Thiel Happenings

Black entrepreneur, Soul Food Feast highlight Black History Month events at Thiel College

The Organization of Black Collegiates is sponsoring and supporting programs and events throughout the month of February at Thiel College to celebrate Black History Month.

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Thiel Honors Convocation will feature student speaker and celebrate academic achievement

The annual Thiel College Academic Honors Convocation will feature a student speaker and celebrate the academic achievements of more than 400 students at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 in the William A. Passavant Memorial Center.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Greenville Symphony Orchestra tickets available

Thiel College is a sponsor for the Greenville Symphony Orchestra’s “Americana!” concert on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 3:00 pm at Passavant Center. The President’s office received a small block of tickets for the concert. If you would like two tickets, please reply to this email. As a reminder, children and students are admitted free of charge. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please visit the GSO website here for more information.

Admissions team attends Pittsburgh NACAC

Andre Williams ’22, MBA’23, Alice Debonis, Sonya Lapikas, Justin Gregorich and Morgan (Bodnar) Steiner ’16, MBA’21 were among the staff on hand during the morning portion of the National Association for College Admission Counseling event in Pittsburgh today. Sam Faber ’20 and Will Brandsema ’21, MBA’22 were on hand for Wednesday’s evening session. The show wraps up Thursday.

• Read more about NACAC Pittsburgh.

Look back at Founders' Day

The Executive Director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation Rod E. Wilt ’86 and 10 Thiel College employees were honored for the College’s annual Founders’ Day celebration at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 in the Lutheran Heritage Room of the Howard Miller Student Center.

• Watch Thursday’s event.
• View a Flickr album of photos.

Wilt, the Vice Chair of Thiel College’s Board of Trustees, received the Barbara and Louis Thiel Distinguished Service Award. 

Five staff members were honored with a Distinguished Staff Award:

• Jennifer Gongaware, of Greenville, Pa., speech-language pathology program administrative assistant
• Erin Bain, of Sharpsville, Pa., coordinator of the Accessibility Resource Center
• Sonya Lapikas, of Sharon, Pa., Director of Admission
• Morgan (Steiner) Bodnar ’16, MBA’21, of Greenville, Pa., Assistant Director of Admission, Graduate Counselor
• Tyler North, of Sharpsville, Pa., women’s volleyball coach

Five faculty members won awards.

• Professor of the Year: Jared Hanneman, Ph.D., of Sharpsville, Pa., Associate Professor of Sociology, Department Chair, Communication and Leadership Program Director
• Distinguished Scholar of the Year: Jared Johnson, Ph.D., of Greenville, Pa., Associate Professor of English, Department Chair
• Distinguished Service Faculty of the Year: Christopher Stanisky, Ph.D., of Sharon, Pa., Professor of Chemistry, Department Chair
• Distinguished Adjunct Faculty of the Year: Julie Harris, of Meadville, Pa., Adjunct Professor of Education
• Distinguished Teacher of the Year: Mary O’Donnell, Ph.D., of Youngstown, Ohio, Assistant Professor of Biology

Related Link

• About Founders‘ Day

Student News

Student-worker Showcase highlights the Writing Lab

Writing Lab Consultant and ENG 101 Liaison Samantha Reid ’24 is ready for some drop-in consultations at the Writing Lab in the TLC.

• Student worker supervisors are encouraged to highlight their employees by sending a photo of students doing their great work to pr@thiel.edu.

Honors students take in the Warhol

Students in HONS 330 visited the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh on Friday to consider how the artistic process of looking, seeing, and crafting can enhance our learning and research. Students toured the gallery and made their own screen prints.

King prepares students for job & career success

C. William King, retired president and CEO of Essential Research, Inc., spoke to students on Feb. 1 at the Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar about how to prepare for success in searching for job and career opportunities after graduation.

