Alexandra Persiko, interim director of global partnerships in Penn State Global, received a Fulbright IEA award in 2024, notable not only because she was one of 14 university administrators across the U.S. to garner such an award this year, but also because of her unique connection to the program through her mother, Alice Ann, who completed a Fulbright student program in Germany in 1957.

Penn State Berks wrapped up its celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on Oct. 11 with its 12th annual Latino Forum, an outreach effort for local high school students. Chancellor Radha Pyati provided a warm welcome to the students in Spanish, and she reached out to both students and the greater Latino community through a Facebook Live interview on La Mega Radio Station, a Spanish-language station who was on site for the event. Pyati was also interviewed live on La Mega’s Morning Show on Oct. 8.

Penn State Berks is holding a free public event, the “Eras Tour (Penn State Berks Version)” on Saturday, Nov. 2, in the Perkins Plaza. The event is held in junction with the course “Taylor Swift, Gender, and Communication,” offered this fall. Admission is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. 

Current charging stations for electric vehicles, or EVs, can be expensive to install, and limited in the number of parking spaces they reach. Penn State engineering student Jonathan Smith and his team have spent the last three years creating a possible solution: smaller, mounted charging stations, which can move to cover as many as five parking spaces. As CEO of Streamline Charging, he’s used his Penn State education and customized coursework to get the team’s ideas to market. 

Penn State Berks took learning out of the classroom in early October when 14 students, faculty and staff visited "Field of Screams," a haunted Halloween attraction in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The event was organized as an experiential learning activity for humanities, arts and social sciences courses (such as "Rhetoric of American Horror Films" and "Transformative Texts") that deal with topics related to horror and monstrosity within popular cultural texts. 

The Berks LaunchBox in partnership with Penn State Berks will host its free 3D Modeling and Printing Workshop for Manufacturing Companies from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The Berks LaunchBox recently announced seven recipients of the second round of the “IMAGINE Your Business” grants.

Penn State Berks will welcome Piscataway Nation singers and dancers to honor and celebrate Indigenous and Native American Heritage Month. The event is free and open to the public and will take place on Monday, Nov. 4, at 12:15 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium.

Prospective students and their families are invited to tour Penn State Berks at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, with Lion Ambassador student tour guides.

How do you translate what you learned in a semester-long course to a community celebration for an audience ranging in age from kindergarteners to senior citizens? That was the challenge to Penn State Berks students in the “Taylor Swift, Gender and Communication” course, and they rose to the occasion.

A team from Penn State Harrisburg spent a week at a NASA facility over the summer, building a scientific experiment and sending it to space through the RockOn! program.

Jennifer C. Gibbs, associate professor of criminal justice in Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Public Affairs, was awarded the 2024 Teaching and Mentorship Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Policing.

Maria Turkson, associate teaching professor of psychology at Penn State Harrisburg, will lead a panel of experts in a discussion about domestic violence prevention on Friday, Oct. 25. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The following is a collection of events happening around Penn State Harrisburg.

Thaddeus Stevens College, a two-year trade and technology-focused college, has recently expanded its articulation agreement with Penn State Harrisburg. Students completing their studies at Thaddeus Stevens College can transfer a variety of general education credits toward receiving a bachelor of science degree in human development and family studies from Penn State Harrisburg.

A Penn State political scientist discusses the importance of voting and the election certification process.

The Madlyn L. Hanes Library at Penn State Harrisburg has launched a new exhibition, “Always Aim High! An Exhibition Celebrating Shirley Chisholm,” featuring rare materials from the Alice Marshall Women’s History Collection. The exhibition opened Oct. 22 and will be on display through Dec. 20 at the entrance to Archives and Special Collections on the library's third floor. Chisholm was the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968 and the first Black woman to run for U.S. president in 1972. 

The Office of the Registrar and the Lambert Undergraduate Advising Center at Penn State Harrisburg will present “Schweek” scheduling week to assist students in scheduling their courses for spring 2025.

Retired Master Sgt. Gary Barb, campus technology officer at Penn State Harrisburg, is a veteran of both the U.S. Navy, which he served from 1989 to 1993, and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, which he served from 1994 to 2012. His daughter, Jessica Barb, is a communications major at Penn State Harrisburg, where she participates in the Army ROTC program, and serves in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

A membership survey from the National Network of State Teachers of the Year found that teachers want accountability measures for charter schools and private schools that receive federal funds.

Would parents and children be more engaged if choice were everywhere? Would teachers and leaders function differently if we weren't a monopoly? Is it the lack of choice that breeds resentments and arrogance?

Marc Tucker looks at what the world's top performers tell us about the school choice agenda likely to be pursued by President Trump and his Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos.

Even if speaking up and fighting against vouchers is your calling ( and we need voices doing that) , it is still worth looking inward.

Indiana has one of the largest voucher programs in the country, with over 34,000 students receiving tax dollars to pay for private schools. With the Trump administration favoring school choice, many wonder if vouchers help or hurt education.

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of that state's expansive voucher program, widening a central front in the ongoing battle to expand our national experiment in school choice. In the end, is this a good or a bad development for American families? And will it help or hinder our ong

The Colorado Supreme Court decided Douglas County's Choice Scholarship Program is unconstitutional.

Vouchers are back as a topic, and this time they've been given an equity gloss. Julian Vasquez Heilig and I discuss whether or not vouchers are still a bad idea.

Vouchers were once used in New Zealand but had a series of unintended consequences.

So many years after vouchers began, we still can't agree on their benefits.

A ballot measure to expand the state's eligibility for so-called education savings account is contentious and confusing.

Proposition 305 had become one of the most contentious ballot-box battles over school choice in the 2018 midterm elections. But its loss is not necessarily a defeat for school choice advocates.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's education plan landed on Monday, and among other consequences, it led to a conversation about her past statements addressing "vouchers."

Despite being rebuked by Congress in its bid to do so last year, the U.S. Department of Education says it will use Education Innovation and Research funds for teacher professional development vouchers.

The FDA estimates that between 45 and 50 students at a Massachusetts school for students with autism, emotional disturbances, and intellectual disabilities are subjected to electrical shocks through electrodes attached to their skin.

Amid coronavirus-related school closures, advocates worry Education Secretary Betsy DeVos may waive requirements of special education law if Congress signs off. Schools say it's difficult to meet some requirements during the pandemic.

A leading autism researcher and former special education teacher offers advice to help students cope with the abrupt changes brought on by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Very carefully, experts say, while understanding that federal laws governing special education were not written with online education in mind.

The two national teachers' unions and other prominent groups are seeking $175 billion for state K-12 budgets, $13 billion in dedicated aid for special education, and more to help schools deal with the coronavirus.

Congress should not grant flexibility from the federal special education law's key components due to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has told federal lawmakers.

A coalition of education organizations wants Congress to waive a provision in federal law requiring districts to keep special education funding level from year to year regardless of budget pressures.

The requests put the nation's special education administrators in conflict with disability rights advocates who fear waivers will place millions of special education students at risk.

When it comes to parenting students with learning differences, every family's experience is unique. And that reality has never been more true than it is now as millions of students are out of school due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A new resource offers tips on how to keep Individualized Education Program meetings focused and on-schedule.

Nearly 30 disability rights and education advocacy organizations have launched a new resource hub and online network designed to help special educators during the coronavirus crisis.