Quiet campus with big-time affiliation

SUGARLOAF TWP. – When it came time for Matt Puhak to decide on a college, he knew Penn State was for him.

“I wanted to be part of something big. And anywhere you go in America, everyone knows Penn State,” said Puhak, a sophomore psychology major attending the Hazleton campus.

Puhak, 20, of Conyngham, said he knew from a young age that he wanted to become a psychologist, and acknowledged that most colleges offer psychology programs.

“I had a few local colleges in mind. I chose this just because it was Penn State, I liked what I heard about it, and I knew a lot of people going here already. It was a good package for me,” Puhak said during a recent interview on campus.

Puhak plans to attend the University Park campus in the fall and spend the final two years of his degree program there. For the past year and a half he’s been living with his parents in Conyngham, just a few miles down the road from the Sugarloaf Township campus.

“By commuting, you get to still feel the Penn State experience,” he said. “You get all that, but you’re saving money, it’s not as big of a transition. You still get to take all the classes, there’s a lot you can get involved in, and that’s a nice thing.”

Puhak said that Penn State Hazleton is “a quieter version” of the main campus.

“I go to all the football games,” Puhak said. “I have season tickets. Any Penn State student can get season tickets. It’s a lot of fun tailgating and just going to the games is crazy because every game, there’s 100,000 people.”

And that’s one of the big differences between local Penn State campuses and other regional colleges, Penn State Hazleton Chancellor Gary Lawler said.

“It’s really that University Park connection … the ability to go here two years, and as long as you’re successful here, go on to University Park,” Lawler said.

Lawler said he likes working at a prestigious school, one of the “Big Ten” in college football, but Penn State’s academic programs are just as impressive, he says.

Students at the Hazleton campus can choose from about 160 degree programs that can be completed at University Park. Penn State Hazleton also offers five four-year bachelor’s degree programs and eight two-year associate degree programs that can be completed on campus.

Another unique association the campus offers is an agreement with Misericordia University in Dallas Township that allows students to begin a physical therapy assistant program in Hazleton and complete it at Misericordia.

But one of the things that really sets Penn State apart from other top schools is its research agenda, Lawler said.

The campus regularly conducts a “Research Evening,” at which faculty members make presentations on their research projects. “If students find something they’re interested in, they can work with the faculty on a project,” Lawler said.

Christy DeMelfi, a 28-year-old Weatherly native and 2003 Penn State grad who practices law on Long Island, N.Y., said research she began at the Hazleton campus turned into her senior thesis at University Park.

DeMelfi graduated from Penn State with a bachelor of arts degree with honors and high distinction in economics, then went on to Hofstra Law School to earn her law degree and a master of business administration. She worked for a firm in New York City before starting her own practice.

While at Penn State, DeMelfi said she was “encouraged to think out of the box,” and her clients appreciate that ability.

“The courses at Penn State and the people there helped me in ways I can’t even imagine,” she said.

In the time DeMelfi’s been gone from Penn State, the campus has seen many improvements, Lawler said.

Since he accepted the position of chancellor in July 2007, a road making a loop around the campus has been completed, making access to all facilities easier for students, faculty and the public.

A “Digital Commons,” where students and faculty can make and edit videos, was opened in the Charles T. Butler Teaching and Learning Resource Center.

Penn State Hazleton celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2009. It opened in downtown Hazleton in 1934 and, 14 years later, to accommodate growth, purchased 66 hilltop acres from the estate of local banker and entrepreneur Alvan B. Markle.

Known as “Highacres,” as Markle had named the land, the site consisted of four buildings. Markle’s fieldstone mansion became the administration building. The 104-acre campus now boasts more than a dozen buildings plus five residence halls and several athletic fields.

When Lawler first drove up University Drive, he thought “it almost felt like a small liberal arts institution in New England.”

But Lawler, who grew up in South Carolina, also loves the mountain locale, which reminds him of his alma mater and previous employer – the University of Tennessee.

Just from reading the advertisement for his position, Lawler knew the campus would be a good fit.

Once he arrived, Lawler said he had “a very good interaction” with the people there.

“At the open house, they do a really good job. They have students come and talk to you, and that really won me over,” he said.