Sessions
The 2024 Student Engagement Summit will feature a mixed format, giving attendees the opportunity to participate in in-person and remote sessions. All in-person sessions will be at the HUB-Robeson Center at University Park and remote sessions will be held via Zoom. Please note that the final keynote panel discussion of the day is the only hybrid session (attendees can attend this session either in person or on Zoom). All other sessions are either in-person or remote only – the format of each session is noted below.
9:00-9:40 Opening Plenary Session
Remote Only (Zoom)
9:00-9:15 Opening and Welcome with Michael Zeman, Director of the SEN
9:15-9:40 Student Panel Discussion
9:40 – 10:00 Break / Transition to HUB-Robeson Center for in-person sessions
10:00-10:50 Session 1
In-Person and Remote Options
Session 1-A: Help Students Find the ‘Why’ of Their Engagement Work with this One Simple Trick
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Peter Aeschbacher, Associate Professor of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Description:
The SEN strives to help students “find their why” – the personal significance and relevance of the work they do in the world. At the same time, the engagement projects they undertake help to discover who they are and what motivates them. Yet students often struggle to communicate the ‘why’ of their engagement projects. They can speak to their personal motivations and the things they’ve done but identifying the ‘why’ rather than simply relaying the ‘what’ is challenging. The link between the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ is the ‘how’: the engagement project itself. Students’ stories often follow the format what I did > how it helped > (and sometimes) why it matters. A surprisingly effective strategy to help students identify larger connections, significance, and relevance is to simply switch the order: why>how>what. This presentation will present this successful, field-tested method via examples of student engagement communication efforts in a ‘Public Value of Design’ assignment. It will include step-by-step demonstrations as well as the end products: exemplars of 2-minute video presentations. Learning outcomes will include: identifying the elements of effective engagement work communication; recognizing how shifting the order of the elements enables discovery, comprehension, and storytelling; and, how to practically implement this method with student groups.
Session 1-B: Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center – YOUR Outdoor Field Lab!
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Skylar Rebar, Academic Advisor, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center
Laurie McLaughlin, Program Director/Instructor, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center
Alex Suleski, Wildlife Program Coordinator, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center
Matt Marsden, Outdoor School and Discovery Camp Assistant Director, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center
Jennifer Anderson, Program Director/Instrcutor, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center
Description:
Shaver’s Creek would like to present on the plethora of engagement opportunities that we provide for the students of Penn State. We intend for folks attending this session to have the resources and information needed to connect their own students with the opportunities that have a value add to any major or degree program and help support student success and scholarship. The Shaver’s Creek Field Laboratory was founded by Penn State in 1976 as an outdoor classroom for students to get hands-on experience learning and teaching in, and about, the natural world. Since then, “Penn State’s Nature Center” has expanded to offer more than 40 credit courses a year, including our AURORA first-year student orientation programs, environmental interpretation courses, adventure and leadership courses, and our capstone-integrated SEED Semester. Hundreds of students a year from across the University also earn credit with Shaver’s Creek by becoming camp counselors for a week of Outdoor School, a residential environmental education program for fifth graders, or by becoming costumed presenters at Shaver’s Creek’s Maple Harvest Festival. Shaver’s Creek also provides students with yearly internship opportunities and volunteer hours. We hope to provide an engaging panel of professionals from Shaver’s Creek’s wide range of opportunities to answer questions and provide a dynamic presentation on all of the possibilities for those who engage with Shaver’s Creek!
Session 1-C: Engaging in Community – Penn State’s Engaged Scholarship
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Krista Bailey, Sustainable Campus Strategist, Sustainability
Ilona Ballreich, Director, Sustainable Communities Collaborative
Description:
The Engaged Scholarship Community of Practice (CoP) at Penn State provides a space for faculty to share best practices and learn from and with one another. This session will introduce the CoP by sharing why and how it was started, what topics it addresses and resources it provides, who participates, and how to get involved.
Presenters will engage attendees in discussions about possible future iterations of the CoP that will better serve the Penn State community.
Workshop participants will learn:
- what a community of practice offers to faculty, students, and the community;
- how the Penn State Engaged Scholarship CoP operates;
- how to participate; and
- where faculty can find resources and support for engaged scholarship work.
Workshop participants should anticipate engaging by sharing best practices for partnership building and contributing ideas for future CoP meetings.
