanon. His research is concerned with political violence, social movements, the state, memory, security and human rights in the Arab World. He has also worked in various organizations, among them, the US Peace Corps, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations Development Program.

This opportunity has been made possible by the efforts of the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Kish Bank donates to College’s ACE Program

Kish Bank has donated $4,000 in Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Funds to to help fund the Accelerated College Education Program (ACE). The ACE Program gives high school students an opportunity to earn college credits while taking classes at their local high school.

“Having a partner such as Kish Bank allows us to continue to provide our ACE students with an affordable opportunity to jump start their college education,” said Penn Highlands President, Dr. Walter Asonevich.

During the 2012-13 academic year, the ACE Program served over 1,700 students in 45 school districts throughout 10 counties.