Penn College News

'Live and Learn': A Recipe for College Success

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Carolyn R. Strickland, assistant vice president for academic services, talks with Derek E. Teay, a software development and information management major from Whitehall, Resident Assistant for the Information Technology LLC (center); and faculty coordinators Sandra Gorka and Jacob R. Miller, associate professors of computer science.Jonathan D. Wescott kicks off a planned series of social and academic get-togethers for LLC residents ...... and enjoys a buffet dinner with students and advisers from the Hospitality residential community.Students in each of the four learning communities – automotive, health sciences, hospitality and information technology – wore T-shirts colorfully designating their respective curricular areas. This design, bordered by stylistic wrenches, is "modeled" by Ian C. Squier-Nauman, of Warriors Mark, enrolled in the automotive technology management: automotive technology concentration.Students in Health Sciences majors, who were joined by Marie G. Smith, assistant professor of dental hygiene, get to know one another over a casual meal. Students and advisers from Penn College's four Living-Learning Communities, academically themed Residence Life arrangements in Rose Street Commons, held a first-week "meet and greet" in the Thompson Professional Development Center late Thursday afternoon. Among the organizers was Jonathan D. Wescott, Penn College's new director of residence life and judicial affairs, who told the group they are "elite, but not exclusive," and shouldn't hesitate to engage other students in campus involvement. He was joined by a number of administrators, faculty and staff – including Elliott Strickland, chief student affairs officer, who said students in academically themed housing traditionally attain better grades and graduate at a higher rate than classmates in more traditional living arrangements. "And as your level of participation goes up," he said, "so does your level of success."