Newsroom

New Mobile App Now Available For Community

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is proud to announce the launch of the myPEAK mobile app for students, faculty, and staff. The app is available for free download through both the Apple and Google Play stores, and it will help the college community stay connected and informed on their devices.

“We began exploring the need for a mobile app a few years ago and are really pleased to have partnered with Jenzabar, a higher education digital engagement platform, for this service,” said Matt Hoffman, Chief Information Officer at Penn Highlands Community College. “In this era of COVID-19, when we cannot build and sustain our community in the usual ways, tools like this app can be very useful to help boost engagement and keep everyone connected.”

Hoffman stated that the mobile app (accessible from Apple/iOS and Android devices) will make access to college-related information and people incredibly quick and easy.

The myPEAK mobile app provides quick and convenient access to student services, email, student learning system, and the self-service portal for class registration, grades, bill payments, and more.

Additionally, push notifications allow administrators to communicate important news and announcements (like weather-related closings) to everyone with the app in real time.

“It is a very robust app,” Hoffman continued. “In the coming months, we plan to continually optimize it while encouraging the college community to use it for news, updates, and basic student service portal functions.”

eSports Gaming Team is Coming in January

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is gearing up to launch its new co-ed athletic program, Black Bear eSports Gaming. Starting in the Spring 2021 (January) semester, student-athletes will begin competing as members of the National Junior College Athletic Association eSports (NJCAAE).

Esports Gaming, or electronic sports, is a form of competitive multiplayer video gaming in which teams compete against each other in single games or tournament events.

Gaming at Penn Highlands will follow the “play anywhere using your own device” model, allowing student-athletes to have unlimited access to top titles like League of Legends, Overwatch, Fortnite, Super Smash Brothers, Rocket League, FIFA 20, and so much more.

Every semester, the eSports Gaming team will be able to compete for collegiate national titles and other countless events.

“The major benefit of eSports is that it will bring together students who have a shared passion in something that they may not have realized before,” stated Sue Brugh, Director of Student Activities and Athletics. “Our student-athlete gamers will have to communicate in new ways as they work out strategies and resolve conflicts on various gaming platforms.”

For additional information, or to join the Black Bear eSports Gaming Team, please contact Student Activities at 814.262.6463 or studentactivities@pennhighlands.edu.

About National Junior College Athletic Association Esports
The National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE), founded in 2019, is the only national esports association exclusively for two-year colleges. The NJCAAETM is committed to increasing access to team dynamics, school representation, and campus life for the benefit of student-athletes and member institutions alike. Esports participants and NJCAAETM members benefit through meaningful, educational, and transformative opportunities which lead to greater retention and completion rates for participants. Already boasting over 60-schools from all regions of the United States after just two semesters of competition, the NJCAAETM continues to make inroads to be the association of choice for all 2-year schools.

Jeff Dick Named Cross Country Head Coach

Jeff Dick, of Mineral Point, has been named the Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Cross Country at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.

Mr. Dick will be responsible for the organization and direction of the College’s NJCAA, Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country program. For the past six years, Jeff has been the Assistant Cross Country Coach at Central Cambria High School where he specialized in new runner development and training schedules. During his time at Central Cambria, his boys team won six LHAC Titles and six District 6 AA titles. His girls team won five LHAC Titles, five District 6 AA titles, and a state championship in 2018.

“We are thrilled to have Jeff lead our young program,” stated Sue Brugh, Director of Student Activities and Athletics. “We are eager for him to recruit runners who will be able to thrive as a Black Bear and beyond while building our program supporting the mission of the NJCAA.”

Penn Highlands is a chartered National Junior College Athletic Association member college, competing in Region XX, and a part of the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference.

Individual runners from Pennsylvania Highlands have qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament each of the past three years: Maddie Sprankle (Johnstown), Erica Kovalik (Forest Hills), and Landon Ridgeway (Paw Paw, WV).

