Penn State Scranton

Tell us a brief history/background of your organization.

Penn State Scranton initially came into being in 1951 as part of the General Extension division of Pennsylvania State College. Its first home was the Longfellow School Annex at 1625 Wyoming Ave in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which it occupied until June 1968. Originally named in memory of Worthington Scranton (1876–1955), a prominent industrialist and civic leader of northeastern Pennsylvania, the campus is one of 24 Penn State facilities throughout the Commonwealth.

In 1953, The Scranton Center began offering associate degree programs and the need for more adequate facilities led the University’s Board of Trustees to support the local Advisory Board in establishing a campus. In 1962, the Advisory Board purchased the campus’ present site in Dunmore and it opened in September 1968.

Today, the campus offers 14 bachelor’s degrees, four associate degrees and the first two years of more than 275 Penn State degrees. It also provides professional and workforce development programs through its Center for Business Development and Community Outreach, and operates the Scranton LaunchBox in South Scranton, which provides free services and support for prospective entrepreneurs and business owners.

Please detail the impact that your organization has on NEPA.

Penn State Scranton continues to evolve in order to meet the higher education and workforce needs in NEPA. The campus now offers 14 Penn State bachelor’s degrees in fields in which the local community expressed a need. The most recent addition, the B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, was developed at the campus after regional industrial leaders met with Penn State Scranton administrators, expressing a true need for engineers. The biology and science degrees can be earned as a precursor to medical, pharmaceutical, or veterinarian school, and, along with the nursing degree, complements the offerings of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and the large, and still growing, healthcare industry and demand for medical professionals in NEPA.

The campus also is committed to making a college degree affordable, and each year awards over 170 scholarships, while also offering the option of earning a big name Penn State degree close to home, without the added costs of attending a campus outside of NEPA. To that end, students attending Penn State Scranton have access to all of the University’s resources, including its vast library system, student services and technology.

 How did your organization come to work with Leadership Lackawanna?

 Penn State Scranton has been involved with Leadership Lackawanna for more than 20 years and over that time dozens of administrators and staff members from various departments on campus have participated in both the CORE and Executive Leadership programs. Participants include Associate Director of Admission Terri Caputo; Director of the Center for Business Development and Community Outreach (CBDCO) John Drake; CBDCO Education Program Specialist JoAnn Durdan; Director of Strategic Communications Amy Gruzesky; Assistant Financial Officer Christine Healey; Associate Dean for PSU Commonwealth Campus Libraries  Jennie Knies; Program Coordinator of Human Development and Family Services/Teaching Professor Janet Melnick, Ph.D.; Michele Nicoteri, Student Services staff assistant; Director of Student Services and Engagement Matt Nied; Director of Development Christine Ostroski; Coordinator of Student Activities Nicole Paolicelli; Alumni Development Specialist Joel Perkins; Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Alan Peslak, Ph.D.; Assistant Director of Student Services and Engagement Dharti Ray, currently an LL board member; Assistant Director of Athletics Sara Rinkunas; Mar Tsakonas, administrative support assistant, athletics; and many others who have since retired or gone on to pursue other opportunities.

What are your organization’s best practices?

 Our university mascot is the Nittany Lion, and we also have a Nittany Lion Shrine on our local campus that is a replica of the Nittany Lion Shrine at PSU’s University Park campus. Over the years, we’ve had many alumni come back to do engagement photos, wedding photos, and photo shoots with their young children at the shrine, and our mascot has made appearances locally at alumni events and community events such as the annual Scranton Jaycee’s Santa Parade.

Each year, our Chancellor’s Cabinet, along with faculty leaders, meet for an annual daylong retreat which can include brainstorming sessions on current issues/challenges; SWOT analysis; overview of upcoming opportunities; and/or training on new university initiatives, programs or systems; group sessions designed to facilitate conversations and communication among all members; as well as informational presentations from various campus departments.

 Please share anything else that you would like to highlight.

 Over the past decade, Penn State Scranton has not only grown in the number of academic programs it offers but has also expanded its campus facilities. In 2018, it purchased the former Grainger Building on the corner of the O’Neill Highway and University Drive and converted it into the Engineering Building, which now houses classroom, lab, and office spaces for the new Mechanical Engineering degree, as well as our Police Services and Center for Business Development and Community Outreach (CBDCO). The Dawson Building underwent a series of renovations resulting in the IST Active Learning and Innovation Lab; an art studio; a new computer lab; new suites for the HDFS, IST, and Science programs; a music room for the campus’ chorale and jazz band; a “One-Button” video recording studio; a Media Lab with computers and software for digital editing; and a virtual reality “Immersive Lab” that utilizes augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) software to give students a unique learning experience.

 In 2023, the campus embarked on a major $13.1 million renovation and expansion of its Library/Nursing Building, with construction expected to be complete in early 2024.  The library currently serves 250-400 students per day and in an average semester, students check out and use its textbook reserves over 1,000 times. The new Library Nursing Building will feature expanded study areas, an updated instruction classroom, as well as ADA compliant restrooms, new HVAC system, a more accessible lobby area, a public elevator, a lactation room and enhanced site connections to the campus’ walkways.

 The lower level will be expanded in order to allow for the consolidation of the nursing program into one area on campus and provide additional room for nursing faculty, teaching spaces and labs, including patient simulator labs, and a new lower level entrance that will improve ADA accessibility to the building and increase the nursing program’s visibility on the campus.