Recently in (3) Leadership Category

Each year, the Penn State Brandywine Office of Student Affairs hosts a Leadership Recognition Dinner to recognize the leadership contributions of students, clubs & organizations, and faculty/staff who serve as club advisers in addition to inaugurating the newly elected Student Government Association officers.

New Student Government Association Officers:  President - Rosemarie Owoc; Vice President - Kathryn Beachboard

Eric A. & Josephine S. Walker Award  --  Zanya Stephenson (pictured to the left)

This award is given annually to full-time undergraduate students from each of the campus locations.  The Walker award recognizes a student whose outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship have been directed into programs and services that have positively influenced fellow students.


Student Affairs Excellence Award
     For a program  --  The Vagina Monologues
     For a student  --  Linda Truong



CLUB & ORGANIZATION AWARDS

Student Club/Organization of the Year  --  The Marketing & Advertising Club, and the Gay/Straight Alliance
Recognizes a student club or organization that has shown exceptional involvement throughout the year.  This club/organization contributed to the quality of student life and promoted campus involvement.

Outstanding Program or Event of the Year  --  The Gay/Straight Alliance - No Hate Campaign
Recognizes a program or event, sponsored by a student club/organization that enhanced the quality of student life by promoting campus community and Penn State pride.  This program should demonstrate creativity, uniqueness, and inclusion.

Club/Organization Advisor of the Year  --  Mrs. Sally Ent
Recognizes a faculty or staff member that volunteers their time to serve as a club/organization advisor.  This advisor has shown that they are truly engaged in the activities and mission of the student organization and are committed to enhancing the student life experience.

Deborah J. Erie Student Leader Award  --  Pawel Zwierzchowski
Recognizes a student leader who displays commitment and dedication to multiple organizations while maintaining solid academic standards.  This student has shown how leadership involvement contributes to building pride in one's campus can enriches the overall college experience.

Outstanding Lion Service Award  --  Simeon Freeman
Recognizes a student who has clearly demonstrated commitment and dedication acting as Penn State Brandywine's mascot.


STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Outstanding Adult Student Award  --  Eileen Fresta
Recognizes an outstanding adult student (age 24+) at this campus who serves as a role model for other adult students by sensitizing the institution to the needs of adult students and by establishing him/herself as a leader in the peer group.

Outstanding Student Service to Campus and Community Award -- Labanya Mookerjee
Recognizes a student who has given outstanding service to the campus and community through volunteering their time by assisting others or impacting the lives of others, thereby gaining positive recognition for him/herself and for the campus.

Barbara-Jackson Williams Award for Cross-Cultural Understanding  --  Trez Malatesta
Recognizes a student who has clearly demonstrated that individual differences are valuable and that learning about others who are culturally different is necessary and rewarding or who has provided outstanding service in a variety of cultural student organizations at Penn State Brandywine.

Diane D. Shorter Outstanding Community Service Award -- Aimee Ralph
Recognizes a student or event which contributes to the spirit of civic engagement through raising awareness of and enlisting campus involvement towards supporting a cause.

Congratulations to Dr. Stephen Cimbala, Dr. Laura Guertin, and Mrs. Diane Shorter, all selected for the university-wide recognition Faces of Penn State, showcasing "the personal accomplishments, public contributions and pioneering spirit resulting from the Penn State experience, education and community."

Dr. Stephen Cimbala - inspiring faculty member and military strategy expert

Dr. Laura Guertin - employing the knitting community to lend a hand locally and globally
Mrs. Diane Shorter - employing the knitting community to lend a hand locally and globally

On April 6, Penn State Brandywine hosted the Mid-Atlantic Fair Trade Student Leadership Training workshop for colleges/universities going for Fair Trade status.  Please visit the Penn State Brandywine Fair Trade TrailBlazers blog to read a summary about the day's events!

http://pennstatebrandywinefairtrade.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/mid-atlantic-fair-trade-student-leadership-training/

Congratulations to Laboratory Community Intern Rebecca Berkowitz for being named the 2013 Newman Civic Fellow for Penn State Brandywine, a national recognition awarded by Campus Compact!

Read about Rebecca and the award on the Campus Compact website.
Read the campus press release about Rebecca receiving the award.
Read Rebecca's Student Profile on the Laboratory website.

