To cover increases in operating and maintenance costs, the Board of Trustees on Friday (Nov. 6) approved a modest increase in room and board rates for the 2010-11 academic year. The average room and board rate -- including a standard double-occupancy room and the most common meal plan -- will be $4,185 per semester, an increase of $100, or 2.45 percent, over last year. This is the smallest increase in the room and board rates in a decade. (more)
Henry C. "Hank" Foley, dean of Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology, has been named the University's vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. Foley succeeds Eva J. Pell, who in August was appointed Under Secretary for Science for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "Hank Foley is a tremendous choice to lead Penn State in remaining an important international center of research in the 21st century," said Penn State President Graham Spanier. "Throughout his tenure at the University, Hank has demonstrated a vision for research and scientific inquiry that will serve him well in this position." (more)
Although economic conditions have required more students and their parents to seek financial aid and other funding sources, Penn State remains highly popular among applicants and enrolled students from Pennsylvania, the United States and the world, according to panelists during a presentation today (Nov. 6) to the University's Board of Trustees. Presenters Robert Pangborn, vice president and dean for Undergraduate Education; Anne Rohrbach, executive director for Undergraduate Admissions; and Anna Griswold, assistant vice president for Undergraduate Education and executive director for Student Aid, highlighted data regarding 2009-10 student enrollment, 2008-09 applications to the University and levels of financial aid during the 2008-09 school year, respectively. (more)
The Penn State Board of Trustees today (Nov. 6) heard an informational report on landscape improvements of several Penn State campuses from Gordon Turow, director of campus planning and design. Landscape influences the perception of the character and quality of the University and the educational experience it offers. "According to a well-known study, many high school seniors base their choice of an institution in large part on the appearance of the campus buildings and grounds," Turow said. "Most of them make that decision within the first 15 minutes of arriving on campus." (more)
Penn State's research expenditures in fiscal 2009 reached a record $765 million, a 6.7 percent increase over the previous year and a 74 percent increase since fiscal 2000, said Eva J. Pell, senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School, in a report to the University's Board of Trustees today (Nov. 6). The funding supports a broad range of research activity in such diverse areas as renewable energy, cybersecurity, materials science and engineering, environmental science, and translational medicine. (more)
Penn State's Board of Trustees held its regular bi-monthly meeting Friday (Nov. 6) at the University Park campus. In his remarks to the Board, University President Graham Spanier commented on enrollment, research accomplishments, a new civic literacy project, athletic achievements and other recent news from across the University. (more)
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ron Suskind and Nobel Laureate and chemist Peter Agre were approved Friday (Sept. 11) by Penn State's Board of Trustees to receive honorary degrees from the University. They join documentary filmmaker Ken Burns as the most recently named Penn State honorary degree recipients. Burns' degree was approved by Board of Trustees at its March 20 meeting. Each of the recipients' degrees will be conferred during a future commencement to be determined. (more)
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (Sept. 11) approved the final design and authorized the awarding of contracts for the construction of an air traffic control tower at University Park Airport, as designed by Mead & Hunt Inc. Architects of Madison, Wis. The tower will improve efficiency and safety at and around the airport. The height and placement of the tower site were determined by the Federal Aviation Administration using criteria that would allow a view of critical aircraft operation areas. (more)
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will purchase the facility that is home to its Early Learning Center in Knowledge Park on the southeastern edge of campus, as approved by the Penn State Board of Trustees on Sept. 11. The parcel of land on which the Early Learning Center sits is part of more than 200 acres of land, including buildings and available lots, that the college currently leases to the Greater Erie Industrial Development Corporation (GEIDC) to operate Knowledge Park. (more)
Joel N. Myers, the founder, president and chairman of AccuWeather Inc. and current Penn State trustee and alumnus, has committed $2 million to help ensure Penn State's continued international leadership in meteorology, University President Graham B. Spanier announced at the Board of Trustees meeting today (Sept. 11). The gift will support the Department of Meteorology's weather center including its new facility on the sixth floor of Walker Building on the University Park campus. It is the largest gift ever made to the department and among the largest ever received for programs in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. (more)
