Thiel Happenings

Two members of the Office of Admission Thiel Team—the student ambassadors program at Thiel College—were honored for their efforts over the summer and recently.

Hundreds of students and representatives from nearly 100 colleges, universities, trade schools, businesses, career centers, and military branches are expected for the Mercer County Guidance Counselors Association College Fair from 9-11 a.m. Thursday, October 3 in Thiel College’s Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia.

Thiel News Time schedule begins October 8

Each semester, “Thiel News Time” (TNT) gatherings are an opportunity to meet as a community and share information. These sessions take place on Tuesdays during community hours when no classes are scheduled allowing faculty to attend together with the College’s staff.

Included below is the fall schedule for TNTs which will all be held in person. I encourage you to join these sessions, bringing questions, comments, and announcements for the good of the campus community.

Fall TNTs begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Sawhill Georgian Room of the Howard Miller Student Center

• October 8
• November 5
• December 3

Second Thiel Forum set for October 8

The second Thiel Forum of the Academic Year will be held on Tuesday, October 8 at 4 p.m. in Stamm Hall. The Thiel Forums are held on select Tuesdays or Thursdays from 4-5 p.m. in the Stamm Lecture Hall. They provide faculty, students, and staff an opportunity to share projects or publications and discuss their work.

For this first Forum session, Liza Schaef, Director of the Career Development Center, will present on two topics:

• In Spring 2024, she completed the Federal Advisor Certificate Program offered through the Partnership for Public Service, Call To Serve Network. By completing this course, the Career Center is better equipped to help students and alums navigate the sometimes daunting federal hiring process. In this session, we will share information, resources, and upcoming programming related to this topic.
• The Focus 2 platform can help students choose a major, explore occupations, and make informed career decisions through assessments of their values, skills, personality, and work interests. While often used in SEMS 110, it can be a great tool that all faculty can use to help students who are undecided, looking at changing their major, or explore career options. In this session, we will explore other possible uses of the platform and demo the updated “Am I Career Ready Module” which helps students assess the development of the 8 essential workplace competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

IT marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month

In support of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Solution Center will be continuing our Cybersecurity Awareness initiative with mandatory training assignments through our partner, KnowBe4.

On Oct. 3, employees should expect an email link directly from KnowBe4 (do-not-reply@training.knowbe4.com) indicating his or her enrollment and assignments. Employees will be assigned two trainings entitled “2024 Social Engineering-Red Flags (13 minutes) and “2024 Common Threats” (14 minutes). Both assignments are due by November 19.

Please log in to KnowBe4 using your Thiel email address, for example - Tommy Tomcat – ttomcat@thiel.edu. Please note, if you haven’t logged into KnowBe4 in a while, you will likely need to click the “Forgot Password” button to reset your password and finish logging in. The Solution Center cannot reset your KnowBe4 password.

Additionally, as part of our current Cybersecurity Awareness campaign, you will continue to receive weekly simulated phishing emails. Through your training and the simulated phishing attempts, you will learn to prevent potential cyberattacks to our network.

If you have questions or concerns regarding any of the cybersecurity initiatives, please contact the Solution Center at 724-589-4000 or support@thiel.edu.

Flu shot clinic is Thursday, Oct. 3

A Flu Shot Clinic is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3 in the Sawhill Georgian Room of the Howard Miller Student Center.

In addition to the flu shot, the 2024/2025 COVID vaccine Pfizer version available.

• Influenza Consent Form

Please complete the consent on Thursday and bring it with you to the flu shot clinic in addition to a copy of your insurance.

Adagio Health will also have flu shots and the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine. They will be on campus Tuesday, October 8, Tuesday, November 5, and Tuesday, December 3^, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Wellness Center.

Student News

Thiel MBA alumna speaks to entrepreneur seminar

The speaker for the Wednesday, Sept. 25 Entrepreneurship Seminar was Alex Hudson MBA'21, who is a principal at Hudson Companies. She spoke to the class about entrepreneurship, what it takes to succeed in the working world and gave some general advice about networking problem solving and professionalism.