Walk around any college campus, and one may catch pieces of conversations where students are expressing frustration or disappointment in their university.  Zanya Stephenson, senior at Penn State Brandywine, has heard some of these concerns from her fellow students about her own campus.  Instead of adding to the negative conversations, Zanya decided to step up and do something about it.  Zanya organized a Campus Town Hall Meeting, where she invited the top campus administrators from Academic Affairs, Business Services, and Student Affairs to answer student questions and concerns about their campus.  Zanya created an online survey for students to submit comments online before the session, wrote a proposal for funding for a lunch for students, and facilitated the session.  Questions ranged from food services to tutoring, to construction to student leadership.  The Laboratory is extremely proud that Zanya demonstrated this leadership on her own to provide an opportunity for students to have their voice heard.

This semester, the students in Dr. Laura Guertin's ERM 210 course, Environmental Factors and Their Effect on Your Food Supply, have learned about a range of topics from The Farm Bill to the Food Corps, to climate change and conservation, to buy fresh and buy local.  Each class period, the students begin with an overview of a current event relating to food issues, challenges, and policies.  One local story really "hit home" for the students, and the class decided to take their education to the next level and be advocates for a local children's garden under the threat of closure.

The students listened to the WHYY Newsworks audio story titled Camden Children's Garden plugs along while fighting eviction.  The students were surprised to hear that such a valuable resource, both for education and awareness of healthy foods, was going to be shut down for "economic development" reasons.  Each student pitched in and wrote 33 letters that were sent to the Mayor of Camden, asking her to step in and allow the Camden Children's Garden to continue.  The students are hopeful that, although being from outside of the Camden area, the Mayor will see that even those at a distance realize the significant impact a garden can have on a child and the overall health of the city of Camden.

To show your support to have the garden remain open, please visit the Save the Camden Children's Garden website for information on how you can help.

The following students traveled from Wednesday, October 31, to Sunday, November 4 to attend the National Conference on Student Leadership in Lake Buena Vista, Florida with the Office of Student Affairs. 

Visit the Fair Trade TrailBlazer's website for a summary about Our second Alta Gracia t-shirt swap, benefitting Planet Aid.

In the same year that Penn State Brandywine is approved as a Fair Trade University, the campus Fair Trade TrailBlazers have successfully earned Affiliate Status with United Students for Fair Trade (USFT). Maria Louzon, National Coordinator of USFT, shared the good news with the Laboratory's summer Fair Trade intern Sarah DeMartino on August 22.

"We are available as a resource for ANYTHING involving fair trade, so never be afraid to ask questions about internships, ideas for events, jobs, or just fair trade in general," stated Maria, who has been communicating with the Fair Trade TrailBlazers since they began their pursuit of Fair Trade University status in January of this year.

You can read Sarah's report on gaining USFT Affiliate status at the Fair Trade TrailBlazers blog.


***************************************************************************

United Students for Fair Trade Affiliate Program
http://usft.org/affiliate

USFT exists for our affiliates. Student activists are at the forefront of the fair trade movement, composing a strong force which continually helps increase the demand for fair trade products. USFT coordinates and supports the campaigns of over 150 student organizations. Affiliates can be individuals seeking to begin an organization or al- ready-initiated organizations which intend to engage in Fair Trade action or education as part of their activities. Affiliates, as opposed to chapters, are autonomous organizations or individuals with the desire to advocate for Fair Trade principles, products, and policies.

***************************************************************************

About United Students for Fair Trade
http://usft.org/purpose

USFT is a collaboration of students and youth working in solidarity with cooperative communities to promote fair trade principles, products and policies. Consciousness raising, leadership development and capacity building stand at the core of our grassroots organizing.

Contributed by Matthew Shupp, Director of Student Affairs

From August 6-8, the Office of Student Affairs brought six student leaders to the annual Penn State University Student Summer Leadership Conference held at the Penn State Harrisburg campus. Of particular note is that Ahyana King and Karrie Bowen joined both Ronika Money and Matthew Shupp representing PSU Brandywine. Likewise, all four presented conference sessions to the Penn State students. Matthew Shupp, Brandywine's Director of Student Affairs, also served as a Pride Group Leader. Below are the session titles that the four presented:

Ronika Money: Untitled Leadership

Matthew Shupp: Life in the Fishbowl: The "How-To" Guide to Successfully Lead Student Groups

Ahyana King: Didentityvaluesersity - presentation on diversity

Karrie Bowen: Public Relations 101 for Student Leaders

Penn State Brandywine was one of the few campuses - if not THE only campus besides University Park - to have 4 professional staff presenting and representing our campus. This speaks to our campus commitment to student learning as well as the continued successful partnership we have with Academic Affairs, proving the interaction with faculty outside of the classroom is a tremendous retention tool and that SA and AA partnerships is vital to the success of our students.

