Spencer Finley

Business & Science Editor

sjf5814@psu.edu

At an event hosted by Penn State Behrend on October 2nd, Chancellor Ralph Ford provided information on several projects significant to the Behrend campus, including the construction of new campus buildings as well as new major and minor programs intended to expand and improve the school. He also clarified the timeline of several of these projects.

Dr. Ford first talked about many of Behrend’s ongoing and upcoming academic projects. Some of these included new integrated degree programs, including the new Integrated Business and Science Undergraduate Degree. Others included newer degrees offered at Behrend, including the Digital Art/Media Undergraduate Degree. Additional examples were made of the recent bioengineering minor and biochemistry major. In sum, it appears that the objective of the university is to improve Behrend by increasing the number of academic programs, with a particular emphasis on the sciences.

 Aside from creating new programs, considerable attention was devoted to faculty leadership’s plans to expand leadership’s role as a research college and as an “open laboratory.” This is to be accomplished with the expansion of participation in real-world projects and internships off-campus in Erie County. This includes allowing current students the opportunity to assist small businesses in the Erie community and by having students give back to the local community with their time and expertise and gain valuable experience by participating in K-12 outreach programs.

After discussing updates and additions to Behrend’s academic portfolio, Chancellor Ford provided an update on several of the construction projects that are either planned on campus or are ongoing. He first went into detail on plans for the Federal House. According to Dr. Ford, the Federal House is one of the oldest existing brick structures in Harborcreek Township, and the university wanted to find a way to integrate it into any new project on the site without demolishing such a historic building; he also said that pains had been taken to ensure that the building received the right project. The Federal House will receive an expansion and house the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Community Outreach, Research and Evaluation, or CORE. The renovations on the Federal House are expected to be completed relatively quickly, with the completed building to be opened early in 2022.

Chancellor Ford continued to talk about the other significant construction project on campus, which is the new building on the site of Erie Hall. On campus, Erie Hall, which was built in 1952, was recently torn down to make room for the new structure which is to be erected on the