Penn State Berks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Penn State Berks


Established	1958 (joined Penn State)
Type	Public 2- and 4-year undergraduate
Chancellor	Dr. Susan Phillips Speece
President	Graham Spanier
Faculty	100 full-time, 70 part-time
Students	2,471
Location	Reading, PA, USA
Campus	Suburban 258 acres
Colors	Navy Blue and White
Mascot	Nittany Lion
Affiliations	Penn State University
Website	www.bk.psu.edu

Penn State Berks is a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Reading.

1 History
2 Degrees Offered
3 Student Life
4 Housing on Campus
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

First known as Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute, Penn State Berks became part of the Penn State system in 1958. The Berks campus has experienced many changes since then. WPI occupied the original Sacred Heart Church building on Hill Road, where the McDonald's Restaurant now stands from 1930 to 1958. Its facilities were offered to Penn State to establish Penn State Wyomissing Center. It moved to its present Spring Township location in 1972. Dormitories were first added in 1990 with additional dorms in 2001, which made Berks a commuter as well as a residential campus.

Student enrollment at Penn State Berks has increased steadily since 1972, when approximately 500 students attended. Today, there are an estimated 2,500 students enrolled.

The campus currently has 15 buildings on 241 acres (1 km²) of land. There are 100 full-time and 70 part-time faculty members.

While being a commonwealth campus of the state land-grant university, since 1997 it has offered baccalaureate degrees independently from The Pennsylvania State University's University Park in partnership with a neighboring campus under the title of Berks and Lehigh Valley College.

[edit] Degrees Offered

Baccalaureate

American Studies, B.A.
Applied Psychology, B.A.
Business, B.S.
Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology, B.S.
Elementary and Kindergarten Education - Elementary Education Teaching Option (K-6), B.S.
Global Studies, B.A.
Information Sciences and Technology, B.S.
Kinesiology, B.S.
Organizational Leadership, B.S.
Professional Writing, B.A.
Science, B.S.

Associate Degrees

Agricultural Business
Business Administration
Electrical Engineering Technology
Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management
Information Sciences and Technology
Letters, Arts and Sciences
Mechanical Engineering Technology
Occupational Therapy

[edit] Student Life

Penn State Berks is proud to have over 35 active clubs. These clubs improve student life on the campus by creating a diverse environment for students to explore their interests outside of the academic world. All student organizations are overseen by the Student Government Association.