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bookmark_borderPenn State Campuses in the Philly Area

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Penn State has several campuses in the Greater Philadelphia Region including Abington (Montgomery County), Great Valley (Chester County) and Lima (Delaware County). Here are some other Penn State facts:

1. Penn State names Eric J. Barron president

2. THON 2014 ‘redefines the possibilities’ with $13.3 million for pediatric
cancer

3. Times Higher Education global reputation survey ranks Penn State in Top 50

4. Family and friends create trustee scholarship in alumnus’ memory

5. CORED symposium highlights diversity dynamics, potential improvements

6. New MajorQuest guides students in choosing a major

7. Symposium puts spotlight on engaged scholarship

8. Smeal Finance student leads creation of Student Financial Education Center

9. Penn State students featured as ‘incredibly impressive’ undergraduates

10. Erickson addresses Pa. House, Senate appropriations committees

11. Sports Archive to celebrate 25th anniversary

12. Theatre Professor Susan Russell named Penn State laureate for 2014-15

13. Dates for your calendar: Spring 2014

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1. Penn State names Eric J. Barron president

The 18th president of Penn State has been named by the University’s Board of
Trustees. Eric J. Barron, a former dean at Penn State and current leader of
Florida State University, will begin as Penn State’s next president on or
before May 12, 2014.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/bMStGkgZ

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2. THON 2014 ‘redefines the possibilities’ with $13.3 million for pediatric
cancer

THON 2014, Penn State’s 42nd annual Dance Marathon, concluded its annual
46-hour THON Weekend Sunday (Feb. 23) at the Bryce Jordan Center by raising a
record-breaking $13,343,517.33 in the fight against pediatric cancer.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/j22sFh_h

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3. Times Higher Education global reputation survey ranks Penn State in Top 50

Penn State has ranked 39th among universities worldwide in the fourth annual
Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, released today (March 5).
The University entered the Top 50 for the first time in the 2014 reputation
rankings, based on 10,536 responses, from 133 countries, to an
invitation-only, worldwide academic survey of academics and researchers asked
to identify institutions they considered to be the best in research and
teaching.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/DT1vHnk8

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4. Family and friends create trustee scholarship in alumnus’ memory

Family and friends of late Penn State alumnus Kyle Johnson, Class of 2012,
recently established a scholarship in his memory. The Kyle Chase Johnson
Memorial Trustee Scholarship will provide financial support for students who
are members of the Lion Ambassadors at Penn State, an organization in which
Kyle participated as an undergraduate.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/P_vhM24X

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5. CORED symposium highlights diversity dynamics, potential improvements

While Penn State has made strides in promoting diversity and inclusion on its
campuses, “there’s always more to do,” Vice Provost for Educational Equity
Terrell Jones said as he opened the Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity
(CORED) spring symposium and open house held Tuesday (March 4) at the
Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/NWnrcFpx

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6. New MajorQuest guides students in choosing a major

The Division of Undergraduate Studies released a newly designed version of
MajorQuest last week to help Penn State students find majors that relate to
their areas of interest. The new site at
http://dus.psu.edu/students/majorquest introduces an improved interactive
tool that prompts students to select one or more of their interests, such as
art and design, cyber information, environment and sustainability, helping
people, sports and teaching. MajorQuest then filters Penn State’s
more-than-160 majors and lists those that incorporate all the selected
interests.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/GqZgHXzg

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7. Symposium puts spotlight on engaged scholarship

Penn State’s inaugural Engaged Scholarship Symposium provides an opportunity
to learn more about engaged scholarship and how it enriches student learning.
The symposium, planned for March 25 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State’s
University Park campus, is open to faculty, staff and students from all Penn
State locations. For more information and to register for the conference,
visit http://goo.gl/iv1tW2 online. Those unable to attend in person can
register to view a live stream.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/NzMsW4BJ

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8. Smeal Finance student leads creation of Student Financial Education Center