The town of Media's Fair Trade Committee has awarded Penn State Brandywine a Regional Fair Trade Award for their achievement of becoming designated a Fair Trade University.  The Fair Trade TrailBlazers were recognized during Media's Bastille Day celebration on July 14. 

In addition to the campus receiving an award, TrailBlazer Sarah DeMartino (pictured in the center below) took second place in the Fair Trade Bake-Off, run by Ten Thousand Villages.

To read more about the event and celebration, please visit the Fair Trade TrailBlazers website.


Dr. Laura Guertin, Sarah DeMartino, Louis Donaghue, at Bastille Day

Congratulations to the Fair Trade TrailBlazers on achieving what so few universities have done in the nation - Fair Trade University status for Penn State Brandywine.  The official declaration date for the campus was May 12, 2012 - which was also World Fair Trade Day.

To read how the TrailBlazers spent their Declaration Day, view this entry (LINK) on the Fair Trade at Penn State Brandywine website (LINK).

Be sure to read the campus article and Brandywine Blog entry detailing more about this event.

On May 5, from the office of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Mayor Nutter and students participated in a conference call with President Obama and national leaders to discuss the impact of raising federal student loan interest rates. The sixteen participating students were from Temple University, Lincoln University, Community College of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State Brandywine.

Brandywine sophomores Tara Landis, Samantha Golay and Chris Kramer were among the local college students selected for this opportunity. Of the sixteen students, only two students actually spoke to the President, one of the two being Penn State Brandywine's Chris Kramer.

View the news story on the NBC 10 website: LINK

Each year, the Penn State Brandywine Office of Student Affairs hosts a Leadership Recognition Dinner to recognize the leadership contributions of students, clubs & organizations, and faculty/staff who serve as club advisers in addition to inaugurating the newly elected Student Government Association officers.

New Student Government Association Officers:  President - Pawel Zwierzchowski; Vice President - Amelia Klaus; Secretary - Amanda Dzwill; Treasurer - Matthew McAndrew; Head of Senate - Lauren Coppola

Eric A. & Josephine S. Walker Award  --  Heather Heacock
This award is given annually to full-time undergraduate students from each of the campus locations.  The Walker award recognizes a student whose outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship have been directed into programs and services that have positively influenced fellow students.

Student Affairs Excellence Award
     For faculty  --  Dr. Laura Guertin
     For a student club  --  Random IMPROV


CLUB & ORGANIZATION AWARDS

Student Club/Organization of the Year  --  Lion's Eye Newspaper
Recognizes a student club or organization that has shown exceptional involvement throughout the year.  This club/organization contributed to the quality of student life and promoted campus involvement.

Outstanding Program or Event of the Year  --  Helping Hearts for Valentine's Day, by MADE/Knittany Lion Needleworks/Office of Student Affairs (LINK to event)
Recognizes a program or event, sponsored by a student club/organization that enhanced the quality of student life by promoting campus community and Penn State pride.  This program should demonstrate creativity, uniqueness, and inclusion.

Club/Organization Advisor of the Year  --  Rahel Teklegiorgis
Recognizes a faculty or staff member that volunteers their time to serve as a club/organization advisor.  This advisor has shown that they are truly engaged in the activities and mission of the student organization and are committed to enhancing the student life experience.

Deborah J. Erie Student Leader Award  --  Steve Iatesta, Bobbi Caprice
Recognizes a student leader who displays commitment and dedication to multiple organizations while maintaining solid academic standards.  This student has shown how leadership involvement contributes to building pride in one's campus can enriches the overall college experience.

Outstanding Lion Service Award  --  David Serpentine
Recognizes a student who has clearly demonstrated commitment and dedication acting as Penn State Brandywine's mascot.


STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Outstanding Adult Student Award  --  Stacey Cassidy, honorable mention to Marcia Briggs
Recognizes an outstanding adult student (age 24+) at this campus who serves as a role model for other adult students by sensitizing the institution to the needs of adult students and by establishing him/herself as a leader in the peer group.

Outstanding Student Service to Campus and Community Award -- Aimee Ralph
Recognizes a student who has given outstanding service to the campus and community through volunteering their time by assisting others or impacting the lives of others, thereby gaining positive recognition for him/herself and for the campus. 

Diane D. Shorter Outstanding Community Service Award -- Carol Cloud (LINK to sock drive)
Recognizes a student or event which contributes to the spirit of civic engagement through raising awareness of and enlisting campus involvement towards supporting a cause.

