page 8 The Fourth Wall Liberal Arts from page 3 unpredictable factors that could undermine the program’s approval. Nevertheless, Boon remains positive about the program’s potential on campus. The other members serving on the committee are Dr. Bramel (Psychology), Dr. Mahlon (Physics), Prof. Funk (Theatre Arts), Dr. Hamilton (Communication), Dr. Donovan (History), and Dr. Hill (Economics). The four-year Liberal Arts degree is currently available on the Delaware, DuBois, Fayette, Hazelton, Wilkes-Barre, Shenango Valley, and York campuses. The Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree offers students a wide variety of career options. Former graduates of the program are working as communications specialists, account analysts, and number of . other professional occupations. Ron Merritt, who completed the degree on the DuBois campus and who went on to graduate study, says, “My dreams and goals could never have been fulfilled without the LASCC bachelor’s degree program . . ... The opportunity to tailor my curriculum to my interests and career goals greatly appealed to me. Through LAS, I built a strong foundation for graduate school.” In order for the program to become part of the campus curriculum it has to pass through the Policy and Planning Advisory Committee, the Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Senate, and University Park. If approved, the program would become available in Fall 2007. Online from page 7 helped “coordinate all [her] efforts.” The lay-outs for the classes are well thought out. While online courses are still evolving, most online professors, like Funk, are pleased with the quality of the work submitted to them by students. Online professors generally make themselves available for the students in their classes. They check their email multiple times a day, they are available for phone calls, and some of them us instant messaging. Professors work just as hard for their online courses as they do for traditional classroom classes (if not harder). Heather Cairns The Information and Technology Center (ITS department) has implemented a number of new programs and services. Among them is the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDN AA), which makes available to Penn State students a wide variety of the latest computer programs, including Office One Note. This program allows students to collect and organize notes to fit their needs and gives users the ability to add graphics and diagrams to the notes. MSDN AA allows students to download, free of charge, any of the available Microsoft programs needed for their course work or personal use. While most MSDN AA software is targeted more for Information Science and Technology students, for example SQL Server, the program is open to everyone on campus. The ITS department has also been working on expanding their Audio/Visual equipment and increasing access to it for students, faculty, and staff. For example, students can now stop by the ITS department in the MAC building and sign out a digital camera for twenty-four hours as well as the laptop computers. Dan Mroz, director of Mont Alio’s [ITS department, says that the ITS department has now “made available equipment that converts VHS to DVD ... to students, staff, and faculty so they may convert old VHS tapes to DVD within legal copyright limitations.” Another program launched this year by the ITS department was a briefing for new students during FTCAPs outlining the ITS resources on campus. The program introduces MSDN AA, the available equipment, and a manual of sorts regarding Penn State Mont Alto’s ITS department. The handbook, ‘Mastering Technology,” guides new students through maneuvering the Penn State Access Account, Webmail, ANGEL, Portal, and eLion. It also explains other benefits like ResCom, a network in the residence halls using broadband, and Napster’s free downloads. The handbook is available in the ITS department in the MAC building, room 124. There were some proposed changes, however, that didn’t happen this year, like a proposal to build a computer lab in the MAC building. The proposal was to section off room 122 ofthe MAC building to make one half of it a classroom and the other a computer lab. “The money required to make [the project] feasible,” according to Staci Willhide, Computing Support Specialist, “was just too much.” It was unanimously agreed to abandon the project and at the present, there are no plans to resubmit to proposal in the near future. ITS continues to upgrade campus computer labs with the new computers in the Sci-Tech building this year. The upgrades began nearly two years ago when the computers in General Studies were replaced with up- to-date Dell computers running windows XP and flat-screen monitors. More recently, a multi-media ‘editing’ station was added to the computer lab in the General Studies building that allows users to scan and edit pictures. The equipment is currently only in the General Studies building and is open to anyone. For more information contact the ITS department in the MAC building.
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