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
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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
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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
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