Penn State’s mission includes helping to improve the well-being and health of individuals and communities through teaching, research and service. Penn State Lehigh Valley (PSU-LV) faculty regularly present, serve on panels and share their research with people and institutions outside of Penn State.
Over the last several months, PSU-LV faculty’s off-campus engagement included:
Christina Galbiati, lecturer of graphic design, and Eileen Grodziak, instructional designer, presented “Creactive: Creative Process Before Technology” a pedagogical approach investigating how design process introduced before technology implementation can enhance creative outcomes at the Lilly Conference in Bethesda, Maryland, though the event was held online, in May 2020. Students were involved via an IRB research study with Galbiati’s Graphic Design Intro to Design classes, as well as a cross-site study with a class at Moravian College.
Nichola D. Gutgold, professor of communication arts and sciences:
- Gutgold led a talk about feminism at the event, “Circle Talk Leader: Feminism Yay or Nay?” held at Cedar Crest College on Jan. 23.
- Her book “Seen and Heard: The Women of Television News” was featured on Katie Couric’s Podcast in Feb. 2020.
- Gutgold served as a guest on Big Time Talker Podcast regarding "How to Communicate More Effectively During the Pandemic" in March.
- Gutgold served as emcee of the Literacy Center graduation held via zoom on June 18. Gutgold is on the board of directors and is the incoming board president of the Literacy Center.
Tai-Yin Huang, professor of physics:
- Huang published a paper titled, “Trends in the Airglow Temperatures in the MLT Region—Part 1: Model Simulations,” with her undergraduate research assistant Michael Vanyo. This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). She will give a presentation on that topic at the virtual CEDAR meeting in late June.
- She gave an online presentation titled, “The Unusual Intensity Pattern of OH(6,2) and O(1S) Airglow Observed Over the Andes Lidar Observatory” at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly Meeting in May.
- Huang served as a guest editor for the journal, “Atmosphere.”
- She has been appointed as a Council member of the International Engineering and Technology Institute since March 2020.
- She was an invited panelist on the Disciplinary Panels at the Commonwealth Campuses Spring Grant writing Workshop in May 2020.
Jennifer Jarson, head librarian:
- Jarson presented twice at the SoTL Commons Conference in Savannah, Georgia in February.
- Her posted titled "Strengthening Information Literacy and Metacognition with a Constructivist Activity" was presented on Feb. 20.
- Jarson and Director of Virtual Education Kate Morgan’s poster titled "How Does a Campus Engagement Series Impact Participants’ Inquiry Mindsets?" was presented on Feb. 21.
- Jarson delivered a workshop titled "How Much Time Do You Have? Quick and Flexible Activities to add Some Metacognition to Your One-shot Information Literacy Sessions" at the LOEX Conference, which was moved online in response to the pandemic on May 6.
- Jarson delivered a presentation titled "Connecting Information Literacy & Metacognition with a Constructivist Activity" at the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) Information Literacy Symposium, which was moved online in response to the pandemic, on May 13.
Mark Milliron, lecturer of health policy and Administration, is a Public Health Program Administrator with the Pennsylvania Department of Health where he coordinates the State Health Assessment, State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) and the Health Improvement Partnership Program. The SHIP is the Department of Health’s plan for implementing strategies to improve the health status of the population of the state. Priorities that have been identified in Pennsylvania include addressing obesity, physical inactivity and nutrition; primary care and preventive services; and mental health and substance use. Milliron coordinated and edited the recent publication of the 2019 annual SHIP report, compiling data and statistics on health indicators for these topics. He also edits the Pennsylvania Health Improvement Partnership newsletter and recently published the Spring 2020 edition featuring public health information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kate Morgan, director of virtual education and Experiential Digital Global Engagement (EDGE) campus coordinator, and Tiffany MacQuarrie, assistant teaching professor of English at Penn State Beaver and professor in charge of EDGE, received a $14,000 grant from Global Programs at Penn State to forge an EDGE relationship with the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The grant will cover travel costs for relationship-building, program development, and incidentals related to the partnership. The grant runs through Dec. 31. 2021. Currently, three Penn State instructors from different commonwealth campuses have been identified to engage with the program and are awaiting UA partners. These globally networked courses intensify disciplinary learning in all fields, both in those which engage other cultural perspectives and fields less traditionally associated with global learning. EDGE seeks to build bridges among international partners, instructional design, and teaching faculty through courses linked by a two to four week collaborative project, thereby promoting, integrating and enhancing international education experiences across curricula. Because travel is not required for EDGE, the program provides the opportunity to engage in global learning for ALL Penn State students. EDGE has partners all over the world. Interested in learning more about the program or to discuss ideas on EDGE’ing a class, contact Kate Morgan at kjm19@psu.edu.