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The work began in earnest in Fall 2015 with an established timeline that would culminate in thecompletion of the report by June 2017. The PRR Committee members met regularly to address the 2012recommendations and other components of the PRR as they fulfilled the roles of researcher, writer,advisor, and advocate.To involve a broader segment of the College community in the review and development of the full PRR,the PRR Committee shared an initial draft of the PRR with members of QTA and Deans’ Council in theFall 2016 semester. Members of the PRR Committee gave presentations to the Student GovernmentAssociation, Student Affairs, the Corporate Advisory Board, and the College’s Board of Directors. Theyalso presented at the Spring All-Faculty meeting, which focused on a discussion of the PRR. Members ofPresident’s Council and College Council had an opportunity to review a draft of the entire PRR during aspring meeting. Additionally, a copy of the full draft was posted on the College’s intranet for review byall interested members of the College community. Following each review, the co-writers of the PRRrevised the report to include relevant comments and to address concerns.MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTSSince 2012, Penn College has experienced progress and improvement as an institution across multipleareas relevant to accreditation standards. To determine what changes should be highlighted in thisreport, committee members reviewed key elements of all 14 standards in the self-study to identify areasof institutional change. The changes have been clustered by the responsible division area.Enrollment ManagementIn July 2014, the President created a new senior level position, Vice President for EnrollmentManagement & Associate Provost, bringing together the offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, theRegistrar, and Academic Services & College Transitions. At this time, oversight of transfer initiatives alsotransitioned to Enrollment Management and is part of the College Transitions Office. This significantreorganization demonstrates an institutional awareness of the ever-changing landscape of enrollment.Enrollment Management is responsible for coordinating initiatives to attract, admit, and retain students.This includes promoting campus-wide collaboration in recruitment, matriculation, and retention-relatedactivities. Guiding this work is the College’s first Enrollment Management Plan, a strategic plan toincrease enrollment through recruitment and retention. An excerpt from the electronic EnrollmentManagement Plan is provided in Appendix 1.1. This plan identifies marketing and recruitment strategiesdesigned to: (a) increase enrollment of students, especially from special populations, (b) increaseengagement of faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni in the recruitment process, and (c) fosterstronger relationships with K-12 partners. The activities previously outlined in the 2012 self-studycontinue to be supported and enhanced.To facilitate greater customer service with incoming students, an “Admissions Dashboard” wasinstituted for employees across campus as a resource to identify a student’s status in the enrollmentprocess, and what steps in the matriculation process remain incomplete. This electronic resource hasincreased employee awareness of the enrollment process and the quality of communication withstudents.Beginning in Fall 2014, Penn College’s dual enrollment program, Penn College Now (PCNow), began torapidly expand due largely to a change in the fee structure for participants. The per-credit fee for6

students was eliminated; students now participate at no charge. A nominal fee to cover administrativecosts is assessed to the participating secondary partners. No other aspects of PC NOW have changedsince the 2012 Self Study report.Also in Fall 2014, the Office of College Information & Community Relations (CICR) was renamed PublicRelations and Marketing (PRM) to more accurately reflect the office’s mission. As part of a renewedinstitutional focus on enrollment management, the relationship between PRM and EnrollmentManagement has been significantly strengthened. PRM has initiated several new projects in support ofenrollment objectives. For example: In Summer 2015, a redesigned website was launched. An extensive review of contentorganization was conducted to refocus the site to its main audience – prospective students.However, the College catalog and academic school pages still contain the same type of contentdescribed in the 2012 Self Study report. PRM also continues to explore ways to maximize recruitment opportunities through socialmedia. From July 2011 to November 2015, the College’s main Facebook page “likes” grew from5,765 to 15,485. As of November 2015, the College’s social media presence has grown to include18 Facebook pages, five Facebook groups, 16 Twitter accounts, four LinkedIn profiles, threeInstagram accounts, an institutional YouTube channel with more than 400 videos, and a PennCollege presence on Google , Pinterest, Tumblr, and Snapchat.Penn College acknowledges the importance of academic advising and the part it plays in the success ofour students. Those assigned the role of academic adviser have the opportunity to significantly impactthe personal, intellectual, and professional development of our students. To continue the focus onretention of current students through quality academic advising, an evaluation of faculty in their roles asadvisers was initiated. Specifically, a section on evaluation of academic advising skills was added to thefaculty evaluation process and documentation. To gauge student perceptions of their experiences withtheir advisers, a short survey is administered to students right after the scheduling period of everysemester. This survey provides additional data on individual academic advisers and creates anopportunity for academic school deans to assess the quality of advising at the individual level. Inaddition, the Excellence in Academic Advising Award was established in 2012 to recognize excellence inservice to students, reinforce desired behaviors, and encourage professional development in the area ofacademic advising.Student AffairsStudent Affairs has moved forward with a variety of initiatives since the time of the Self Study. Notably,the division has invested significant efforts in the prevention of and response to sexual misconduct inthe community, initiated the process for provisional entry into the NCAA as a member of Division III,expanded efforts to enhance the College’s employer relations, gained federal funding to support mentalhealth and suicide prevention, and expanded programming related to diversity and communityengagement. These efforts, which are explained more fully below, are highlighted due to theirsignificant impact on the College and their significance for student life.In 2014, the former Student Sexual Harassment Policy was updated and retitled as the Student SexualMisconduct Policy to more accurately reflect the range of behaviors that constitute sexual harassmentand misconduct. The updates to the policy and procedure reflect guidance by the Department ofEducation regarding Title IX and the Campus SaVE Act. This information is available for students via the7

