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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE Contact: Marisa Bilicic
September 19,
2003
814-676-6591 Ext. 1215
Clarion University-Venango Campus Outlines Progress
OIL CITY - A five-year
development plan for Clarion University—Venango Campus is already starting to
show success, according to reports at Thursday night’s meeting of the Clarion
University of Pennsylvania Council of Trustees.
“We’re moving ahead
at Venango Campus,” said President Joseph P. Grunenwald. “We have some major
items left in the plan, but this year we will be reviewing the role of the
executive dean in the selection of faculty, we are close to completing the new
55-space addition in the park lot and turnaround, and we are going to bring back
student residence halls next fall.”
Christopher M.
Reber, executive dean, feels Venango Campus is ripe for additional
achievements. “There is opportunity everywhere you look here,” said Reber.
“And the success of Venango Campus has always been a product of community
involvement and partnership.
Enrollment at
Venango Campus is setting near-record levels. “Our fall enrollment at the
Campus has again increased by double digits, our fourth consecutive year of
growth," said Reber. “We have grown in full-time and full-time-equivalent
enrollment. Our campus enrollment is now nearly 700, and total enrollment
including students at distance locations is nearly 800. This growth is led by
nursing, and our School of Nursing boasts the largest overall nursing-related
enrollment in the State System of Higher Education.”
Other Venango
accomplishments highlighted by Reber included:
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-- The
School of Nursing added an RN
to MSN program that will facilitate students’ timely progress from the
undergraduate to graduate levels of nursing education.
-- The bachelor’s degree program in radiologic
science, a partnership with UPMC Northwest and
Armstrong General Hospital, is
also growing and the UPMC system is adding sites in
Pittsburgh
for our students’ clinical work, and
Sharon Regional
Medical Center is adding sites as well. Additional clinical sites are needed, as
over 70 students are now enrolled in the program.
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- Venango’s continuing education program also
continues to grow. “Kids in College” involved over 250 children this summer and
a new massage therapy certificate program has a full class enrolled this fall.
- -- The Venango “Jump Start” program for academically
talented high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors also continues to grow
with 21 students enrolled in fall courses, a healthy increase over last year,
including six students who are taking classes full-time at Venango Campus. Reber
said Venango is grateful for generous funding support from the Samuel Justus
Charitable Trust and Discretionary Charitable Trusts and a variety of regional
businesses.
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-- Venango’s annual campaign this year included
generous support from the community and from 85 percent of Venango faculty and
staff.
- Venango Campus will host a conference for over
100 western Pennsylvania
high school student leaders on Friday, Oct. 17. This leadership conference is
sponsored by State Senator Mary Jo White and will bring legislators, journalists
and other community leaders to the Venango Campus.
- A Venango Campus alumni reunion is set to
coincide with next year’s Oil Heritage Festival.
- A focused strategic planning process that will
continue all of this year at Venango to help prepare for the future. The
process will be integrated into the University and State System planning
processes.
--- Venango’s new degree in technology is unique within
the State System and is built on a partnership model.
Clarion University will partner
with certified, licensed, accredited and/or otherwise approved technical
education organizations. These technical education partners will offer applied
industrial technology training to meet workforce development needs. Clarion
University will award students up to thirty college credits for successfully
completing this technical instruction. Clarion will also offer general education
and business familiarization courses, and students who complete the sixty-credit
program will graduate with an associate of applied science in industrial
technology degree from Clarion University.
-- The Clarion University
Foundation has been working with Venango and the City of Oil City on a proposal
to purchase approximately two and a half acres of land directly across the
street from Montgomery Hall. Meanwhile, Venango has developed a site plan for
seven buildings that will eventually house 136 students. Plans call for the
development of these facilities over the next several years, and first priority
will go to full-time students from outside of commuting distance to the Campus.
The buildings will house attractive, spacious apartments with kitchen, dining,
and living room facilities along with private or semi-private bedrooms and
baths.
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