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:
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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.