Kraycik recognized with Undergraduate Program Leadership Award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Steve Kraycik, assistant teaching professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, is the recipient of the 2020 Undergraduate Program Leadership Award.

The award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary leadership benefiting a Penn State undergraduate degree program. Specifically, it recognizes those individuals who have major responsibilities for the delivery of undergraduate education within a unit and who are providing leadership that has transformed or revitalized the undergraduate program in some way.

Kraycik, who is director of student television and online operations, brings three decades of industry broadcasting experience to Penn State, where he began working in 2012. In one of the University’s most popular majors — journalism  — colleagues said Kraycik has a hand in growing one of the fastest growing segments: broadcast journalism.

Kraycik supervises “Centre County Report,” a student-produced newscast that airs in about half the state on a PBS television station (WPSU-TV). Under his leadership, the newscasts have earned numerous awards including two national college Emmys, multiple regional Emmys and awards from The Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and the Broadcast Education Association. Centre County Report was named the nation’s best college newscast by the Broadcast Education Association and the College Television Awards.

“In every facet of his job  — from encouraging students to report difficult stories to challenging them to make those stories compelling to critiquing their work each week — Steve has elevated the “Centre County Report” to a nationally recognized student broadcast operation.”

Colleagues say Kraycik has built a strong feeder system that attracts great students who enter “stepping stone” experiences throughout college. He’s also a force in finding career opportunities for his graduating students.

The college’s reputation as a premier broadcast institution has grown exponentially, colleagues said. They said his drive to create award-winning programming that trains his students on a path to future success and his keen eye for talent continue to propel the program to new heights.

Previously, Kraycik spent a decade as news director at top-20 market stations in Sacramento and Seattle. He also worked in various TV news capacities in Tampa and Orlando, Florida, and other cities on the East Coast.