Newsroom

President Dr. Asonevich delivers State of the College Address

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Dr. Walter Asonevich highlighted the College’s far reaching educational offerings and continued focus on providing an affordable, high quality education at the third annual State of the College Address on Tuesday.

The address featured a map designating the 17 counties of the commonwealth that have been impacted by Pennsylvania Highlands. These areas included the four counties that currently have a Penn Highlands’ facility, locations that are served via the College’s Accelerated College Education program, areas served via online programming, and counties that have inquired about having a local facility. “I believe we have a very successful blueprint for providing smaller rural communities with access to higher education,” said Asonevich. “Our regionalization has been very systematic and has been done to ensure that our students will reap the benefits of a quality education that remains affordable.”

Asonevich also highlighted the partnerships the College has utilized to provide hands-on learning to many students, including the Welding program’s work with JWF Industries and the Restaurant/Culinary Management program’s partnership with the Greater Johnstown School District. He discussed the College’s commitment to providing coursework and programming that is relevant to local job opportunities and the many ways in which Penn Highlands engages local employers in the development of these programs. Asonevich also shared that these processes are in place in the College’s Continuing Education offerings as employers can work with this department to customize trainings for their current employees. “We are very receptive to hearing from local businesses and ensuring that we are meeting their needs when it comes to the skills they want their employees to possess.” he said.

In discussing his College’s place in the community, Asonevich took great pride in highlighting the variety of community service projects completed annually by Penn Highlands’ students, faculty, and staff. “We are proud to be a part of each of the communities we serve and understand how opportunities such as community service projects are teachable moments.”

“Classroom learning is important, but we are also hoping to instill in our students a sense of community that will become a part of their personal and professional lives. That is another way for us to measure our success in educating our students.” he said.

For more information about Pennsylvania Highlands, please contact us at 1.888.385.PEAK or go to www.pennhighlands.edu.

Students create Leadership Program

The Student Senate of Pennsylvania Highlands Community College has been highly active recently with the creation of a leadership program for Pennsylvania Highlands’ students. Students that complete the leadership program will be awarded a certificate for their participation.

The leadership program, led by Student Senate President Justin Capouellez and members of the Penn Highlands Board of Trustees, includes ten classroom sessions and will culminate in group presentations focusing on what the students have learned and how they will utilize this information as they move forward in their education and careers. A small panel of presenters and Trustees will judge the presentations.

HR Consultants, a firm specializing in leadership development will lead five of the sessions with other sessions being facilitated by community leaders. Bill Polacek, CEO of JWF industries will share his personal experiences with the students, speaking about the expectations, demands, challenges and responsibilities of leadership.

“My hope is that future students will take this initiative and continue to move it forward,” said Capoullez.

Students named to All-PA Academic Team; Community College Month kicks off

Pennsylvania’s community colleges kicked off Community College Month in Pennsylvania yesterday with a rally in the Main Capitol Rotunda, and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges’ annual Lobby Day event. The House and Senate have both passed resolutions proclaiming April to be Community College Month, and yesterday, community college students and staff from across the Commonwealth met with their legislators to discuss the critical role that community colleges play in supporting their local communities throughout the State. The colleges also had displays set up in the East Wing Rotunda, with students displaying the various skills they have acquired at their community colleges, including broadcast TV production, medical assisting, culinary arts, and more.

The Lobby Day events concluded with a rally in the Main Rotunda of the Capitol Building, featuring community college Presidents, trustees, staff, and students from across Pennsylvania. The festivities, however, began in earnest on Monday, March 31st, with the 45 members of the 2014 All-PA Community College Academic team being honored on the floor of the House. The All-PA Team consists of outstanding community college students from across the Commonwealth, and the program is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, the national two-year college honors society.

Later that evening, the students were honored at the 20th Annual All-PA Awards Banquet. From Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, both Emily Smay and Grant Speigle received All-PA Academic Team honors.

Emily Smay (of Summerhill, PA) has already graduated from Pennsylvania Highlands Community College with an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management, but earning one degree was just the beginning for her. She is currently completing her second degree and will soon be receiving her Associate of Applied Science in Accounting.

Grant Speigle (of Davidsville, PA) will be graduating from Pennsylvania Highlands Community College with an Associate of Science in Criminal Justice.

For 20 years, the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges has joined with Phi Theta Kappa to honor students who have been nominated by their colleges to the All-Pennsylvania Academic Team.

Philosophy Club to host Creation vs. Evolution Debate

The Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Philosophy Club has partnered with the Emmanuel Baptist Church to provide the community with a unique debate covering the topic of creation versus evolution, involving two intelligent and gifted presenters: Dr. Paul Nelson and Dr. Joel Velsaco.

The debate, Creation vs. Evolution: A Debate on Origins and the Tree of Life, will take place on Saturday, March 29^th, in the College’s Richland Campus Auditorium at 101 Community College Way in Johnstown, PA. The debate will begin at 3pm.

The creation versus evolution debate has continued to spark conversation and discussion across the nation. Earlier this month, between five and ten million people watched a live-streamed debate between creationist Ken Ham and evolutionist Bill Nye of the “Science Guy” television program fame. We are anticipating that our event will have as many as 800 individuals eager to learn about this hot topic.

Dr. Paul Nelson is a philosopher of biology with a PhD from the University of Chicago, where he specialized in the philosophy of biology and evolutionary theory. He is currently a Fellow of the Discovery Institute and Adjunct Professor in the MA Program in Science and Religion at Biola University.

Dr. Joel Velsaco earned his PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he specialized in philosophy of biology and wrote his dissertation on the Tree of Life. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at both Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology and was a visiting professor at Cornell University. His current position is Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Texas Tech University.

Holocaust Survivor Eva Olsson to speak at Richland Campus

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is honored to bring community members the opportunity to hear the moving and visceral story of Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson. On Tuesday, March 25^th, Eva Olsson will give three free presentations to the general public: 9:30am, 12:15pm, and 7:00pm. All presentations will be held in the College’s Richland Campus Auditorium at 101 Community College Way.

Eva Olsson was born in Szatsmar, Hungary in October of 1924 into a poor family of Hasidic Jews. This was the beginning of her lifelong struggle against other people’s attempts to control her.

She is a survivor… of a repressive religious upbringing, World War II, the deaths of many of her loved ones, bigotry and racism, and being ostracized because of her determination to live life on her own terms. Eva’s innate curiosity and need to develop along a different spiritual path would not be stifled and she struggled against this restrictive life.

The outbreak of World War II plunged Eva into the heart of the Holocaust concentration camps, slave labor factories, disease, and the deaths of millions, including most of her family. Eva’s strong faith in God and in herself has enabled her to maintain a positive focus throughout the rest of her life.

For 50 years she remained silent about her experiences during the Holocaust, partly out of denial and partly out of fear it might happen again. Since 1996, Eva has been speaking about her life in over 3,000 schools, churches, meeting halls, conference rooms, colleges and universities, and to over one-and-a-half million individuals throughout Canada, in the hope that people who hear her story will know that it is possible to survive the worst life has to throw at them.