Concerned with soaring student loan debt and what he perceived as a lack of
financial literacy among college students, Penn State Smeal College of
Business finance student Anand Ganjam proposed an effort last spring to
provide students with personal finance education. Earlier this semester, the
Student Financial Education Center (SFEC) opened its doors in 309 Paterno
Library on the University Park campus.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/22ZN41JS

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9. Penn State students featured as ‘incredibly impressive’ undergraduates

In the classroom and laboratory, performing on the field — or in it, doing
world-class research and altruistic service around the globe — these Penn
State students represent just a small fraction of what is “incredibly
impressive” about our University.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/X3f7HDFj

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10. Erickson addresses Pa. House, Senate appropriations committees

Penn State President Rodney Erickson addressed appropriations committees for
both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Feb. 25, urging
lawmakers to keep the partnership between the University and the Commonwealth
strong in the coming year.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/1CBHw6Yg

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11. Sports Archive to celebrate 25th anniversary

The public is invited to events surrounding the 25th anniversary of the Penn
State Sports Archives, a collection in The Eberly Family Special Collections
Library. Established in 1988, the collection consists of athlete files,
audio-visual materials, media guides, press kits and memorabilia.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/HJJBMfgP

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12. Theatre Professor Susan Russell named Penn State laureate for 2014-15

Susan Russell, associate professor of theatre, has been named the Penn State
laureate for the 2014-15 academic year. She succeeds 2013-14 Penn State
Laureate Kenneth Womack, senior associate dean for Academic Affairs and
professor of English and integrative arts at Penn State Altoona.

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/hczmddb8

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13. Dates for your calendar: Spring 2014

Spring Semester 2014

March 9-15: Spring break, no classes
May 2: Classes end
May 5-9: Final exams
​May 9-11: Commencement

Many additional dates during the semester are important to the academic
progress of your student, available online at
http://www.registrar.psu.edu/academic_calendar/calendar_index.cfm

Read the full story: http://news.psu.edu/link/grgY2Wd2

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The Parents and Families Newswire is brought to you by the Penn State Parents
Program. We want to hear from you — email your comments or questions to
Parents@psu.edu.

For your convenience, we provide an online form for updating parent addresses
and other information at
https://parentinfo.psu.edu. You will need your student’s PSU ID number to
fill out the form.

bookmark_borderMontgomery County 10 Year Plan

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Communities that grow and prosper have one major thing in common—they plan for the future. They decide where new housing will be built, which roads will be expanded, the types of parks they would like, what redevelopment should be like, where farms should be preserved, and how to reduce flooding, among other important decisions.

The first step in planning for the future is to create a comprehensive plan to guide overall growth and development. Montgomery County is in the process of preparing a comprehensive plan for the entire county. This plan will provide an overall framework for local municipal plans and will provide guidance on issues that transcend local boundaries, such as highways, public transportation, flooding, trails, growth trends, redevelopment trends, shopping needs, impact of large developments, overall housing needs, natural systems, and economic growth.

The most crucial element in the comprehensive plan process is you. Join us by taking our survey (encuesta en Español) and signing up to receive information, announcements, and plan updates. Your input will help guide the plan in creating a shared future for Montgomery County. Please submit your survey and complete our workshop planning exercises by March 1, 2014.

bookmark_borderPhiladelphia to Sell Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW)

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The Nutter Administration announced today that it has signed an agreement to sell the assets of the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to UIL Holdings Corporation for $1.86 billion. The sale, which would inject at least $424 million into the City’s pension fund, must still win approval from City Council and then the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), prior to closing.

“When I announced nearly two years ago that the City would begin exploring the sale of PGW, I pledged that I would sign an agreement only if the terms benefited Philadelphia taxpayers and PGW customers,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “This agreement accomplishes those goals and much more. UIL submitted the highest bid for PGW and agreed to contract terms that were important to the City. Our agreement keeps rates frozen for three years, maintains PGW’s discount programs for low-income families and seniors, safeguards PGW employee and retiree pensions and positions PGW to take full advantage of the abundant supply of natural gas in Pennsylvania to make our city and region a prime energy hub.”