public website. The process continues to be guided by the College’s Coordinator of Title VI, IX, andSection 504, and is managed by the Director of Counseling Services, who operates as the DeputyCoordinator and Chief Investigator. All records of student grievances are maintained by the Coordinatorof Title VI, IX, and Section 504.In 2012, Penn College initiated the NCAA Division III membership process, becoming an ExploratoryMember during the 2013-2014 academic year. Penn College was admitted to the NCAA as a ProvisionalMember in Fall 2014 (a four-year process) and successfully moved to the second year of ProvisionalMembership for the 2015-2016 academic year. Since that time, Penn College Athletics also gainedmembership in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), where the College has made animmediate impact organizationally and athletically. Penn College staff now serve in leadership positionsand committee assignments within NEAC, and Penn College student-athletes have won an NEACConference Championship in baseball and have been honored as All-Conference selections. In Summer2015, Penn College was informed that the NCAA waived the third year of provisional status, allowingyears 3 and 4 of the process to be combined; with this accelerated timeline, Penn College is on track tobe a full member of the NCAA in September 2017. An additional notable achievement was the NEACConference’s selection of a women’s soccer player, junior Hailee Hartman, as one of four studentsrepresenting the conference at the NCAA 2017 Convention.The Office of Career Services expanded its outreach to both students and employers through thecreation of a new position, Coordinator of Employer/Industry Relations, in 2014. Efforts to collaboratewith faculty have resulted in a three-fold increase in classroom visits and individual appointments withCareer Services, and both employers and students participated in the 2015-2016 career fair events inrecord numbers. The number of on-campus recruiting sessions has increased 47% in the past two years,and student participation in on-campus recruiting events has increased 91% over that same period. Allof these efforts have directly supported the College’s overall placement rate of 95.4%.In 2015, Penn College was awarded a three-year 300,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and MentalHealth Administration (SAMHSA) as part of its Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant Program. Thefunds enable Penn College to develop a comprehensive, campus-wide suicide prevention andintervention program, and provided support for the addition of a Coordinator of Student Health andWellness Education/Suicide Prevention Specialist. This program includes a referral network, gatekeepertraining, student screenings, training for faculty and staff, social norms and media campaigns, promotionof the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, development of a suicide response plan, and programmingfor parents and families. The underserved or at-risk populations on which the grant focuses are theLGBTQA community, racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, and veterans. To enhancecapacity related to these efforts, services related to career counseling for prospective and enrolledstudents were transitioned to Career Services, which allows Counseling Services to focus more heavilyon personal counseling.Diversity and community engagement are high priorities at Penn College, and the College is committedto building a supportive and inclusive campus environment through the advancement of diversity andsocial justice. In Fall 2016, the College engaged in a reorganization intended to enhance student supportacross a variety of areas. A new position, the Director of Campus & Community Engagement wascreated to provide vision and leadership to students from underrepresented groups (including but notlimited to African-American, Latino-Hispanic, LGBTQA) and other identified special populations. TheDirector will supervise the Coordinator of Diversity & Cultural Life, a position that will develop campuswide diversity programming initiatives and provide direct support to students. The Coordinator will also8

assist with campus-wide education on civic responsibility, multiculturalism, community service andservice learning. These positions are intended to support efforts of both campus-wide diversity andcommunity engagement, two areas the College views as critical to both the fulfillment and success ofour students.In 2009, the Office of Disability Services created a focus group to explore accessibility issues related toinformation technology and media across the College. This initial group was comprised of faculty,administrative staff from both student and academic affairs, and a student. The group developed astrategic plan aimed at addressing known accessibility issues around campus, and to establish a plan forensuring accessibility in the future. In 2011, the focus group became an institutionally-recognizedcommittee, with a vision to “ensure that our information technology and media is accessible to ourstudents, faculty, staff, and guests.” The first charge of this multi-disciplinary committee was to developa policy and procedure intended to systematically support this vision. In 2014, the Accessibility ofElectronic Information and Web-based Services Policy and Procedure was approved by President’sCouncil. The committee continues to support this policy through maintenance of a portal site thatprovides accessibility and universal design resources to the College community, as well as ongoingprofessional development.Academic AffairsAcademic Affairs announced a restructuring initiative in January 2013. Eight academic schools, inexistence for almost 30 years, became six. As part of the restructuring, some programs were moved tonew schools, which created a renewed potential for creativity and growth. The new structure optimizesresources, facilita

Pennsylvania, announced the intent to create an affiliation between Penn State and Williamsport Area Community College, creating the next iteration of the institution. On July 1, 1989, Williamsport Area ommunity ollege became Pennsylvania ollege of Technology, "Penn ollege," with an official affiliation with Penn State.