Following a March 19 announcement by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to end physical operations at many businesses statewide, Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Nicholas P. Jones shared the following message with the University community.
After the sudden announcement that classes would be delivered remotely, due to restrictions put in place by state officials in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the campus' tutoring and writing centers met the challenge head on, getting virtual tutoring and academic assistance in place for students in need of these services.
With students now engaged in remote learning for the remainder of the semester, Student Services’ staff members are taking that same approach in order to provide students with a host of virtual services and social opportunities.
Penn State Scranton students are now getting campus news delivered daily to their email inboxes thanks to a new campus publication, PSU Scranton Daily Updates. The e-newsletter was created by Student Services and Engagement staff as a way to give students an easy way to access pertinent news and announcements while keeping them connected to campus.
Penn State Scranton's annual Undergraduate Research Fair and Exhibition will still take place this year, albeit in a different format than usual. This year's event will be held virtually, using technology to showcase students' work and accomplishments.
How will COVID-19 end? Matthew Ferrari and Nita Bharti of the Penn State Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics explore this question in a new video produced in collaboration with WPSU. With volunteer assistance from Penn State faculty and staff from across the campuses, the video will be available with subtitles in 10 languages.
Eight senior Penn State Scranton accounting and finance students participated in the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties’ annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, preparing about 2,250 free tax returns for low-income families and individuals throughout the region.
On March 21, more than 120 student government representatives from 19 Penn State campuses virtually attended the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments’ first sustainability summit, featuring a poster expo of students showcasing their campus’ sustainability efforts, and a presentation on students’ potential impact on climate change by Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences.
In response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, orders from the state government and recommendations from global public health organizations, Penn State will hold its spring 2020 commencement ceremony via livestream on May 9. The virtual ceremony will recognize all Penn State undergraduate students and all graduate students in the Penn State Graduate School.
