UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Two Penn State New Kensington staff members were recognized recently in “We Are!” a new weekly feature of the daily email publication Penn State Today.
Nancy Miller, co-director of continuing education, and Corinne Coulson, enrollment services specialist, were highlighted Feb. 27 and March 6, respectively. “We Are!” is a University-wide initiative that provides students, faculty and staff with a platform to give kudos to fellow Penn Staters for work that goes above and beyond their job duties or responsibilities. Miller and Coulson were nominated by campus colleagues for personifying Penn State’s commitment of service to the community.
Kevin Snider, chancellor of the New Kensington campus, praised the pair for shining the Penn State spotlight on New Kensington. He encouraged the campus community to recommend other colleagues for the honor.
“We need to get the word out about what a great campus and community we are,” Snider wrote in a campus-wide email. “It's a great way to continue to get our fantastic community recognized outside the campus.”
A “We Are” candidate could be a maintenance worker taking extra steps to make sure a project is completed, a student organizing a charitable event, an administrator doing something special for employees or a faculty member taking additional time to advise students.
Serving the campus for more than 30 years, Miller has been a part of the Continuing Education office since 1999. Prior to that, she worked in admissions, career services, adult education and student affairs. As co-director, she is responsible for credit and noncredit programming, on-site business and industry training, and youth activities. Miller was cited for her student-centered focus, which complements Snider’s five-year strategic plan that was unveiled last year.
The nominator wrote: "Uses lunch hours, stays late, meets students at their jobs to help, connects PSU students to companies for internships/jobs. Pleasant and welcoming attitude for over 30 years, makes students feel comfortable and important -- we should all have Nancy's philosophy -- it’s all about the students."
Miller attended the New Kensington campus for two years before earning her bachelor’s degree in sociology and social welfare at Penn State University Park.
Coulson, who joined the admissions staff in 2013, is responsible for recruiting and counseling prospective students with the focus on traditional aged students. In addition, she is the adviser to the Lion Ambassadors, a student organization found on every campus of Penn State. Their mission is to serve the University, the student body and alumni by acting as representatives of the University.
Her nominator wrote: "Corinne has helped us achieve a strategic plan goal -- addressing poverty in our community. She co-chairs our campus poverty committee, organizes volunteers to help at a food bank, co-coordinated a Day of Caring initiative and coordinated a Poverty Summit to discuss the challenges poverty causes."
Understanding the scope of poverty in local communities was the focus of the Poverty Summit that was held in the fall at Penn State New Kensington. More than 40 community leaders and nonprofit organization members joined campus faculty and staff to learn more about the poverty in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Through a series of presentations, participants learned about issues faced by individuals and families on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. In conjunction with the summit was an agency fair. Nine nonprofit organizations set up tables in the Forum Theatre lobby to provide the campus community with information about their agencies and volunteering opportunities.
Coulson earned a bachelor's degree in communications media at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the dean’s list and recipient of the National Collegiate Communications Award.
To nominate a colleague for “We Are!” visit http://news.psu.edu/WeAre.