Capital Times
Vol. 22, No. 4
John Vartan Shares His Business Expertise
by Vicki Koon
One good way to learn how to
become successful is to learn the secrets
of a successful person. John 0. Vartan
of Harrisburg is one such successful
person.
Vartan, a 1973 graduate of Penn
State Harrisburg's Master of Engineering
Program, is a man who supported
himself through college by digging
ditches and cleaning out septic tanks.
Today he is chairman of Independent
American Financial Corporation,
Dauphin National Bank, Casa Leasing,
Inc., Gazelle, Inc., Vartan Property
Management, Inc., and Vartan
Enterprises, Inc. He is also the owner of
American Investments, a real estate and
investment company.
Vartan is well-known locally
not only for his revitalizing efforts in
the Harrisburg area, but as well for his
civic and community activities. Mr.
Vartan has served the College as a
member of the Board of Advisors since
its founding in 1979. A member of the
University's Mount Nittany Society, his
personal contribution to the Technology
New enrollments Reflect 30% Increase
By Jan Travers
Enrollment for the fall semester
at Penn State Harrisburg has topped the
3,000 mark for the first time in the
college's history.
Reflecting an increase of new
enrollments of 30 percent over last fall,
total graduate and undergraduate
enrollment reached 3,069.
Sandra Zerby, director of
enrollment planning, recruitment and
admissions said the increase was a direct
result of the number of admissions
applications received. In the past two
years undergraduate applications have
risen from 1,204 to 1,650 while graduate
applications went from 604 to 703 for
the same time period.
The majority of new
undergraduate enrollees at Penn State
Harrisburg came from Penn State
Commonwealth Campuses and
University Park (47%) and Harrisburg
Area Community College (31%). The
remainder came from community
colleges, junior colleges and four year
institutions in the state (16%) and out of
Center stands as the largest gift by an
individual to the College.
Vartan has been chosen as Penn
State Harrisburg's 1987 Alumni Fellow.
Being chosen as an Alumni Fellow is
the highest honor bestowed upon an
state (6%)
In a statement issued by Ruth
Leventhal, she credited the increase to
the "ongoing effort to strengthen the
academic programs most in demand and
to promote the quality of those programs
through a variety of recruiting efforts."
This approach has translated
into a successful, aggressive recruiting
campaign by the admissions team of
"We are hopeful they will have a good experience while at
Capital College and become Happy Alumni, going back
into their communities and talkinl to their friends."
Zerby, David Behrs, coordinator for
undergraduate admissions, Diane
Edwards, coordinator for graduate
admissions, and Millie Landis, Burnette
Tolbert and Joanna Williams-Dove, all
admissions counselors. Zerby, along
with her team of recruiters spent
considerable time traveling to Penn State
Commonwealth Campuses, increasing
the visibility of Penn State Harrisburg.
"Because we are a senior college, we are
atypical. There are few [upper division
Penn State Harrisbur!
alumnus of this College
One of the traditions of Alumni
Fellows is to spend some time on the
campus while sharing their wealth of
experience with the student body. During
the week of October 19, Vartan gave
several talks vocalizing his thoughts on
American business, entrepreneurship,
and the necessary ingredients needed to
sucecd in the business world today.
I would like to share with you
some of his thoughts:
ON THE WORK ETHIC:
"The work ethic has been an
omni-present ingredient in the American
success story from the very
beginning... From English settlers to
Vietnamese boat people, the opportunity
to work hard and benefit has been a
beacon of hope.
"Very few of us fall into our
lifetime occupation straight out of
school, if indeed we have a sense of
career at all. Don't worry about the job
you are going to get,. but worry about
work and your attitude about work. Hard
work is an absolute must to get
anywhere in any occupation, and no one
schools) in the country. It was
surprising to, see how many people in
the Penn State system didn't know about
our school," said Zerby.
In addition to personal contacts.
open houses were seen by Zerby as a
major emphasis in selling the college.
Traditionally, admissions open houses
were held during the week, which
discouraged many potential students and
their families from attending because of
school/work commitments, said Zerby.
Beginning in 1986 the format was
changed, holding them on Saturdays.
This change has resulted in better
attendance as well as allowing faculty
and present Capital College students to
be on hand to talk with prospective
students.
Along with the overall
enrollment increase, minority students
October 28, 1987
has ever found a way around it. You do
not have to be eternally in love with
what you do, but you must be in love
with work.
"The work ethic works. It will
make you a valuable and desired
employee. Hard work also enables one to
acquire a personal bank of skills and
experiences."
ON DISCRIMINATION
"This past summer an obscure
but important event took place. In
Hungary and East Germany, the
International Chemistry and Physics
Olympiad, for high school students,
were held. In it, top students from all
countries compete to solve tough
problems in dieir respective disciplines.
The United States did not do so well.
Rumania, a country we consider small,
rigid, and backward, won two of three
gold in physics. Out of the 10 silver and
14 bronzes, we took only three bronze.
We placed 23rd and 34th in chemistry. I
can't help but think that at least some of
the medals we didn't win belonged to the
Continued on page 7
rose from 4.8 percent in Spring 1987 to
6.2% in Fall 1987. The most
significant increase has been in the
newly enrolled Black students, which
reflect a 76 percent increase over the past
two years.
Zerby attributes the jump to
"heightened recruitment." Last year
Penn State Harrisburg hosted its first
Minority Visitation Day. The open
house featured a keynote speaker and
several workshop sessions on the
emphasis of the benefits of higher
education. Because of the success of this
program, Zerby said a similar program
will be held in November.
However, if the 76 percent
minority enrollment increase is
translated into raw figures, it shows an
increase of 19 students to the total of 44
new enrollees. Zerby said she is pleased
with the success of the increase, but that
much more can still be done.
Continued on page 7