Penn State Harrisburg

Penn State Harrisburg

Type	Public
Established	1966
Parent institution	Pennsylvania State University
Chancellor	Mukund Kulkarni
President	Eric J. Barron
Academic staff	160 full time 98 part time
Undergraduates	3,642 full-time
Postgraduates	1,195
Location	Lower Swatara Township , Pennsylvania , USA
Campus	Suburban, 218 acres (890,000 m²)
Affiliations	CAC (NCAA Division III)
Mascot	Nittany Lion
Website	www.hbg.psu.edu
File:Penn State Harrisburg identity mark.svg

Penn State Harrisburg, also called The Capital College, is an undergraduate college and graduate school of the Pennsylvania State University. The main campus of Penn State Harrisburg is located in Lower Swatara Township, 9 miles (15 km) south of Harrisburg. The campus enrolls over 4,000 students and offers two associate, 34 baccalaureate, 24 master's, and three doctoral degrees as well as certificate and certification programs.

The Penn State Eastgate Center opened in 1991 in downtown Harrisburg contains State agencies such as the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System as well as hearing rooms for workers compensation also occupy space in the building. As of June 1, 2012 all classrooms and administrative personnel previously located in this building were relocated to the Middletown campus.

Undergraduate & graduate programs

As one of the 24 campuses in the Pennsylvania State University, the university offers the first two years of study leading to more than 160 baccalaureate majors offered throughout the Penn State system, including 33 of its own programs.

At the transfer level, the college serves students from all Commonwealth campuses of the Pennsylvania State University, as well as students from community colleges and other accredited colleges and universities.

The college has an extensive selection of graduate programs. Applications are welcomed from students who have completed a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university or from international students. The graduate programs are designed for the part-time student who can participate in an evening program.

The college also is the Academic and Administrative Home of the Penn State Intercollege Master of Professional Studies Program in Homeland Security (iMPS-HLS), a partnership of six Penn State colleges sponsoring an online graduate degree program delivered by Penn State World Campus.

Location

Penn State Harrisburg's campus is easily accessible via major interstate routes and the Pennsylvania Turnpike at exit 247. Harrisburg International Airport is within one mile (1.6 km) of the campus, and public transportation serves the college. The Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Dickinson School of Law are also located nearby.

The campus lies within 2 hours driving distance from major metropolitan areas including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.

Athletics

After a 10-year break from intercollegiate athletics, Penn State–Harrisburg has brought back the department as of fall of the 2005–06 academic year. In this short amount of time they have been able to become members of the NCAA's Division III. They are recently competing primarily in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), as of July 1, 2013. Penn State–Harrisburg was formerly a member of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) from 2007–08 to 2012–13. Penn State–Harrisburg sponsors the following teams; men's & women's basketball, men's & women's cross country, golf, men's & women's soccer, baseball, softball, men's & women's tennis, ice hockey, and women's volleyball. For more information visit Penn State Harrisburg Athletics

Library

Main article: Penn State Harrisburg Library

As a medium-sized academic library with 275,000 volumes, over 1 million pieces of microfilm, 1,430 journal subscriptions, and 300 databases, the Penn State Harrisburg Library was planned from the outset as a "hybrid" print/electronic library which would easily accommodate new technologies without sacrificing the personal warmth of the traditional library. The library is a 115,000-square-foot (10,700 m²) modern facility and officially opened on January 10, 2000, for the start of spring semester.

Research centers and institutes

• Center For Geographic Information Services, provides support for research, education, and outreach efforts requiring the use and analysis of spatial Information. This includes direct assistance to faculty, students, and staff and the development of occasional seminars and workshops on geographic information systems (GIS) software and applications.
• Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies
• Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies, organizes research, teaching, and outreach programs on the Holocaust, as well as Jewish life and culture more broadly.
• Center for Survey Research, was established to provide professional and technical assistance in survey research methodologies. The CSR serves as a primary resource for state and local government, business, non-profit organizations and public utilities as well as faculty and students who are undertaking opinion research.
• Cooperative Extension Capital Region Office
• Economic Development Research And Training Center]
• Institute of State and Regional Affairs
• Eastern American Studies Association
• Pennsylvania Program to Improve State & Local Government
• Pennsylvania State Data Center, was established in 1981 by Executive Order of the Governor, and is Pennsylvania's official source of population and economic statistics and services. In addition to serving as Pennsylvania's liaison to the Census Bureau, the PSDC also serves as the state's representative to the Federal-State Cooperative Programs for Population Estimates and for Population Projections.

Campus

The campus is built on the site of the decommissioned Olmsted Air Force Base. The Olmsted Building is the main facility and contains the majority of the campus's classrooms and computer labs. The campus food court, called Stacks Market, is located on the main level of the Olmsted Building. Ziegler Commons, an outdoor extension of the food court dining area, was completed in 2006.

In the past several years, major construction projects on campus have been undertaken to accommodate new and existing programs. Beginning with the expansion of the Science and Technology Building to complement study in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Pollution Control, the college has added a state-of-the-art library, new apartment-style housing for 431 students, an expanded food court and Town Square for student activities and an indoor aquatics center.

Student Life

Housing

The college offers both on and off campus housing options. The main on campus housing,The Village Housing, is located on the North East part of the campus. The housing is conveniently located next to the Olmstead building, which contains the dining hall and the majority of classrooms.

Noted Faculty

• Shaun L. Gabbidon
• Simon J. Bronner

External links

• Penn State Harrisburg official website
• Penn State Harrisburg official athletics website