Thiel Happenings

April 2014 students of the month announced

The faculty of Thiel College is pleased to announce that three student scholars have been selected to be honored as April Students of the Month 2014.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Campus I.T. survey outcomes result in technology improvements

Following up on last week’s survey winner announcement, Information Technology compiled results* from the technology survey sent last month. Key takeaways from faculty and staff responses included:

• 78% of respondents visit the website daily (70% in 2012)
• 26% view mobile browsing as very important (20% in 2012)
• 18% do not own a smartphone (35% in 2012)
• 13% are a fan on Facebook and follow Thiel College on Twitter

Comments included requests for calendar, search and navigation improvements. In response to this feedback, Information Technology has made the following improvements:

• Integrating athletic events into the website calendar
• Adding a ‘Browse by Month’ feature for viewing past and all future events
• Reinstating quick campus links (directory, offices, calendar and webmail) to the header of the website

Future plans include a more accurate search option and a continued commitment to user experience. If you have any questions or additional feedback, please complete the new website feedback form.

* 72 faculty and staff members responded to the survey this year, in comparison to 113 in 2012. Percentages have been rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Student News

Kappa Mu Epsilon initiates 11 new members

Kappa Mu Epsilon, a specialized honor society for Mathematics, initiated 11 new members on Sunday, April 13. The new members are: Anna Hart, Emily Howard, Kathleen Kent, Tanner Liptrap, June Longbine, Mary Oakey, Derek Runge, Kelsey Schneider, John Tenorio, Kayla Welty and Michelle Wimer.

Members are selected from students of mathematics and other closely related fields who have maintained standards of scholarship, have professional merit, and have attained academic distinction. The society, formed in 1931, has grown steadily and currently has 118 chapters and approximately 61,000 members in 34 states.

Dr. Arthur White, philosophy, was the guest speaker. Prof. Max Shellenbarger, math and computer science, serves as the KME faculty corresponding secretary.

Education majors learn about new Pennsylvania teacher evaluation process

Education majors in Dr. Doug Hazlett’s class were the recipients of a presentation on the new Pennsylvania teacher evaluation process by Mark Ferrara (seated in background), superintendent of Greenville area school district and Brian Bronson (speaking), elementary principal. Students learned about the process to document best practices in teaching pedagogy from the local school administrators.

Distinguished alum Broome addresses students during final Senior Business Seminar of the semester

On Wednesday, April 9, Laura (Lord) Broome '91 (bottom row, center), manager of products accounting at Kinder Morgan, dined with and spoke to the members of the senior business seminar.

Some thoughts from the students include:

"She made it a point to use your foundation that you received at Thiel. She said that this foundation is enough to get you where you want to go as long as you make the right choices to get there." - Matt Fiore

"Our dinner conversation at the table was great. We talked about Laura's career and many fascinating things about Georgia as well. Laura interned at St. Paul Homes like myself while she was a student." - Jessica Bittler

"Laura said, 'See the [writing] on the wall and take risks.'" - Jadon Holloman

"Tonight was an enjoyable dinner accompanied by Dean Franken. We spoke about Thiel's new academic core and how we feel it will be extremely beneficial to the incoming freshmen." - Chelsea Mikos

"Mrs. Broome stressed that if we work hard and have confidence in ourselves we will do well." - Jared Hoffacker

"She had [many] helpful tips throughout her speech and one of these was being able to make decisions and stick with the decision you make." - Brett Smith

"There was a great group of students and the professors I've had for class the past four years, so it really was a great ending to my senior year." - Allison Skebo