Session 1-D: Cultivating Connection and Community Across Campuses
(Remote, Zoom)
Presenters:
Dawn Maguire, Associate Director of Campus College Engagement and Outreach, Smeal College of Business
Olivia Lewis
Evan Smith
Description:
Students succeed when they are seen, heard, and treated equitably. How does the college of business at a large land grant institution with multiple campuses ensure equitable access, create community, and establish a common culture for all their students when they are dispersed across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania? A Penn State-wide survey of the 2+2 student experience from 2018 revealed that only 32.1% of Smeal’s change of campus students felt connected to the college in their first two years of study. Grounded in our strong commitments to (1) fostering inclusion and belonging and (2) aligning our values with our educational and engagement offerings as essential components of success for all students, in 2019 we created an online semi-asynchronous course for first-year business pre-major students completing the 2+2 Program. Taught by Smeal academic advisers, our solution emphasizes creative advising and engagement strategies, innovative opportunities like professional alumni networking, and participating in business case competitions. Survey results from the first nine-semester offerings showed nearly tripling of our students’ sense of connectedness and belonging to our community from the start. Join us on our journey from concept creation through execution and implementation.
Session 1-E: Local to Global: Partnering with Penn State Global to Facilitate Global Learning
(Remote, Zoom)
Presenters:
Ryan Geiger, Global Engagement Coordinator, Lehigh Valley
Elizabeth Flaherty
Andjela Kaur
Jennifer Parker
Description:
Combining academic and co-curricular learning is an effective way to embed global learning on campus in an organic way that does not feel forced onto students. Partnering with Penn State Global to facilitate co-curricular learning programs has led to successful intercultural learning focused trips to New York City and Philadelphia. This panel discussion will review how faculty from three academic disciplines work with Penn State Global to facilitate DEIB co-curricular programming that compliments units covered in the students’ courses. We will discuss how to develop measurable interdisciplinary learning objectives for each program, academic considerations when linking a program to a course, and logistical elements in programming.
11:00-11:50 Session 2
In-Person and Remote Options
Session 2-A: Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan: Building Creative Eductional Impact
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Lori Gravish, College of HHD, Assistant Teaching Professor, Internship Coordinator and Alumni Outreach Coordinator
Description:
My approach to the scholarship of teaching is of utmost importance and it was during those COVID years that I began to determine the importance of addressing more public health initiatives. I began to craft a new course design and piece together a course curriculum. Embedding experiential learning field trips complemented the learning process at a greater magnitude. Working with our alumni to be able to accomplish this learning outcome is a synergy that has led to greater impact. My goal as an educator is to heighten the awareness of fundamental principles of learning that foster peer-to-peer discussions, academic engagement and outreach that peaks students’ curiosity, compassion, active listening and hopefully someday, advocacy. What defines me as an educator is my passion to bring creative ideas into fruition that can augment the fundamentals of learning and outreach. I challenge each of you to allow your creative “juices” to flow in this session to begin to cultivate fruitful offerings.
Session 2-B: Cultivating Globally Conscious and Diverse Leaders in STEM
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Latisha Franklin, Millennium Scholars Program Assistant Director, Office of the Provost
Georjanne Rosa, Millennium Scholars Program Assistant Director, Office of the Provost
Errol Wizda, Millennium Scholars Program Assistant Director, Office of the Provost
Description:
How do we make forward-moving, inclusive, and ethical change at Penn State? It starts with the students and involves everyone they engage. This is facilitated by people from varying prospectives who communicate with and support each other. This is what we do in the Millennium Scholars Program. The program’s mission is to support a diverse group of undergraduate students striving to succeed in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) doctoral (PhD) programs. The Millennium Scholars program (MSP) is modeled after the 30+ year, research backed University of Maryland, Baltimore County Meyerhoff Program. MSP addresses identity-based underrepresentation in STEM fields by cultivating individual and community awareness in the local and global settings for their personal growth. When mentoring students, MSP staff takes a student-centered decision-making approach that accounts for the individual, not just the data or numbers they produce. In this session, I’d like to lead you in a team building activity, identify ways to support high achieving students who are statistically underrepresented in their field of study, and reflect on the impact of your own mentoring style.
