April 12, 2017

Private giving this week’s topic on Infinite Opportunities

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Kristina Arvelo, a senior biology major at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, will talk about how the scholarship she received enabled her to attend college on this week’s edition of Infinite Opportunities. Arvelo says she would not have been able to attend ESU without the scholarship she is receiving from Sanofi Pasteur.

This week’s episode also will include video visits to the campuses of Kutztown and Millersville Universities of Pennsylvania, as the program explores private giving and how it benefits students who attend Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
Infinite Opportunities airs at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday on the Pennsylvania Cable Network. The half-hour, public affairs program features roundtable discussions with faculty, staff, students and alumni from the 14 State System universities talking about a range of higher education issues. State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan moderates the weekly discussions. Each program also offers viewers the opportunity to “travel” back to the universities to learn more about how they address the various topics on campus.
Arvelo is a recipient of the Sanofi Pasteur Community Annual Scholarship at East Stroudsburg, where her studies include a pre-physician assistant concentration. Also participating in this week’s panel discussion will be David Dentler, senior director of member development at the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU), and Jennifer Hartman, president and chief executive officer of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education Foundation.
PSECU provides targeted scholarship funding for rising juniors and seniors and internships.
“Internships are really a win-win for the student and the employer. Internships can improve the pipeline of prospective employees,” said Dentler. PSECU has more than 100 employee who are State System university alumni.
Hartman will discuss the value of the partnership between the Foundation and the State System, including the importance of scholarship support in addressing the persistence and completion rates of State System students and other ways private philanthropic support benefits students and the System as a whole.
Each episode of Infinite Opportunities airs twice on PCN. This week’s program will be rebroadcast at 6 p.m., April 22. Prior episodes, including those from the first two seasons, also can be viewed at www.passhe.edu/InfiniteOpportunities.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, enrolling more than 100,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.