Professor Bob Hendrickson celebrates 25 years

Professor Bob Hendrickson enjoys his new Penn State University chair after 25 years of service

On Friday, September 25th, over 50 people gathered on Rackley’s third floor to celebrate Professor Robert Hendrickson’s 25 years of service to Penn State. Cake and remarks from notable administrators, fellow faculty members, and student advisees accompanied the presentation by Dean David Monk of a commemorative chair and plaque.

“Bob is an amateur architect,” said Dean Monk. Offering just one example of the many contributions made by Hendrickson, the Dean elaborated, “The design here in this building [Rackley] has a lot to do with Bob Hendrickson and his insight into what could be done with what was a sort of tired, traditional building that I think has been transformed in wonderful ways.”

Professor Bob Hendrickson with Dean David Monk

Hendickson has served as Head of the Department of Education Policy Studies for eight years and professor-in-charge (PIC) of the Higher Education Program for nine. Most recently, he served six-and-a-half years as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Research & Faculty Development within the College of Education. In connection with Hendrickson’s latter position in the Dean’s office, Don Heller, Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, joked, “He’s got great intelligence on what goes on over there.”

In his remarks to the gathering, Hendrickson recognized his wife and family, including his two young, giggly granddaughters who were present.

“This has been a great ride,” said Hendrickson, who noted that he has worked for three deans and four department heads over the years. He went on to thank all the faculty for allowing him to serve as department chair in the ’90s and the higher education faculty for “trusting me to serve as the professor-in-charge before I was even tenured.” After a brief pause, Hendrickson said, “That’s highly irregular,” and joked, “I’m surprised I got tenure.”

Hendrickson also expressed heartfelt thanks to the staff assistants and said it was an honor to work with each of them.

In closing his remarks, Hendrickson said, “The most rewarding part of the job has been working with the students. Watching you all grow and develop has been such a rewarding thing for me.”

One of Hendrickson’s advisees informed the gathering that there is a strong, proud contingent of “Bob Hendrickson alumni” who “think that he’s the best Ph.D. advisor there is.”

Gerry LeTendre, Department Head of Education Policy Studies, said, “Thank you for being a wonderful mentor.”

Also highlighting Hendrickson’s strength as a role model, Professor Pat Terenzini shared the following story: “In 1989, I was at the top of my game in terms of studying and understanding the effects of college on students. I knew I was coming to Penn State, and I got a phone call one afternoon from Bob who was then the PIC. He said, ‘We’re putting together the course schedule for Spring 1990. How’d you like to teach the Curriculum course?’ And I thought he was joking!” Continuing, Terenzini said, “I took a message from that request that’s been characteristic of Bob, and that’s been his willingness to step up as a good citizen in the program and department to do something that he may not want to do, but he’s willing to do it anyway. He’s been a fine role model for me in that regard, and I appreciate that.”

Reporting by Melanie Fedri.

Professor Bob Hendrickson's notes for his speech

Professor Bob Hendrickson makes remarks about his 25 years at Penn State

Friends and family of Professor Bob Hendrickson gather to honor 25 years of Penn State service

Friends and family of Professor Bob Hendrickson gather to honor 25 years of Penn State service

Featured Member of the Week: Jen Grossman Leopard

Jen Grossman Leopard is a part-time student in the higher education program. At Penn State, Jen works full-time as the Program Director for Clubs and Student Organizations in the Office of Student Activities. She also serves as the Advisor to the Homecoming Executive Committee and the Student Organization Conduct Committee and volunteers as the Recruitment Advisor to the Penn State chapter of Gamma Phi Beta (her sorority). Within HESA, Jen stays busy as the Part-time Student Liaison and Co-chair of the Orientation Committee.

Jen’s master’s degree brought her to State College, and meeting her husband kept her in town. For undergrad, she stayed in her home state of Ohio and attended Wittenberg University in Springfield in 2003 then came straight to Penn State for her masters in College Student Affairs. After graduating in 2005, she went to work for the Penn State Altoona campus in the Student Life office working with Campus Activities Board, Greek Life, Orientation, Homecoming, Parents Weekend, Community Service, and Leadership Development. When she was engaged in the winter of 2006, she started looking for a job in University Park and came back to work in the Office of Student Activities in the fall of 2007 just before getting married. She then started taking classes again in the spring of 2009.

