Penn State Shenango honors employee achievements

Lion Shrine statue under Penn State Shenango mark
Credit: Penn State

SHARON, Pa. — During the 2020-21 academic year, Penn State Shenango employees have been celebrated within their disciplines, at the campus and throughout the University. These accomplishments span awards, certifications, promotions, presentations, large-scale projects, grants, publications and service to the community and Penn State.

Awards

  • Lauren Altenburger, assistant professor in human development and family studies
    • Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research in Child Development: Ribbon awarded for the presentation "Parental Inhibitory Control Predicts Observed Parenting Quality: The Role of Household Chaos” for exemplifying interdisciplinary research related to children's development. This project was a collaboration with researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Ohio State University and spanned multiple disciplines, including public health, psychology and human development.
  • Roxanne Atterholt, assistant teaching professor of human development and family studies
    • Penn State University College: Recipient of the University College Service Award for demonstrated service to the campus, college and University. Atterholt's nominators note her work of implementing the National Council of Family Relations' Certified Family Life Education credential to human development and family studies programs across the commonwealth, as well as serving as a co-lead of Wellness Day programming. 
  • Kathy Shaffer, associate teaching professor of science
    • Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania: Awarded the Honor Pin, recognizing her for the outstanding work that she does as a volunteer for Girl Scouts. Her role in organizing an event called GirlScouts@Shenango and serving as director of Trefoil Trails Girl Scout Day Camp stood out in her nomination.
    • Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania: Shaffer’s Mercer Area Girl Scouts Service Unit Team received the GSWPA President's Award for exemplary service in support of delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Certifications

  • Maureen Dunn, assistant teaching professor of nursing
    • Nurse educator certification

Faculty promotions

  • Jennifer Jewell, teaching professor in physical therapy

Presentations

  • Lauren Altenburger
    • "Parental Inhibitory Control Predicts Observed Parenting Quality: The Role of Household Chaos” at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research in Child Development.
    • "Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Quantity and Quality as Predictors of Child Social-Emotional Adjustment: A Latent Profile Analysis Approach" at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Family Relations.
  • Roxanne Atterholt
    • “Faculty Focus: Fostering teaching, learning, and scholarship through virtual communities of practice” at the Penn State Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology with Laura Cruz.
    • “Certified Family Life Educator Consortium Across Penn State Campuses” at the Penn State Human Development and Family Studies Discipline Meeting.
    • “Emotional Intelligence at Work” at Autosoft Corporation.
  • Roxanne Atterholt and Tiffany Petricini, assistant teaching professor of communications
    • “Lessons Learned from Small Teaching” at Innovative Teaching at Penn State Series with co-presenter Zacharis Nugrahenny.
    • “Lessons Learned from Small Teaching” at Penn State’s Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Day with co-presenters Zacharis Nugrahenny and Jennifer Breese.
  • Joan Humphrey, assistant teaching professor of nursing
    • “Pandemic Perspectives from Local Health Professionals” at the Penn State Shenango Lecture Series.
  • Jennifer Jewell
    • “Perceptions of PTA Program Directors on the Preferred Length and Degree of Entry-level PTA Educational Pro” at Virtual Move PA: Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Conference.
    • Co-presented “Innovation in Physical Therapist Assistant Education” at the Educational Leadership Conference.
    • Co-presented “Reimagining and Reinventing Health Professions Education in COVID's Environment: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity” at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.
    • Co-presented “COVID Casualties?: Student Perceptions of Clinical Education During a Global Pandemic” at the ITLC Lilly Online Conference.
  • Travis Milburn, assistant professor in criminal justice
    • “Bulletproofing our schools: Exploring the connection between school security products, race, class, and school violence” at the Penn State Shenango Lecture Series.
    • Guest on Penn State Shenango’s “Pardon the Pandemic” podcast.
  • Tiffany Petricini
    • “Togetherness in Lonely Times: Coronavirus, Technology and the Effects on Our Friendships” colloquy with SUNY's Institute for Ethics in Public Life.
  • Angela Pettitt, assistant teaching professor of English
    • "Establishing Media Credibility: How to Prevent Fake News From Undermining Real News" at the University College 2021 Arts & Humanities, English, Social Sciences, and Education Joint Meeting.

Projects and service

  • Roxanne Atterholt
    • University-wide co-lead for Wellness Days programming focused on financial and occupational wellness, spiritual and intellectual wellness, and physical and environmental wellness that reflect the depth and breadth of Penn State’s expertise to support and engage students, instructors and staff.
    • $1,000 Course Development Grant awarded from the Office of the Senior Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, in partnership with the Office of General Education at Penn State.
    • $600 Faculty Teaching Communities grant awarded from Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State.
    • Elected to serve on Penn State's University College Teaching Line Promotion Committee. 
  • Tammy Divens, associate teaching professor in occupational therapy
    • Implemented EDGE programming for occupational therapy assistant students to have an international experience with students from the University of Nanterre in Paris, France. Students from each university researched the similarities and differences of happiness and well-being across cultures.
  • Joan Humphrey
    • At Primary Health Network, Humphrey worked with Amish communities to provide medical care via telehealth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Kathy Shaffer
    • Program facilitator and coordinator for the 2021 Brite Project joint venture by the National Girls Collaborate Project and The Hello Studios. Penn State has been selected to participate in the national online interdisciplinary STEM program built for girls ages 13-16.

Publications

  • Lauren Altenburger
    • "New Fathers' Parenting Quality: Personal, Contextual, and Child Precursors" with co-author Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan, published in the Journal of Family Psychology.
    • "Measuring Maternal Gatekeeping: A Rasch Analysis of the Parental Regulation" with co-authors P. Cristian Gugiu and Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan, published in the Journal of Family Studies.
  • Roxanne Atterholt and Alice Long, assistant teaching professor in human development and family studies
    • “Thinking Outreach: How CFLE’s can Provide Substance Abuse Education,” published in the CFLE network.
  • Jennifer Jewell
    • Co-authored “Leading Educators in the Professions to Teach Hands-On Skills Distantly: Lessons Learned from Physical Therapy,” published proceeding the 2021 American Educational Research Association Virtual Annual Meeting.
  • Travis Milburn
    • “Tapping into environmental harm in brewing: An exploration of waste and pollution in beer production” with co-author Favian Guertin-Martín, published in Critical Criminology.
    • “Local experts react to the Chauvin trial: Improving police and community relations at the forefront locally" interviewee by Melissa Klaric for the Sharon Herald.