Directors Meeting and Tour

Today was really the first time I was able to dive into a lot of fire safety information. I initially started out in looking for ways other schools market their fire safety posters but didn't find much. There sure is a lot of information out there on fire safety though. Uffda!

At 9am, Krista and I had a Student Affairs Directors meeting. This was a very interesting meeting. Much of their topics were things I had no clue about and a bunch of updates. Elliott has a great memory but it's funny to hear him describe my path to Penn College, "Jack is from Grand Forks, ND, went to Minnesota, and is now at Western Illinois." Sometimes he'll switch things around a bit and throw in my VISTA experience or what I'm studying. However, there was a lot of talk about the Crisis Intervention Team and the ADA Classification of students who attempt suicide. Apparently, students who attempt or are about to attempt suicide are protected by ADA through mental illness. If I remember correctly, the school can excuse the student from classes and living on campus once they have a mental evaluation. However, between the attempt and the evaluation, the student could stay on campus and cannot be asked to leave due to ADA compliance. This has a lot of implications for Residence Halls as it is affecting the other students' safety living there. I'm sure there are a lot of grey areas with this but what an interesting conversation.

Shortly after the directors meeting, Krista and I hoped in Penn College vans with the Links for a tour of the Earth Science Center! The Earth Science Center is well off campus in a very wooded area. The building houses a bunch of different majors, which might fall into different schools, not too sure. We took a nice outdoors tour and ate lunch at the Pavilion. I did not know we were supposed to bring our own lunch so I waited till we got back. After that, I got my email address!! However, no password. I'll have to get that tomorrow.

Scheduling and Meetings

So, I don't have an email address yet, which makes it tough for me to schedule things or know where I'm supposed to be. It also means I can't use any of the school computers, like the one in my office or the ResLife office. So I thought I had the morning to start working on my projects and this blog at my apartment but turns out I had meetings all day!!! I was totally late for our meeting with Michael Hersh, the main programming director for student activities.

These meetings for Krista and I to get to know the professional staff here at Penn College. In our meeting with Michael, we talked a lot about the programs they offer and he asked us a lot of questions about our homecomings and what we do on our campuses. It reminded me that I simply didn't take full advantage of my time at Minnesota. We went way over our meeting time, even if I was late.

Then we met with Sara Hillis and had discussions on Student Activities, Service, and SGA. Sara’s job is a bunch of Western jobs combined, which means she probably does quite a bit in her position. She also talked about her connections to NACA, which she is writing a article for the NACA magazine. This was another hour long meeting and it could have been longer! Everyone is so full of information and both sides are asking a lot of questions. Maybe meetings could be longer in the future if their schedule allows?

We then met with Brian Johnson, Director of Residence Life. Brian talked about his administrative activities and big picture planning activities. He gave us an overview about what is going on now and how Dauphin Hall is changing things. We saw floor plans for Dauphin Hall as well, which looked really cool! They’re looking to turn that area into a First Year Student area with some specific learning community areas. Like the other meetings, this meeting could have gone on longer but Brian is a very busy guy!

After lunch, it was right back into meetings. We met with all 4 Residence Life Coordinators: Katie Mackey (The Village), Kas Williams (College West), Lee Plenn (Rose Street Commons), and Ashley Smith Nicholas (Campus View). They basically gave us time to ask them questions about Housing. Krista asked a lot of the questions since she doesn't have a lot of ResLife Experience. The Coordinators all have their distinct personalities but they fit well with the Main ResLife Office. They're fun but they carry themselves in a professional manner. They're a fun group!

After that, we met with Erin Datteri, the Assistant Director for Leadership and Greek Life in Student Activities. We had a lot to talk about with Greek Life. Greek Life is relatively new at Penn College. They have 2 Fraternity Chapters, 2 Fraternity Colonies, and 2 Sorority Colonies. Colonization is quite the process. We talked a lot about the students here being focused on their academics and not so much on the experience of college which is why some of the colonies are struggling. Erin gone through Impact Training and Phired Up! before. We spent an hour alone on Greek Life before we covered Leadership. We talked about a lot and it sounds like I might be able to help with some of the Greek Life stuff. We shall see. Definitely a long day!

My First Day - Afternoon

In the afternoon, I first met with Brian Johnson, Director of Residence Life to discuss some project options. Brian had a list of ideas for me to run with and I selected some that interested me, which included fire safety and recycling. Both of these fall under marketing, which I could use some practice or work on. I'll also end up working on whatever else they need me to.

After my meeting with Brian, Krista and I went up to the Administration Floor (3rd Floor Student and Administrative Services Center) for meetings with Chief Student Affairs Officer Ward Caldwell and Special Assistant for Student Affairs and Student Development Elliott Strickland. Their bios are via this link:

http://www.pct.edu/studentaffairs/staff.htm

Ward oversees all things student affairs, which includes Student Affairs and Development, Counseling, Campus Police, and Academic Support. I did not understand how young PCT is as a college! He explained a little more about Penn State Special Mission Affiliation, which is basically sponsorship or funding from Penn State but still PCT is still it's own college. Ward oversees Elliott, who oversees Student Activities, Health Services, Athletics, and Residence Life. Elliott wanted to know more about Krista and I than anything else. Although he did fill us in on his background. Elliot took us on a tour of the "3rd Floor". We met all the administration including President Gilmore! We were shocked to have that type of access right away to the Administration. It was awesome! I checked in with Brian after that and he told me to call it a day!

My first Impression

First of all, beautiful campus. Everything is really modern, the grounds are well groomed. I can tell just by looking at it they take a lot of pride in their school. Second, everyone is really excited to have myself and my co-intern for the summer. We're the first ACUHO-I and NODA interns they've had. Everyone is willing to answer questions I have and help me find my way around Williamsport. I met the main Residence Life Office staff, Brian, Tim, Marion, and Barbara. They seem relaxed but very professional. I also met Katie, the Coordinator for the Village. Again, very nice, willing to answer questions, and made me feel at home. Time to unpack my stuff!