UPPER BURRELL, Pa. — In the past couple of months, students, faculty and staff at Penn State New Kensington said goodbye and good luck in retirement to two longtime staff members, Angie Fisher, administrative support assistant for student affairs, and Nancy Miller, co-director of continuing education, who combined for 80 years of service to the University. They were feted recently by family and friends.
Known as Angie to the campus community and Missy to the rest of the world, Fisher closed out her 38-year campaign Dec. 17 with a dinner in the campus Conference Center. Former and current colleagues, as well as her son Michael, roasted and toasted one of the most student-centered staff members on campus.
Among her numerous connections to students, Fisher served as the adviser to the Multicultural Club and chaperone for student trips, including the annual sojourn to the Pennsylvania Black Conference on Higher Education in Philadelphia. Her most memorable excursion was taking a group of 35 students on a one-day, 500-mile odyssey to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009. Fisher even secured a few inauguration tickets from the office of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, and five lucky students, drawn from a lottery on the bus, got a closer view of the proceedings.
Theresa Bonk, director of student affairs, worked with Fisher for the past 12 years. As a retirement gift, she presented Fisher with a framed invitation to the inaugural and a picture of Obama.
“Angie will be missed greatly in student affairs as she has made a lasting impression and touched the lives of so many while here at Penn State New Kensington,” Bonk said. “As a champion and advocate for all students, especially the underrepresented population on campus, Angie was devoted to making things better.”
Fisher was the go-to person for many students on campus. International students were especially fond of her, and she helped them adjust to the new culture. During holidays, she often invited students who could not go home to her house.
“If a student needed a ride to get groceries or go to the Social Security office or find someone to cut their hair, Angie would take them or find a way for them to get there,” Bonk said. “She was the first one to volunteer to help anyone in need and the last one to leave an event in order to make sure that everything was taken care of, and everyone had left the building.”
With her finger on the pulse of the student body, Fisher was a prolific writer of nominations for student awards — campus, University and statewide. Because she was so close to students, her nominations carried weight and often resulted in those students winning awards. For the past three years, a New Kensington student has won a scholarship at the Black Conference meetings.
“It was the special touch that she had with students and her modest way of engaging them that we will miss the most,” Bonk said.
Fisher worked under two student affairs directors — Larry Pollock and Bonk — and both were in attendance. Pollock, chancellor emeritus, headed the office for 30 years before being appointed chancellor in 2003. Bonk, the current director, succeeded Pollock. Nancy MillerMiller worked at the campus for 42 years and shared a common connection with Fisher — working for Pollock.
“I ran into Larry in the summer of 1973 when I was on campus and he told me of an opening in student affairs,” Miller said. “I applied, interviewed and was hired in October. It was certainly an easier process than it is now.”
Miller’s co-workers, family and friends sent her into retirement with a luncheon Jan. 26. The continuing education staff of Pat Hollinger, co-director; Beth Nury, administrative support assistant; and Debbie Novak, STEM and youth programs coordinator, put together a PowerPoint presentation of the “Top Ten Things We Will Miss About Nancy Miller.” With a bow to her idiosyncrasies, the No. 1 item was “Everything.”
“Nancy made continuing education and Penn State a better place to work,” said Hollinger, who worked with Miller for nearly 20 years. “She was my mentor, my co-worker, my colleague, my lunch buddy, my traveling companion, but most important, my friend.”
A Penn State alumna, Miller attended the New Kensington campus for two years before earning her bachelor’s degree in sociology/social welfare from the University Park campus. She received a master’s degree in student personnel services from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
After graduating from Penn State, Miller returned to the campus as assistant to the director in the student affairs office. She served in that capacity for five years before moving to other offices under the auspices of Pollock — First-Year Testing, Consulting and Advising Program (FTCAP), now known as New Student Orientation, career services, and director of the Pennsylvania Department of Education program.
Miller also had a stint in the admissions office before settling into the continuing education office as the area representative in 1996. In her position, she worked with corporate clients, such as PennDOT, Duquesne Light and CEC Inc. She and Hollinger were named co-directors of continuing education in 2011.
“In my different careers, I have worked with a lot of really great people, but working with Nancy Miller was different,” Hollinger said. “She was my ‘go-to’ person, since she was more seasoned in the Penn State ways. I wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement, and I will miss her deeply.”
For the past 40 years, Miller had a front-row seat for the evolution of the campus. In the 1970s, more women began seeking college degrees and entering the higher education workforce, changing the makeup of the campus’ student body and programs.
“When I was a student, the male to female ratio was 7:1 with mostly engineering or education majors,” said Miller, a resident of Allegheny Township.
Today, the student body comprises 57 percent men and 43 percent women. Most students are enrolled in one of 10 bachelor’s degree programs and stay on the campus for all four years. There are five associate programs and 10 minors. In addition, students can now begin any of Penn State’s 160 bachelor’s degree programs at New Kensington and complete the degree at University Park or another Penn State campus.
The administration of the campus also has changed over the course of Miller’s career. “Back in the day” as old timers are apt to say, most department heads were male. That model has reversed itself.
“When I began my career at Penn State New Kensington, I was the youngest and only female administrator at the campus,” Miller said. “Now there are mostly females in key administrator positions, such as academic affairs, student affairs, admissions, development and continuing education.”
During Miller’s tenure, she witnessed the technology revolution that has made the campus one of the most technology-advanced in Penn State's Commonwealth College system. The day-to-day operations of the campus became more efficient, inside and outside the classroom, with the advent of computers, cell phones, Internet and email. Even copiers, ubiquitous on campus today, were a tool that the campus didn’t utilize at that stage.
“We used mimeograph and ditto machines, and hand folded and stuffed mailings,” Miller said. “Students had to stand in long lines in the gym with data cards in order to try to register for classes. The fact that they can register and take classes online is a great accomplishment.”
Amid the electronic explosion, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the quality of campus students. Miller sees today’s students and yesterday’s students as personifications of the indomitable Penn State spirit. Since the campus’ inception in 1958 in a remodeled high school building on Fourth Avenue in New Kensington with 78 students, that spirit has remained the essence of a Penn State education.
“We’ve always had a great group of students, and it was great to work with SGA (Student Government Association) and work-study students over the years,” Miller said. “Students today are still friendly and polite, and more tech savvy.”