Headquartered in New Haven, UIL serves approximately 706,000 electric and natural gas customers in Connecticut and Massachusetts and has combined total assets of more than $4 billion. Its holdings comprise The United Illuminating Company, The Southern Connecticut Gas Company, Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation and The Berkshire Gas Company.

“We are very excited about coming to Philadelphia and getting involved with the community,” said UIL CEO James P. Torgerson. “Energy is our core business and UIL is well suited to operate the natural gas utility business in Philadelphia and make substantive investments in its infrastructure. UIL has substantial experience running an urban natural gas utility and being an engaged civic partner in the communities we serve. We also see this as a great opportunity to explore strategic growth opportunities that will benefit the customers and citizens of Philadelphia. We look forward to working with the City Council and PUC through the approval process.”

Once the sale is complete, UIL plans to operate dual corporate headquarters in Philadelphia and New Haven. PGW will become UIL’s largest operating company, and UIL officials say it is very important to them to become part of the Philadelphia community, including personal involvement in civic activities and financial commitments to charitable organizations.

“PGW will become a bigger, stronger company under UIL’s ownership and that will create more opportunities for us,” said PGW President and CEO Craig E. White. “Our company has made major strides over the past several years, but there are constraints as a city-owned utility that prevent us from realizing our full potential. The ability to react quickly to market opportunities and a greater investment in developing markets will result in a win-win for both the company and its customers and will result in a greater demand for jobs.”

The contract signed by UIL and the City requires that all PGW employees be offered employment at UIL. If an employee decides to retire or accept a job elsewhere, that position may go unfilled, but total employment may not dip below 1,350 employees for at least three years. A privately-owned PGW will require highly skilled employees to maintain and operate the gas company and will ensure that the system continues to deliver gas safely to customers, while improving the gas infrastructure. Like PGW, UIL has strong relationships with the Utility Workers of America. Also like PGW, UIL has a highly diversified workforce and places an emphasis on contracting with minority and woman-owned businesses in selecting its vendors.

The sale will provide substantial support for the City’s pension fund, helping address one of the most pressing financial issues facing the City. After paying off all of PGW’s bond obligations and putting aside funds for other liabilities, including fully funding the PGW pension plan and prudently reserving for residual risks, the City expects to have between $424 million and $631 million remaining, based on current stock and bond markets and reasonable assumptions. The Administration will then deposit the sum into the City employee pension fund. With the pension fund now less than 50 percent funded, this contribution is one part of a strategy to provide additional resources to the fund, while lowering its costs in order to improve that funding percentage.

The Administration proposes other measures to preserve the value of this contribution so that the benefit to the City pension fund will be protected over time without any negative impact on the City’s general fund. The pension funds’ low funded percentage is one of the greatest concerns mentioned by rating agencies, so the deposit should be a credit positive for the City.

Interest in buying PGW, which remains the largest city-owned gas company in the nation, was overwhelming. Thirty-three entities submitted indications of interest last fall. Through a series of bidding rounds the City whittled the field to a handful before finally selecting UIL.

“We thoroughly vetted all bidders and chose UIL for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it provided us with the strongest contract terms and value. But beyond the numbers, UIL has an outstanding safety record, excellent employee and customer relations, credibility, a commitment to infrastructure improvements, and is a valued corporate citizen in the communities it now serves. I am confident that City Council and the citizens of Philadelphia will arrive at the same conclusion as I have: that UIL is going to become a great addition to our City,” Mayor Nutter said.

PGW is the nation’s largest municipally-owned gas utility, with annual revenues of more than $600 million, more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers, and more than 1,600 employees. Read more about the sale process and submit questions or comments at www.exploringasale.com.