Within higher education, Jen’s interests are purely administrative. She hopes to remain working in Student Affairs and eventually serve as a Vice President of Student Affairs. Jen hopes to research what it means to be a student organization advisor and how universities might better train advisors in their roles working with students.

Outside of the higher ed realm, Jen plays on a softball team in Huntingdon, PA during the summer. She also loves going to the movies, skiing, and eating FRESH seafood. Jen and her husband enjoy taking their dog Oscar to the local dog parks and really enjoy hosting game nights at their home. One of her new favorite things to do is play with her nephews, Andy and Jonas.

Featured member of the week Jen Grossman Leopard and her husband Nathan in Beaver Stadium

Next Coffee and Donuts: Schizophrenic Cats and Assessment

The first (weekly) Coffee and Donuts was terrific with discussions about the resignation of the Illinois President, Nate Sorber’s dissertation, and Wil del Pilar’s dissertation.  Anyone interested in current topics in higher education is encouraged to attend this Thursday morning’s session at 10:00 in the Rackley 4th floor library. On tap this week is a brainstorming session of India McHale’s dissertation ideas and a discussion of Zeke Kimball’s thoughts about schizophrenic cats and assessment that he hopes to present  at an upcoming meeting.  As always, please also share any current higher ed news stories at the gathering as discussion topics.

Bring a cup of coffee, and the HESA Communications Committee will bring the donuts!

First HESA Happies: Success!

The first HESA Happies was a smashing success on the patio of Whisker’s!  Attended by faculty members and both PhD and Masters students, Friday evening’s happy hour was a great way to wind down at the end of a long week with friends, drinks, and popcorn.  The air may have become chillier throughout the evening, but even that didn’t stop the HESA crew.  Special thanks to the HESA Social Committee for organizing festivities.  Be on the lookout for information about future HESA Happies!

Join HESA’s new listserv!

HESA now has its own listserv! The listserv will help HESA stay in contact with its members and anyone interested in keeping informed of HESA’s activities and announcements.

You are very welcome to request to join the list by sending an emali to L-HESA-subscribe-request@lists.psu.edu

No subject or message text is required.

Welcome to the Community of Scholars, Dr. Yin

Alexander C. Yin successfully defended his dissertation on Friday, September 11th in front of a standing room only crowd of 32 that included faculty, students, friends, and family. Yin’s dissertation is titled, “Learning on the job: The role of cooperative education/ internship and the development of engineering problem-solving skills.” After the dissertation committee’s deliberations, a celebration with sparkling cider ensued with the official news of the successful defense. Yin plans to continue working for the Center for Higher Education as a post-doc for the next year.

Congratulations also to Mark Bauman and Nori Miyokawa for defending dissertations over the summer and earlier this semester!

Celebrating a successful defense.

Friends and family.

HESA members meeting

On Wednesday, September 16th, a large mix of HESA members–from first to fourth years–did what few grad students do: venture out of their department’s building.* What spurred this rare migration was the year’s first HESA members meeting, which took place in 113 Keller. Love for HESA, no less the homemade cookies provided by HESA co-president India McHale, brought everyone together.

Co-presidents Jim Woodell and India McHale welcomed HESA to a new year, which is already building on the momentum of last year’s successes. The co-chairs of the social, communications, professional development, orientation, and spring-admit day reported on their plans to-date and elicited the involvement of members interested in helping out. The town hall and faculty representatives, as well as the part-time student and Masters student liasions likewise shared their thoughts. Higher Education in Review’s (HER) Editor, Nate Sorber, gave a brief overview of the strategically planned improvements to the fully student-run journal.

The meeting concluded after members broke into groups and brainstormed ideas for the consideration of HESA’s various committees.

For a full listing of HESA’s committee chairs, student reps, and student liasions, see the HESA Leadership page.

For the minutes of the meeting, including announcements on opportunities to get involved, click here.

*If PhD Comics can joke about grad student life, we can do it too.

Higher Ed Students Enjoy Fall Weather

Several HESA friends enjoyed a brisk Fall Sunday morning in Happy Valley by hiking Mt. Nittany.  Views of the Penn State campus were picturesque at the top of the climb.  Even though it was a weekend, the students were sure to point out the bird’s eye view of our Rackley home.  The colorful Autumn foliage appears to be just a few weeks away!

