Educational leadership in the preK-12 arena is no longer solely the responsibility of school principals and superintendents. Today, teacher leaders are needed in the classroom and in other roles to help students keep pace with academic achievement goals. Growth in enrollment of school-aged children coupled with teacher retirements will create 13 percent employment growth for teachers through 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To help teachers who want to become leaders, Penn State has a new master of education in educational leadership-teacher leadership option delivered entirely online.

Lucy Phua of Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, will make her first visit to Penn State's University Park campus to receive her master's degree in adult education during commencement ceremonies on May 15. Phua completed her degree online, but is looking forward to meeting some of her professors and classmates in person during her one-week visit.

Valerie Worth began her Penn State education at the Altoona campus in 1992 and earned 42 credits before breaking her back and dropping out. It happened in 1994 when she was battling pneumonia. At the time, she was working and going to classes. She remembers coughing as she was putting on her coat and hearing a loud snap and feeling intense pain in her back. After resting at home overnight, she drove herself to the hospital. "I'm lucky I was still able to use my legs," said Worth, who grew up near Altoona, Pa. "I was not going to let it stop me." Doctors would later tell her that her back was broken and that she was fortunate that she wasn't paralyzed from the waist down.

In today's global work environment, workers no longer have to be in the same building or even the same country to work together on a project. That's especially true for engineering corporations with teams in multiple locations. Penn State's new online master of engineering management program aims to help by preparing experienced engineers with the business and technical skills they need to be effective managers of complex engineering projects.

Penn State World Campus, Continuing Education, Student Affairs and Undergraduate Admissions are hosting an employee enrollment information session from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in Outreach Building lobby, located in Innovation Park. During this free, open house-style event, Penn State employees who are eligible for University educational privileges can stop by any time to talk with staff members from these offices about how to use their education benefit.

Being a full-time Penn State student enrolled online through the World Campus and a stay-at-home dad caring for three young children has been a challenge for Eric Aberle, but his service in the U.S. Coast Guard has prepared him to manage multiple responsibilities while his wife serves in the Coast Guard. Aberle will graduate with an associate degree in business administration from Penn State in December and plans to continue on for his bachelor's degree in business.

Facebook's leaking of personally identifiable user information to advertisers through some of its popular applications is just the latest sign of the vulnerability of information in the age of social networking. To help address this and other emerging security risks, Penn State is offering an Information Security and Forensics Program that provides learners with the knowledge and skills to protect sensitive information and to determine the causes of security breaches. The program is part of Penn State's Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security degree and is delivered entirely online.