December 12, 2006 THE CAPITAL TIMES Penn State Harrisburg celebrates 40 years Continued from Page 1 Meade Heights. Few, if any, walked to class. For a quick snack, students turned to “Vendorville,” an army of vending machines that at least included pinball machines to distract students from the lack of hot foods. At first there was no library, though campus administrators put together a makeshift one in the Olmsted Building’s first floor that kept outgrowing its bounds. Students looking for a gym instead had to settle for grassy fields. University officials began to slowly chip away these student life problems, building a gymnasium complex known as the Capital Union Building just south of Olmsted in 1975. Nine yeas later, the Science and Technology Building opened just 200 feet away from Olmsted to provide students with more laboratory space. The campus bookstore opened the following year, replacing what had been a one-room operation within Olmsted. Tyler: Continued from Page 1 put what they are learning about training and development into context. By creating a workspace unlike most classrooms because of her non-lecture teaching method, students are able to explore and see the value of space. Tyler hopes that they are better thinkers after leaving her classes Classes Tyler teaches include research in training and development, project management, implementing training and development solutions, and career management and succession planning. As she explained about a class she will teach this summer, her eyes lit with excitement. The course is called storytelling in organizations and will be about the roles stories play in an organization. During class, she explains to students about how employment in business is different now than it was 20 years ago. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be promoted and keep up with them, believes Tyler “Back then, I think working in that environment was fun and people The campus’ name changed from Capitol Campus to Penn State Harrisburg in 1986. When McCormick first came to Penn State Harrisburg as a student in 1998, the campus looked a lot different than it does today. The campus library remained confined to the first floor of Olmsted. In 2000, a new three story complex opened just southeast of Olmsted and across the courtyard from the bookstore and science and technology building. A baseball field sat east of Olmsted, where the 328-bed student housing complex known as The Village is now loeated. The Village replaced the aging Meade Heights in 2002. Towne Square opened the following year in the space vacated by the library. The square includes Biscotti’s Coffee Shop, a food court, a stage, and homerooms for activities such as the student government, student newspaper and campus radio station. An indoor swimming pool, or Photos courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg world traveler and storyteller were friendlier,” Tyler said. “Now, people are so interested in getting their work done that they don’t even think about having fun in their job.” Tyler’s dream job is exactly what she does now. The only thing she wishes she could change is for her to become a fulltime storyteller while still teaching, doing research, writing and publishing. Photo by RABYIA AHMED/Capitol Times Professor Jo Tyler describes herself as charming, witty and charismatic; and applies these traits not only to her social life but also in the classroom. “If I could just somehow add more time to my day, it’d be great!” she said laughing. The Boom aquatics center in Penn State academia speak, opened in 2004, followed by an eight-court tennis complex earlier this year. The reeent building boom has done wonders to distance the campus Back when Penn State Harrisburg opened, science classes were still held in the Olmsted building. W the addition of the Science and Tech Building, students are able to work in larger lab rooms from its military base roots. The knockout punch is coming soon - university officials plan to build a grand entrance to the south end pOTT ...A FLASHBACK While describing her passion of storytelling, she explained that there are many types. Some tell stories for entertainment, some to persuade, and some to inform, to name just a few. But all good stories have one thing in common- impact on the audience. “If you see a certain reaction in your audience during or after the story, you’re doing a good job,” said Tyler. “People don’t realize that it really is an art-form,” of the Olmsted Building - recent improvements enough to fool some Madlyn Hanes, Harrisburg’s says some Photo courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg library was an ancient tomb,” she says. “The new library is a pleasure to work in. You almost want to hang out.” she added As a child, Tyler wanted to be a petstore owner. But when she learned that the pets have to stay in their cages and can’t go home with her, she changed her mind. After learning that, she did not want to be anything because she wanted everything to be her way. Upon reaching high school, however, when all her friends decided they were going to college, she thought that she should too. And thankfully, Tyler said, her family was supportive of the idea, but she had to be able to afford the tuition herself due to the family’s financial situation. A crazy moment in Tyler’s life occurred during the 17-year-gap of getting her master’s and doctorate degree. She had the opportunity to travel to South Africa to teach democracy education and leadership development while working at Non-governmental Organizations, associated with the United Nations (NGO). While apartheid was still in place, her task was to get the people in the forming government prepared for Nelson Mandela to be elected. But one day, Tyler told her team of workers that she wanted to get a slice of South African life. After hesitation because of the unsafe environment, they said they but the been provost parents campus was originally built as a college “They’re surprised to find out it was once an Air Force Base,” Hanes says. McCormick says these changes keep students at the campus longer. “The old The Change Perhaps the greatest change can be seen in the students themselves. Penn State Harrisburg opened its doors to freshmen and sophomores in 2001, but opened the floodgates for them in 2004. That year, the college began offering undergrad courses for 160 majors within the Penn State system. Most Penn State Harrisburg students still commute to class, yet university officials recognized that younger students would want more activities than upper-division or grad students. They started by bringing back intercollegiate to the campus in 2005 after a 13-year absence. The college’s 10 teams - which include soccer, basketball, baseball and softball - will join NCAA Division 111 next fall. The men's soccer, women’s basketball and softball teams have won second place conference tournaments against other Penn State branch campuses. Younger students are also taking the would take her to a shebeen, an illegal drinking establishment. She readily agreed. Because women were not allowed outside at night, to get to the shebeen, Tyler’s team members, who were both males, hid her under a tarp in their car in case police were to stop them. After some bumps along their way, they finally made it to the shebeen and Tyler quickly ran inside in ease a cop was around and saw her. The shebeen, Tyler explained, was fantastic and the music was amazing. A while after they arrived, however, they heard a different noise of people storming into the shebeen. Thinking quickly, her team took Tyler, dashed back to their car and drove into their hotel room as quickly as they could. “We came back to our hotel so fast, that we weren’t even able to process what had happened. But we were really glad to get home safely,” she said. That is a story that Tyler will never tell her parents, who live in Dillsburg. Tyler currently lives in Baltimore. She and her older sister, who lives in Guam, get along with very well. When meeting people, Tyler introduces herself through her famous line: Hi, I’m Jo Tyler and I’m charming, witty and charismatic. “People love it and think I’m crazy, so I don’t ever mind saying initiative in getting the most out of their time at Penn State Harrisburg. According to the college’s student activities office, 15 student clubs have been established or revived within the past 18 months. Those include Spanish, cheerleading, and Underground Legends car club. The campus also approved its first fraternity - Kappa Sigma - just weeks ago. The Future Hanes says Penn State Harrisburg will continue its “managed growth.” She wants the campus to “never be so large that we won’t know each other.” The students seem to agree with that goal. “I like that [the campus] is small and that you know pretty much everybody you see,” says Ryan Edwards, a freshman education major. “I think it’s a nice campus,” says James Grap, a sophomore finance major. “ I wanted to get a feel for college before transferring up to [Penn State’s] main campus.” Tyler's list of favs: Would-be animal: Her cat. Not anyone's cat, but her cat named Georgia because she has a very good life and feels no stress. She always has food in her bowl and has a clean litter box to use everyday. Hobby: Storytelling research and spending time with friends Sport: To play- Golf. To watch- Women's college basketball. She roots for the Uconn Huskies. Achievement: Work done in South Africa for democratic literacy and training and development. Food: Starbucks coffee ice-cream and lobster. Drink: Depends on season- Single Malt Scotch in the winter, martini's in the summer and red wine all year as a back-up. Music: Jazz.
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