Behrend continues to grow, setting new record for enrolled students CHRISTINE NEWBY managing editor A new enrollment record of 4,767 students was set for the fall 2009 semester, resulting in a 2.9 percent increase over the previous record set in fall 2008. According to official student census figures released by the University on Oct. 15, Penn State Behrend serves 4,400 stu dents in resident instruction programs. Of these, 4,031 are registered as full time and 369 as part time. An additional 367 graduate students are served by the col lege through Penn State's on line World Campus as they pursue an intercollege Master of Business Administration de gree or certificate in Enterprise Resource Management. The increase in enrollment was not due to the freshman class, according to Mary-Ellen Madigan, Director of Admis sions and Financial Aid. "The freshman numbers have been steady with a tiny increase," Madigan said. "All of the growth has been in the upper division (juniors and seniors), graduates, and online students." Behrend welcomed 1,060 new students for the fall 2009 first-year class, an increase over the fall 2008 total of 1,045 first-year stu- Knowledge Park celebrates 10 years a MIKE 0. WEHRER news editor Knowledge Park celebrated its 10 year anniversary on Oct. 29 with speeches by Behrend Chancellor Jack Burke and Greater Erie Industrial De velopment Corporation President John R. Elliot, followed by a reception and open house. According to a press release from Penn State, Knowledge Park was a partnership between Behrend and GEIDC to provide companies an inno vative and technologically advanced at mosphere, while providing networking opportunities for students and compa nies. "The park was never simply a real es tate venture," said Dr. Robert Light, senior associate dean for research, graduate studies, and outreach, "It brings forward-thinking organizations together with faculty members, staff and students, applied research and lixdiemr Culture 2 Science 5 Opinion 3 Community 6 Local/National 4 Sports 7-8 According to a Behrend press release, the college has opted to control the size of its first- year class to maintain the college's low student-to-faculty ratio and accommodate the in crease in upper-class students who have chosen to complete their four-year Penn State de grees at Behrend. A significant factor in the in creased enrollment number is housing. Madigan said that the change in enrollment can be tracked by housing options. "Anytime we've had a large increase in enrollment, usually there was an increase in hous ing like the new addition to the University Gate Apartments," Madigan said. Not only is Behrend increas ing their enrollment, but the University is also retaining stu Top majors among juniors and seniors Mechanical Engineering Technology Mechanical Engineering Nursing Biology Plastics Engineering Technology Communications technology transfer services. The close interactions between park tenants and the college continue to be a key compo nent of this collaborative environment." According to the press release, there are currently 14 tenant companies with a total of 500 employess at Knowledge Park. The facilities physically encom pass 200 acres of Behrend's campus and has room for more than 20 build ing sites. Many students on campus are not aware of the many opportunities of fered by Knowl edge Park and the companies who re- tinues to in crease the number of students who stay at Behrend," Madigan said. "I've been here 23 years and only about 25 percent of students stayed and graduated from Behrend and now that number is 75 percent." The high percentage of stu dents staying at Behrend can be linked to the purpose of the en rollment management group. The group consists of nine ad ministrators whose main focus is retaining students. Madigan, along with David Christiansen, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and other administra tors are involved with the group. According to Christiansen, re tention initiatives Students Knowledge park houses many companies, most of which utilize Behrend students and alumni and provide valuable experience Registered Member Associated Collegiate Press dents in their junior and senior years, rather than seeing those students go off to Univer sity Park. "Behrend con- include a seminar on time-manage ment and study skills, advising aimed for first-and second-year stu dents, sophomore interest groups, centralized aca demic planning, and much more Madi an said side there According to Light, around 10 stu dents have internships or jobs with businesses at Knowledge Park, but this that involvement in extracurric ular activizes is another factor. "If a student is involved with extracurricular activities and involved on campus as a fresh man and sophomore, that most likely will be a signi fi cant factor when " There is a saying deciding whether or known as `Behrend not to stay at envy' because the Behrend or transfer," she other campuses want said. The addi- to be like Behrend. tional majors offered is an- People ask, 'how does other reason why students Behrend do it?' It takes choose to graduate from time and commitment Behrend. The college on all levels." currently of fers more than 40 de gree pro gra m s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs including 34 bachelor's degrees in four academic schools-Sam and Irene Black School of Busi ness, School of Engineering, School of Humanities and So cial Sciences, and the School of Science, along with the nursing programs. "We've added more majors and increased out of class activ ities like athletics and clubs, which plays into students expe rience at college," Madigan said. "Some students come ing students, compan 11 .' .n*Viowetiffikely .„ e I Graphic by: Marcus Yeagley Photo by: Daniel Smith here and think they are going to transfer to University Park, but then decide to stay at Behrend." Christiansen believes that the strategic vision guides Behrend and results in an increase in students stay ing here. into," he said. "There is a saying known as `Behrend envy' because the other cam puses want to be like Behrend. Peo ple ask, 'how does Behrend do it?' It takes time and commitment on all levels. Also, it doesn't happen overnight, it takes planning." According to Christiansen, he does not see the near future en rollment at Behrend going above 5,000 students. "It would be a major invest ment in Penn State," he said. "We would have to build addi tional buildings and housing. there would have to be a signif icant capital investment." David Christainsen number has been as high as 40 stu dents in the past. Because Behrend is primarily an engineering and sciences campus, many of the jobs and internships at Knowledge Park fall under this cat egory. There are other positions available to students following other career paths. Non-engineer ing positions include technical writ ing and marketing, as well as business opportunities. In an interview, Light said that the positions offered at Knowl edge Park were a combination of unpaid and paid, depending on the specific company offering the job or internship. Occasionally, said Light, a company will offer a schol arship to a student or group of stu dents in return for their services. Light referred students who wish to explore options at Knowl edge Park to the Career Development Center here on campus. 111 Ullr • ay windy witkpossible shoWers Behrend hosts mobile blood drive On Oct. 28 and 29, Penn State Behrend hosted a mobile blood drive in McGarvey commons. According to Deanna, a worker at the event, The semi-annual blood drive at Behrend is a pop ular and slightly competitive ef fort by the Erie blood Bank to collect blood for transfusions. "I know we've been coming here for as long as I've been working here, and that's four years," Said Deanna, "but I know we've been coming for a lot longer than that, the mobile program has been going on for almost 20 years" "We usually do one around Halloween and we do another one around March or April," continued Deanna, "it's kind of evolved because Gannon was putting up really big numbers, and we'd do a drive here and Behrend would put up huge numbers. They were kind of competing to see who could put up the most donors." "We realized that if we fanned the flames a bit, we could keep everybody moti vated." said Deanna, "and this year, SUNY Fredonia put up 199 donors in 2 days, and Behrend got close to that num ber last time we were here. We thought, Well, we can beat that' and set out to beat that record. We're probably going to be a lit tle shy, but it was still a record turnout for Behrend, we've al ready had more than 170 donors and that's more than we've ever done, so that's fan tastic." We are guided by our mission, what we are supposed to do, and also our vision, what we want to evolve Deanna said that, as always, any blood type was appreci ated, especially type 0 nega tive, because it can be used for transfusions for anyone, re gardless of the recipient's blood type. "Inventory is pretty flush, and it will be even better after this drive, but we're always looking for 0 negative." Said Deanna Every pint of blood is esti mated to save 3 lives, and many students could be seen doing their part to make sure that the bank is fully stocked in case of any emergency. GEIDC President John R. Elliott fol lowed Chancellor Burke and spoke about Knowledge Park's goals -Matt Alto, weather editor MIKE 0. WEHRER nek,s ,qht,,, sun 4941 mix of clouds and sun
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