Thanks to the Office of Student Affairs for the following update! Be sure to read the article on The Brandywine Blog (LINK) for additional information and thoughts from the students about the conference.

This group of students were in Boston the first weekend of April learning valuable leadership skills at the National Center for Student Leadership Conference! Doug Layer, Dave Serpentine, Sandy Flick, Aimee Ralph, and Rob Ribson are making us proud! (pictured with Student Affairs Director Matthew Shupp, Assistant Director Ronika Money, and Instructor Karrie Bowen).

Be sure to read the campus press release (LINK), Penn State Live article (LINK), and Campus Compact summary (LINK) posted about award winner Zanya Stephenson!

The Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellows Award honors inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country. Through service, research, and advocacy, Newman Civic Fellows are making the most of their college experiences to better understand themselves, the root causes of social issues, and effective mechanisms for creating lasting change. These students are selected as national models for the next generation of public problem solvers and civic leaders.

Since her start at Penn State Brandywine, Zanya Stephenson has participated in many campus service projects, served as the Team Captain for our campus's first entry into Philadelphia's innovative design competition Canstruction, and is working to establish volunteer opportunities in after school programs for youth in the city of Philadelphia. She has also been working with our Laboratory for Civic Engagement since last semester, currently serving as the Laboratory Communications intern. Nominated by our Chancellor, Zanya joins only 160 students from 32 states in receiving this honor, and she is the first recipient ever from Penn State Brandywine.  Congratulations, Zanya!

Top: Zanya receiving her certificate for the Newman Civic Fellows Award at the campus Academic Award Ceremony, March 22, 2012.  Bottom:  Zanya featured on the Campus Compact website.

Some college students spent Saturday, March 17, celebrating Saint Patrick's Day.  Others, such as Rebecca Berkowitz, Sara Neville, and Bryan Marton, spent the day at different student leadership training sessions in Philadelphia.

Rebecca Berkowitz attended the Service Leaders Summit, sponsored by Drexel's Center for Civic Engagement and PHENND. The Service Leaders Summit is a yearly meeting where students, nonprofit professionals, and community organizers gather to share ideas and expand their knowledge base on significant social issues. Students have the opportunity to network across campuses, share ideas, and come together in service both throughout their academic and professional careers. 

Rebecca is on the Executive Committee of We Are Penn State M.A.D.E. (Making A Difference Everyday), the campus volunteer club.  After the meeting, Rebecca shared her thoughts with us:  "The summit was great!  I wrote down tons of stuff very prevalent to MADE.  I really enjoyed it!  Thank you for such an awesome opportunity."

Sara Neville and Bryan Marton traveled with Dr. Laura Guertin to Temple University for the Fair Trade Leadership Development session, joining other students from Pennsylvania and DC that are working towards getting their campuses established as Fair Trade Universities.  Sara and Bryan are both enrolled in ENVST 400W, the Rosenberg Civic Engagement Course for Spring 2012 that has students working towards bringing Fair Trade to Penn State Brandywine.

Bryan shared his thoughts about the meeting: "I am so thankful to have attended the session. We have some great collaborators and i am looking forward to working with them. Can't wait for the next chance to exchange ideas and to learn!"

We look forward to seeing how these students continue to grow as leaders at Penn State Brandywine and beyond!

Read the article on Penn State Brandywine's website about the amazing work of early elementary education major Elizabeth Panos.  Elizabeth has developed an anti-bullying, what she calls "treat with kindness," teaching strategy for the classroom.

The beginning of the Spring 2012 semester marks the return of We Are Penn State M.A.D.E. (Making A Difference Everyday).  This campus volunteer club looks forward to allowing all members to become leaders in volunteering and community-based activities year-round.

At the club's first meeting on January 19, the students cut coupons to support the campus efforts for the Overseas Coupon Program.  This year, the campus will be sending all manufacturer coupons to the U.A. Army base in Vilseck, Germany.  In just one common hour session, the students cut $2,193.36 worth of coupons!  Stay tuned for more events and activities by M.A.D.E.

Penn State Brandywine is celebrating MLK Day as a week of lectures and service opportunities.  THON/American Red Cross, Knittany Lion Needleworks, We Are Penn State M.A.D.E., the Office of Student Affairs, and the Laboratory for Civic Engagement are all coming together to organize and lead activities for the campus.  The week of events serves to remind everyone that although MLK Day is a "day on, not a day off," it is important to serve all throughout the year.

Be sure to read the campus press release (LINK) about Cara and her amazing work!