The American Way

The original column appeared in the Tribune-Democrat , written by Dr. Steve Nunez. Click here to see original sourced column. 

Last weekend, while I was visiting my mother in beautiful southwest Virginia, she showed me a newspaper clipping of my very first newspaper editorial. At the time, I was a graduate student at Virginia Tech, and my editorial was written as a rebuttal to an author who I considered to be close-minded and bigoted. My mother beamed with pride even though that letter was published more than 30 years ago. However, I was a little embarrassed by the brashness of that young fellow with little life experience but seemingly all the answers.

On my drive back to Pennsylvania, I found myself thinking about that letter and this upcoming election – which seems to be even more divisive and combative than normal.

I’m not a poet, nor a philosopher, but I’ve read enough and lived enough to know that our country has had turbulent moments. Examples include, just in the past 100 years or so, the Spanish flu of 1918, World War II, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is estimated that the Spanish flu may have killed more than 600,000 Americans. Armies and air forces of the allied nations, including members of the U.S. armed forces, overcame the aggression of the German and Japanese empires in the 1940s. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s improved but did not solve racial tensions and inequities in our country. And, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 made us feel truly vulnerable for the first time since the threat of nuclear catastrophe during the Cold War.

What traits of our people bound us together to see the country through the worst of times? We, as Americans, are optimistic almost to a fault. We are creative and inventive. We have the courage to do what is right, fair, and equitable. And we can do the hard work to meet any challenge.

However, the wisdom of that former 22-year-old graduate student at Virginia Tech still echoes in my mind; we must also avoid the trap of bigotry and close-mindedness.

To me, that is a crucial trait that has made America “America” – our ability to listen and respect the viewpoints of others – to not judge the motives and patriotism of those that see the world differently.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats (nor any other political party) have a monopoly on patriotism, and while we may disagree on many issues, ultimately, we are all Americans.

Please, do your patriotic duty and vote for the candidates of your choice on Tuesday or before. And then afterward, remember that we are all Americans who love our country – the “United” States of America.

See you at Penn Highlands.

Written By Dr. Steve Nunez, College’s Fifth President. This monthly series appears in The Tribune-Democrat, and will allow Dr. Nunez to provide his perspective on the value of education and of a community college. 

Delivering Free Grant Workshops Through Partnership With JARI

Career Services and Workforce Development at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, with support from JARI through the Supporting Learning Communities grant program, recently completed two workshops in September and October on communications and diversity that successfully assisted 38 total participants.

The first workshop discussed communication skills, helping to improve the level of professionalism amongst co-workers. The second workshop discussed diversity in the workplace, allowing employees to let their guards down and build healthy business relationships.

The overall objective of the Supporting Learning Communities grant is to provide individuals with resources to access education programs, leading to careers that pay family sustaining wages and offer opportunities for career advancement.

“This grant program will help make a long-term impact on local individuals, families, and the region’s economy,” stated Debi Balog, Director of Workforce Development at JARI. “Building up our current and future workforce, that’s the vision for this program.”

The grant provides both pre-employment and workforce training. Pre-employment training provides soft skills and digital literacy training courses for job seekers and those seeking career advancement. Workforce training provides relevant group training for incumbent workers in need of “middle skills” upgrades.

Additional free workshops are coming in November and December. These cover Time Management and Zoom Basics, and are currently registering participants. More workshops are in the works for early 2021 and beyond.

“We are excited to be the provider of these ongoing, timely, and essential career readiness workshops for Cambria and Somerset County residents,” stated Larry Brugh, Dean of Career Services and Workforce Development at Penn Highlands Community College. “The generosity of an anonymous donation made it possible for this grant program to offer this training at no cost to the participants.”

“In addition to serving our residents with pre-employment training topics, we are able to implement career advancement education for our middle-skilled incumbent employees from regional businesses. We look forward to working in collaboration with our JARI colleagues and regional industry partners.”

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College has been serving the area with inclusive workforce training needs since 1994.