• “Alex told us having the skill set of being a problem solver is one of the most important skills you can have, since no one wants to hire someone which requires constant handholding. “ —Jordan Lang ’25
• ” The speaker we had for this week’s seminar was Alex Hudson. Her dad started out as a general contractor and founded Hudson Companies in 1977, where he is still the president today” —Rachael Smith ’26
• ” The company grew over 1,000 rental units last year and looks to grow to 2,000 more this year.” —Patrick Belback ’25
• ” I really enjoyed getting to hear from a female entrepreneur, because I am one myself. She talked about times she had to meet with someone, and they were expecting a guy to show up. I really like her perseverance, and she is advocating for all females wanting to be in her position one day.” —Casey Yacos ’25
• ” In her presentation, Alex Hudson would define entrepreneurship as a journey of innovation and problem solving. She would emphasize that it’s not just about starting a business but about creating value for communities and making a positive impact” —Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• ” In the last year, it’s grown exponentially, and they’ve added over 1000 units to their collection. They have also added Artificial Intelligence to their toolbox. They are at a point where they can rent out apartments without a human having to interact with the customer.” —Gianna Sprecace ’26

• ” Alex mentioned that time management is one of the hardest skills to master, and as a college student involved in many activities, I realized how accurate that is.” —Lexi Brown ’26

• “Alex pointed out that problem-solving and decisiveness are key traits that organizations value, and she encouraged us to take initiative in our careers. (and) It was a valuable experience, and I appreciated her down-to-earth attitude and willingness to connect with us on a personal level.” —Jaehee Lee ’25
• “Overall, the presentation provided valuable insights into the skills and attitudes necessary for success in today’s fast-paced work environment. It also highlighted the balance between personal initiative and technology.” —Minseo Kim ’25

Lessons Learned

• “Alex also helped reinforce my ideal of a good work ethic and how important it is to being successful.” —Jordan Lang ’25
• “Research the company you are interviewing with beforehand. … Problem solving is key.” —Zach Bergstresser ’25
• “…knowing the right people as well as finding the right people can play a big role in her company. Finding the right people for a job or position matters for company culture. (And) Failure is not always a bad thing.” —Dillon Belknap ’25
• “Build meaningful relationships with people, it is the easiest way to get more opportunities.” —Patrick Belback ’25
• “Companies want problem solvers, not workers they have to babysit. ” —Casey Yacos ’25
• “Entrepreneurship is about creating value” —Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• “Be confident in yourself; if you’re not, others won’t be confident in you. … If you’re Investing time to go somewhere, make sure you get something valuable from it.” —Lexi Brown ’26
• “Lastly, she mentioned the importance of writing things down, so you don’t forget. This stood out to me because, in my other class, we discussed how writing things down can help with procrastination.” —Rachael Smith ’26
• “Being consistent and proactive with your skill set in a job will help you get out of more problems than not.” —Emily Ripple ’26
• “I was particularly impressed by Alex’s emphasis on networking and the importance of building meaningful relationships, rather than just collecting contacts.” —Jaehee Lee ’25
• “Develop essential skills: Time management, delegation, and quick decision-making are critical skills that are necessary for professional growth, especially in leadership roles. … Embrace technology and innovation: Leveraging tools like AI can streamline tasks and improve efficiency, giving you a competitive edge in the workplace.” —Yeeun Seo ’25

Dinner Dishing

• “The dinner was wonderful. It started with a poem by Lexi and then was followed up by a grand meal, which was followed by dessert. It was great getting to know the people at my table more and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations together” —Jordan Lang ’25
• “Lexi and the AVI prepared a wonderful course that was simple yet complex for dinner.” —Zach Bergstresser ’25
• “The first meal was a salad with a veal patty and a side of Brussel sprouts and rice. I enjoyed this meal; at first glance I thought it may not be enough to alleviate my hunger but was surprised once I finished that I was at a very acceptable state” —Dillon Belknap ’25
• “Dinner was amazing, the dish had many different flavors and was very satiating” —Patrick Belback ’25
• “The brussel sprouts really stood out to me, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them” —Casey Yacos ’25
• “The meal was great and perfectly timed. I personally liked the salad with the pork which had the perfect slice. AVI did an awesome job. Overall, I was thoroughly pleased with the dinner and chatting on a personal level with those at my table and can’t wait for the next speaker.” —Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• “I refused to eat Brussels sprouts at first, but I decided to give them another try after years of hating them. I was really surprised to find that I ended up liking them.” —Rachael Smith ’26

From the TLC: Math tutoring available; mid-terms coming

Hey, Tomcats! MIDTERMS ARE COMING! Don’t panic! Get to the TLC!

These flyers are posted all over campus. Or you can click here to make an appointment with a Writing Lab consultant, a Peer Tutor or an Academic Coach!

Faculty and staff can download a math tutoring schedule for printing, sharing and posting.

• Download the math tutor schedule.