Education briefs
Open houses set Members of West Virginia University’s New Student Orientation Office, Morgantown, W.Va., will be helping high school seniors and their families get acquainted with WVU through a series of upcoming open houses called Mountaineer Visitation Days.
Mountaineer Visitation Days are scheduled for Oct. 21 and 25 as well as Nov. 11, Nov. 18 and Dec. 13.
Prospective students and families interested in attending a Mountaineer Visitation Day are asked to make reservations with New Student Services as soon as possible. For more information, call 304-293-2264 or visit the web at http://www.arc.wvu.edu/Visit-main.html.
Free classes offered
Community Action Southwest is offering free classes in adult education, GED and brush-up skills at Mapletown High School.
The classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 101 of the school.
Classes, that began Oct. 7, will continue throughout the school year. For more information, call 724-852-2893 ext. 517.
Courses announced
Classes to improve health and fitness, examine local history and create decorative items for the home highlight the fall schedule of non-credit courses offered by Westmoreland County Community College.
Classes meet at the Youngwood campus; the Laurel Education Center, Latrobe; the Elle-Kiski Education Center, New Kensington; the Bushy Run Education Center, Penn Township; the Mon Valley Education Center, Belle Vernon; Hempfield, Greater Latrobe and Ligonier Valley high schools; and Norwin Middle School West.
For more information, call WCCC at 800-262-2103.
Shows scheduled
The Saint Vincent College Planetarium, Latrobe, is offering planetarium shows free to groups of up to 40 people.
Shows are appropriate for kindergarten students to adults. These shows will be presented every Monday and Wednesday evening during the months of October and November beginning at 7 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling Dr. John Smetanka at 724-532-6600, ext. 2504 or e-mail .john.smetanka@email.stvincent.edu for further information.
Sessions slated
Seton Hill University, Greensburg, will conduct graduate program information sessions in October, November and December.
For more information, contact Mary Kay Cooper, director of admissions and graduate and adult studies, at 724-830-4639 or begin mcooper@setonhill.edu mcooper@setonhill.edu end
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Grant received
Project Forward Talent Search at Seton Hill University, Greensburg, received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education that totals almost $1.6 million.
The program, which has been in operation since 1968, assists students from low-income families in applying for college. Currently, Project Forward sends advisors to 27 area middle schools and high schools to serve 1,450 students. Advisors are certified teachers who visit a school once a week. As part of the guidelines for the program, at least two-thirds of the program students are from low-income families and are potentially the first generation in their family to attend college.
For more information, contact Gerald Sheridan, director of Project Forward Talent Search, at 724-837-6199 or begin sheridan@setonhill.edu sheridan@setonhill.edu end
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Meteorologist to speak
Richard Kane, the warning coordinator meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, during a presentation Oct. 30 at California University of Pennsylvania will discuss severe thunderstorms that roared through the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and around Kennywood amusement May 31.
Kane will be at Cal U to speak about why the storm was classified as a macroburst rather than a tornado. The presentation will take place in the Eberly Science and Technology Center Auditorium (room 115). He will also talk about another major tornado in La Plata, Md., on April 28.
Refreshments will be provided by the Cal U Meteorology Club and hosted by the department of earth sciences.
Anyone from the university community and general public is welcomed to attend. Admission is free.
For further information, contact the Meteorology Club president, Thomas R. Hallowell Jr. at begin hailstone11@yahoo.com hailstone11@yahoo.com end
or Dr. Chad Kauffman, assistant professor of earth sciences, at (724) 938-5760 or begin kauffman@cup.edu kauffman@cup.edu end
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Survey distributed
In early October, all California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students began receiving an academic advising survey in the mail to their local mailing addresses.
The purpose of this national, standardized survey is to obtain student impressions of the university’s academic advising services. President Angelo Armenti Jr. directed that the university’s Office of Continuous Improvement conduct this survey in order to provide credible data that can help with continuous improvement efforts related to advising, scheduling and registration.
A $500 scholarship for 2003 spring semester courses at Cal U will be awarded in a random computer selection from all returned surveys. The scholarship will be provided by the Foundation for California University.
More information on the survey can be obtained from director of continuous improvement Sandra L. Huska at 724-938-1673.
Scholarship organized
A close-knit group of former California University of Pennsylvania WVCS disc jockeys, crew and technicians, most of whom graduated during the 1980s and early 1990s, are organizing a WVCS Alumni Scholarship.
About 35 alumni met recently at Cedar Creek Park to discuss how they could make a lasting contribution. Amy Lombard, the university’s scholarship enhancement officer, has been working with the alumni to help them determine how to organize their ideas.
For more information on the scholarship opportunities, email lombard@cup.edu or call (724) 938-1540.