“For tonight’s class Bill King came to present his story as a former fellow job seeker. He explained the basic elements necessary for job search activities, and provided many detailed tips about LinkedIn, networking, the process of finding a job, and other miscellaneous parts of job searching. His speech was helpful and informative.” Seoyeon Choo ’23

“This past week, we had Bill King come in and give a presentation on how to properly network. He first broke down some tips into five phases: miscellaneous, planning, preparing, seeking, and acquiring.” Jeremy Meyer ’23

“I felt as though this lecture taught job seekers practical things such as the importance of networking, interviews, and resumes.” Inseo Chong ’23

“He included in his presentation what is expected to be on a resume and LinkedIn profile. Also, he gave us an outline on what to say during a networking call, email, and elevator speech. Mr. King also talked about good questions to ask.” Emily Grandy ’23

“Although Mr. King’s presentation included a lot of information, it was insightful and opened my eyes to things that I hadn’t previously considered. He was very passionate about networking and the other main points of his speech, which helped me to develop a shared appreciation for what he was saying.” Allison Walsh ’24

“He made us do an elevator speech with a partner to help us practice when we are in the real world and only have a couple of minutes to make an impression of ourselves to a possible future employer.” Autumn Gourley ’24

“Having an elevator story means having an introduction about oneself. Mr. King has provided us with an outline of how to keep the listener interested and how to make it short and sweet.” Asher Patton ’23

“Among the many topics discussed, a few stood out to me. For example, I did not know the job-searching potential of LinkedIn. He explained to us that we can use LinkedIn to search for jobs in our field, and that companies post job openings on the platform.” Tyler Zere ’23

“He told us something that I had never even thought about before: if you know 200 people, each one of them knows 200 people, and each one of those people know 200 people, which makes a total of 8 million people. There are connections everywhere.” Autumn Gourley ’24

“Coming into tonight, I honestly did not know how important networking was to a job search. He informed us that 75% of jobs are found because of networking. Because of this, I will now be ensuring that I keep in contact with those who I meet in my industry.” Tyler Zere ’23

“Mr. King has stressed taking advantage of our Career Development Center. The people who work in that department are there to help college students seek perfection. That includes a resume, T- Letter, business cards, and a marketing plan.” Asher Patton ’23

“I really appreciated his willingness to help anyone, and everyone secure a job. He teaches you that you are in control of your own destiny, it just depends on how we react to certain events in our life. He also taught us that we should develop our own professional network before we need it.” Ian Yahner ’23

“This was a good presentation when thinking about where to start and how to get a job.” Emily Grandy ’23

“In the conclusion of the lecture, he said that finding a job is not for the faint of heart, but if this is your situation, it can be an exciting time. He also said that we must be good at multi-tasking and that overnight success usually takes a few months.” Sujin Park ’23

“The quality of the information that he delivered through his speech was proven and useful, therefore, today's lecture will be a cornerstone for future job search activities. I felt grateful that he shared this information.” Seoyeon Choo ’23

Lessons Learned

• “Let's live with heart, intelligence, and courage as in the Wizard of Oz.” Inseo Ching ’23
• “Be the Tylenol to their pain; find a problem that you can solve.” Seoyeon Choo ’23
• “You are in control of your own destiny.” Autumn Gourley ’24
• “Get a support system.” Emily Grandy ’23
• “We’re in control of how we react to situations.” Allison Walsh ’24
• “Being terrified and nervous is normal.” Emily Grandy ’23
• “Ask a lot of questions.” Natalie Zgurich ’23
• “Ignore the man behind the curtain.” Ian Yahner ’24
• “Always have multiple questions ready to ask in an interview.” Allison Walsh ’24
• “75% of jobs are found through networking.” Natalie Zgurich ’23

Dinner Dishing

• “Dinner was spectacular; the appetizer and the main course were harmonious. Our table had a pleasant and fun conversation about Groundhog Day.” Seoyeon Choo ’23
• “Mr. King told our table many stories of his experiences working in business and as a bamboo fly rod craftsman. I absolutely loved the soup that we had, and those specific rolls are always delicious!” Allison Walsh ’24
  
• “Tonight’s dinner was very good, as always. I sat at the table with Asher, Allie, Emily, and Bill King. I always love the opportunity to have dinner with the speaker because you get to go a little deeper into their story than what they say in their presentation.” Ian Yahner ’24