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Cambria County College Fair coming September 12th; Sponsored by Penn Highlands

The 15th Annual Cambria County College Fair, sponsored by Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, will be held on Tuesday, September 12th, at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center. This year’s College Fair will take place from 8am to 11am, with students coming in from across the region.

The mission of the College Fair is to promote higher education and future opportunities to not only high school students and their families, but to the public as well. The Cambria County College Fair helps local community members find and discover the many educational and career opportunities that are right in their back yard.

Numerous high schools are taking part, including Blacklick Valley, Conemaugh Township, Conemaugh Valley, Ferndale, Forest Hills, Johnstown, Portage, Richland, Westmont, Windber, and more.

Colleges and universities from all over the state of Pennsylvania will be on-hand to meet with and assist guests regarding their educational and career needs. With so many institutions attending, there is something for everyone: technical schools, business colleges, cosmetology schools and universities, branches of the military, banks, local businesses, and more.

The Cambria County College Fair is here to better our community, please take part or stop by. The College Fair is happening on September 12. Be a part of something special and help us promote this community event to make it a great success.

For more details on the College Fair, contact Pennsylvania Highlands Community College at 1.888.385.PEAK or by emailing Daun Boyle, Assistant to the Vice President of Student Services, at dboyle@pennhighlands.edu.

Partnership with Intuit leads to No Cost Training

Intuit, Inc. is taking an innovative approach to helping create hundreds of new, technology-driven jobs in Cambria County by partnering with Pennsylvania Highlands Community College to offer a specialized training program for unemployed and underemployed workers.

This training is set to begin on Monday, September 18. It will cover topics such as fundamental office skills, customer care techniques, and accounting principles. This is a four-week certificate-based training program available at no cost on a first-come basis.

As a national leader in customer management, Convergys announced that they will be bringing 250 jobs to Johnstown area. Those that successfully complete this program will be interviewed by Convergys for jobs in customer care and will help support Intuit’s QuickBooks Solution for Small Businesses.

An information session will be held on Tuesday, September 12, from 9 to 10:30am at the College’s Richland Campus. Deadline to register is Thursday, September 7.

For information and to register, please contact Julie Davis, Workforce Education Manager at Penn Highlands, by phone at 262.3813 or by email at jdavis@pennhighlands.edu.

Bond strengthened with Mount Aloysius College through additional Transfer Agreements

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is continually working to strengthen its partnerships with local four-year institutions to better serve the region. Most recently, Penn Highlands has worked with Mount Aloysius College to optimize the transfer opportunities between the two colleges.

There are fourteen (14) articulation agreements in place between the two, creating seamless pathways for Penn Highlands’ graduates to complete a bachelor’s degree at Mount Aloysius. Program-to-program agreements with Mount Aloysius include:

• Accounting
• Business Administration
• Business Management
• Child Development*
• Computer Science
• Criminal Justice (A.S. & A.A.S.)
• Early Childhood Education*
• Information Technology* (Cyber Security, Network Administration, & Server Administration)
• Liberal Arts and Sciences (Liberal Arts & Sciences*, Secondary Education in General Science*, History/Political Science, & English)
• Psychology*
• Radiologic Technology

Programs with an asterisk (*) signify agreements that were recently added. These agreements follow the 2+2 model where students must earn an associate’s degree first before they are able to obtain transfer of credit with junior standing to Mount Aloysius College.

“We are committed to helping our students succeed,” said Dr. Walter Asonevich, College President. “These agreements provide transfer options for students that allow them to continue their education within the region and achieve success following graduation.”

In addition, Mount Aloysius also accepts a variety of Pennsylvania Highlands Community College course credits and can transfer up to 90 credits toward a bachelor’s degree. Transfer scholarships are available to full-time students.

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Fall classes begin on Monday, August 28, at each of the College’s five locations: Blair, Ebensburg, Huntingdon, Richland, and Somerset.

Blair Center to expand; Construction set to start in October

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is responding to the need for additional education and training options in the region by expanding its current Blair County location in the Logan Valley Mall.

The expanded and updated Blair Center will have a total square footage of 18,766 that encompasses both floors of the Logan Valley Mall. The original size of the Blair Center was just 4,343 square feet.

“This expansion shows our commitment to the residents of Blair County and to academic excellence which has been a hallmark of Penn Highlands since its inception,” said Dr. Walter Asonevich, College President. “The look and feel of the space will be very modern and the instructional capabilities will be state of the art.”

Construction is expected to begin the week of October 23, with a soft opening planned for March 2018. The plans for the Blair Center include five classrooms, one science lab, one computer lab, a student services area, and several comfortable areas for lounging or individual study.

Several other faculty and administrative offices and service-related areas also exist in the new facility design. Both an elevator and open staircase will be added to connect the current space with the second floor addition.

The College’s new lease begins in 2018 and runs through 2027. The grand opening for the Penn Highlands Blair Center is slated for May 2018.

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Fall classes begin on Monday, August 28, at each of the College’s five locations: Blair, Ebensburg, Huntingdon, Richland, and Somerset.

3D rendering of proposed second floor expansion in the Logan Valley Mall.

New Advanced Learning System coming for Students

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is fast becoming a dominant higher education provider in the region. To display this commitment to student learning and success, the College will be rolling out Schoology, a next generation learning management system, to select courses this fall, full implementation across all programming will be in place by Spring 2018.

Schoology will provide our students with increased capabilities to enhance their learning through collaboration and engagement. Students will be able to engage in discussions and group projects, participate in web conferencing, share and submit assignments, and hold peer reviews. All of which will better enable each student to be confident professionals.

The benefits of Schoology exceed standard coursework, providing students a place to continue important discussions with their professors, get additional help, and explore the groups and clubs that encompass Penn Highlands.

Faculty will be able to create engaging courses for any teaching method. Each instructor will be able to create media-­rich content and lessons, reuse past courses, and embed content from Microsoft Office, YouTube, and other content providers. They will also be able to provide students with both written and video feedback quickly and easily.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Schoology in action,” stated Sherri Slavick, Assistant Professor, Physical Sciences. “The system’s modern design will allow faculty like myself to collaborate with students more efficiently and effectively. The possibilities for what we and the students can do together will have no bounds.”

Schoology looks and feels like tools everyone uses on a daily basis, allowing students to spend less time training and more time engaging with their peers and faculty. “Schoology provides users with a forward-thinking learning management system that will cultivate innovation and ignite the educational experience among our College community,” commented Matt Hoffman, the College’s Chief Information Officer.

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Fall classes begin on Monday, August 28, at each of the College’s five locations: Blair, Ebensburg, Huntingdon, Richland, and Somerset.

About Schoology
Schoology is putting collaboration at the heart of the learning experience with an easy-to-use learning management system (LMS) that connects the people, content, and systems that fuel education. Millions of students, faculty, and administrators from over 60,000 K-12 schools and higher education institutions worldwide use Schoology to advance what is possible in education. Find Schoology on Twitter, Facebook, or online at www.schoology.com.