HESA members pose atop Mt. Nittany

View of campus from Mt. Nittany

Featured Higher Ed Member: Liz Eder

This week’s featured Higher Education member is first year Master’s student Liz Eder.   At PSU, Liz is a full time student, works with Residence Life as the Community Standards and First-Year Experience intern for Pollock residence halls, and is the new Masters’ students co-liason with Lindsay Northup-Moore for HESA!  Outside of the HI ED department, she is also auditing a Spanish class, hoping to further her attempt at becoming bilingual.

Liz  was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX (the best state in the U.S., according to Liz and most other Texans) and completed her undergrad degree this past May in religious studies and mathematics at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.  Some of her most memorable moments at TU were being the Trinity tiger mascot for afternoon football games (in the 100 degree heat), running cross country and track, producing a dance show, and working with Residential Life.  Moving to PA has been a big change in many aspects; for instance, Liz has started bringing her own salsa to some restaurants where she knows they won’t serve it for free!  But, there are a few regional nuances that she is slowly picking up on (Lancaster = Linkister, it’s Mount Nittany not Nittany Mountain. etc.).  Ultimately, Liz thinks it’s going to be a good year, thanks in large part to the great people in the 2009-2010 cohort and the White Course Apartments Crew.

In her spare time, Liz enjoys running, biking, and doing anything active outside.  She thinks there’s something great about being in the sun after a hard day at the office and in class.  Liz also enjoys baking, and her signature dessert is a chocolate pumpkin muffin. Whenever she gets a spare moment, one of her deepest passions is writing fiction short stories.

After talking with many mentors and advisors at Trinity, they all had a common thread amongst their advice: apply to Penn State!  So, in doing her own research on PSU, she was intrigued by the ranking (who wouldn’t be?), but also weighed in the distance factor… how could she spare being away from her family and home for an entire year?!  She thought about the decision for a long time, and talking with Jordan via phone/email really helped get any questions out in the air and out of her head.  Liz is quite content with PSU and hopes to figure out a lot about herself and the world of Higher Education in the next year!

Being very new to the Higher Education field, the variety of classes Liz has taken over the past month has opened up a world of education-related information which she never knew existed! Namely, she has enjoyed reading about issues surrounding community colleges, religious/ethnic minority representation on campuses, and the production of college ranking systems.  Liz hopes to have a better grasp of the area in which she would like to pursue further research by the end of the Masters’ program.

First year Master's student Liz Eder with her boyfriend Javi, a Master's student at Texas A&M

Featured Higher Ed Member: India McHale

This week’s featured Higher Education member is graduate student India McHale. India is currently the co-president of HESA and volunteers for the Student-Athlete Climate Study. She has also worked with Higher Education in Review, as a research assistant for Lisa Lattuca in her time with the program, and currently on the E2020 Project. Her research interests revolve around faculty and curriculum, with a special focus on faculty development and the relationships between institutional, faculty, and student characteristics.

India began on the higher education Ph.D. path by working in admissions at her alma mater, UNC Asheville. She thanks former boss Scot Schaeffer (who is now at Luther College) for showing her that there may be some rhyme and reason to this higher ed thing. Next, India earned a master’s degree in higher education administration at the University of Michigan, where she worked in the Center for the Research of Learning and Teaching and the Michigan Community Scholars Program. When first visiting the fourth floor of Rackley, she was struck by the program’s warm, welcoming climate. Further enticed by the opportunity to work with Lisa and Pat, Milo the Cat and India packed up their belongings and landed in Happy Valley.

India grew up in New Orleans, LA–home of good food, fantastic music, oppressive humidity, and entertaining politics (read John Kennedy O’Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces for a glimpse into the psyche of a New Orleanian). For fun, she enjoys listening to live music, cooking and sharing good meals, and frolicking outdoors. She also cherishes time spent with family–especially her adorable niece and nephew.

After finishing at Penn State, India hopes to find a higher education faculty or faculty development position south of the Mason Dixon line, preferably close to New Orleans, Houston, Asheville, or Atlanta–cities in which she has several close family and/or friends.

Featured Higher Ed member India McHale with new nephew Patrick McHale