Session 2-C: Above and Beyond Expectations: Results of My 2020 – 2021 Engagement Academy Faculty Fellows Project
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Greg Pierce, Associate Teaching Professor of Finance, Smeal College of Business
Maria Howe
Brandon Szwalbenest
Catherine Clarke
Description:
Results from my 2020 Student Engagement Faculty Fellows Project entitled “Ths Strategic Business Plan: A Tool for Student Engagement and Entrepreneurial Success in the Community”. Since 1999, we have been engaging sophomore Schreyer Honors scholars in my Finance 301H class in a semester-long demanding project, specifically the development of five-year strategic business plans for local, statewide, national, and even international organizations. In this planning effort, we have been assisting entrepreneurs in the development of a strategic vision for their new and sometimes already running businesses and organizations. We have engaged in these consulting engagements for both for-profit and for non-profit organizations.
In these efforts, our Schreyer Scholars lay out in significant detail for company CEOs the following fourteen key areas of interest for our client organizations:
- Executive Summary
- Company Description
- Industry Analysis and Trends
- Target Market
- The Competition
- Strategic Position and Risk Assessment
- Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy
- Operations
- Technology Plan
- Management and Organization
- Social Responsibility and Sustainability
- Development, Milestones, and Exit Plan
- Financial Statements and Analysis
- Plan Appendix
While our class interest is clearly in the hands-on development of five-year financials (e.g., income statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flows and financial analyses for our client), the business plan effort enables the student to utilize tools learned in all of their business classes to provide a comprehensive look at and a forecast of the CEO’s growing company. Concepts learned in accounting, marketing, finance, supply chain, management, business law, and risk management classes (essentially all of the core courses in the Smeal College of Business) are utilized and applied in this integrative business plan effort.
I cannot think of a better way to teach and apply real-world business concepts across the curriculum than with this hands-on approach, and with engagement and interaction with real, live startup company CEOs and non-profit organization leaders.
Session 2-D: Conversations for Health, Longevity and Lifelong Learning
(HUB-Robeson Center, University Park)
Presenters:
Amy Lorek, Assistant Director for Engagement and Learning, Center for Healthy Aging
Brynn Rousselin, Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Penn State
Description:
Preparing for greater age diversity has broad implications for society especially since traditional-aged students have limited exposure to aging in curriculum and rarely interact with older individuals. More can be done to educate students about aging issues as they prepare to enter their adult personal and professional age-diverse worlds. To address this challenge the Human Development & Family Studies and Center for Healthy Aging partners with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (PSU Outreach) to offer undergraduate and older adult learners opportunity spend time in the classroom and community teaching each other what it means to live, learn, and become themselves. This adult development course and intergenerational exchange is one model for developing communication skills and dismantling ageist beliefs that permeate work and community contexts. This session shares the partnership model and learned lessons to develop or adapt for age inclusive courses and experiences.
Session 2-E: Penn State CAN: An Overview of the Commonwealth Arboreta
(Remote, Zoom)
Presenters:
Mary Ann Smith, Lecturer in Biology, Faculty Lead of the Commonwealth Arboretum, Schuylkill
Casey Sclar
Shelly Grinar
Description:
The Penn State Commonwealth Arboreta Network (CAN) represents a fresh endeavor aimed at connecting campuses via our diverse tree collections. Initially comprising seven campuses, we aspire to extend membership to all Penn State campuses in due course. As a multi-campus initiative designed to build relationships involving the environment and biodiversity, the primary goal of Penn State CAN is to foster communication and collaboration among faculty and staff statewide, facilitating research, teaching, and outreach endeavors. During our presentation, we will delve into further details about the CAN, shedding light on ongoing initiatives geared towards fostering interest and nurturing the growth of our network. We will share some of the developing programming for students and how this network can bring new opportunities for engagement into the classroom through collaboration with student colleagues and researchers across the Commonwealth. We will also share about connecting across divisions within the University and looking to build our relationships with external stakeholders.
12:00-1:00 Lunch
(HUB-Robeson Center, Alumni Hall)
1:00-2:00 Keynote Panel Discussion: Connecting Student Engagement to Success
(In-person and remote)
Moderator: Nicholas Rowland, Professor of Sociology, Penn State Altoona (former Faculty Senate Chair)
Panelists:
- Annie Taylor, Sr. Assistant Dean for Distance Learning and Director, Dutton Institute
- Donna Chambers, Associate Teaching Professor of Spanish, Interim Coordinator of Community Engagement, Penn State Berks
- Nicole Webster, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Faculty Affiars in Health and Human Development
- Owen Haddad, current Penn State student