We have to wonder if Cara Colantuono, while sitting in her classes as a Penn State Brandywine undergraduate student, knew what her future would hold.  We wonder how that land grant mission of Penn State University called out to her to serve the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

What we do know is that, armed with her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Studies and her Masters of Social Work from Temple University, Cara is the founder, CEO, and president of Support Homeless Veterans.  Founded in 2011, Cara's organization provides support services and housing for chronic homeless, drug-addicted and recently relieved veterans.

To learn more about Cara and her organization, please visit the website for Support Homeless Veterans and see the article by South Philly Review.

Carol Cloud, a student studying Human Development & Family Studies, spent her Fall 2011 semester interning at the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County.  As the semester was winding down, Carol realized that there is a constant need to give and receive.  Inspired by her internship and time at Penn State Brandywine, Carol decided to organize her own collection drive during the last two weeks of classes.

With the battle cry "Care, Share, Give a Pair... SOCKS!", members of the campus community were asked to donate socks of any size for men and women.  Collection bins were set up around campus, and over 100 pairs of socks came in for DVCCC.

We are "Penn State Proud" of Carol initiating and carrying out this project - a testimonial to the leadership abilities of Penn State Brandywine students.

2011 marks the fifth year that CNN celebrates ten individuals and their extraordinary accomplishments across the globe.  The Laboratory engaged in live tweeting during the CNN Heroes broadcast, and one of our tweets was even featured live across the bottom of the screen!

Please click below to read a Storify of our collected tweets.  Learn more about the CNN Heroes at their website (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html) and Twitter account (@CNNHeroes).

Ten Penn State Brandywine students attended the National Center for Student Leadership Fall 2011 Conference in Miami, Fla. earlier this month. The conference consisted of three days of presentations and workshops that were aimed at offering students the opportunity to build upon the leadership skills needed to improve themselves as well as their campus communities."

Click here to read the full article on the Penn State Brandywine website.

The NCSL Conference, held twice a year, helps students build a strong foundation as a leader and anchor their leadership skills for life. For four days, students learn specific strategies to take their unique skills to a whole new level, find their own leadership style, and become the leader they want to be in college and beyond. With dozens of workshops and presentations, students hear from top names in leadership that discuss the most effective leadership techniques.

Brandywine students provide feedback on their attendance at NCSL:

"One of the main things that I took away from the conference was that leadership is about action, but it is also about a mindset." - Kate Curley

"Being able to attend this conference has had such a huge impact on me and I truly believe that it will help me to become a better leader and person overall. I am very grateful for this experience and hope that PSU Brandywine continues to send more students to this conference in the future, so that more students can benefit from it."- Kayla Csizmazia

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching its OnCampus ecoAmbassador program on September 1, 2011. Students are encouraged to participate in the program, a chance for higher education students to green their campuses and promote environmental awareness. Students can educate their peers through informational events or initiate environmental change on their campus through longer-term projects. Past ecoAmbassadors have improved recycling efforts, organized Earth Day celebrations, initiated composting programs and worked to certify campus buildings as Energy Star compliant. Students benefit by developing valuable leadership, research and teamwork skills in addition to working closely with an EPA program to build awareness. The highest achieving students will have the opportunity to visit EPA offices and meet with EPA staff and leadership.

Interested students should visit http://epa.gov/oncampus/ and contact Dr. Laura Guertin, Environmental Inquiry Minor coordinator, at guertin@psu.edu to discuss possible campus projects and before registering online.

In Fall 2011, Penn State Brandywine is offering a course for all students interested in learning about and developing their own leadership skills.  The course, CN ED 301, is titled "Student Organization Management/Leadership."  Below is an excerpt from the syllabus.

Believing that leaders are made and not born, this course is designed to introduce students to those key components (behaviors and characteristics) that have been found to be integral to successful leadership.

Knowledge of leadership theory as well as self-assessment and development is a necessary and continual process for leaders. Students will be asked to examine their own strengths and weaknesses and to begin to make adjustments in their behaviors and attitudes.

CN ED 301 is a two-credit course offered online by Dr. Matthew Shupp, Director of Student Affairs, and Ms. Ronika Money, Assistant Director of Student Affairs.

The Student Government Association (SGA) at Penn State Brandywine continues for the second year its Community Service Initiative.  SGA legislation states that a student club/organization on campus is eligible to receive a modest amount of SGA funding for every four hours of service performed outside of Penn State Brandywine.  Several clubs have taken advantage of this initiative to connect with community organizations creating local change.