Empathy in Leadership

I have often wondered what it is about a leader that stands out for me personally, regardless of the role. Leaders are found everywhere — community leaders, project team leaders, PTA leaders, volunteer leaders, organization leaders, and family leaders. Leadership seems to require a varied mix of attributes, depending on the organization, community, and even…

Advice on Conquering the Personal Statement

By Rebecca Marcum, Penn State World Campus admissions counselor and graduate student Writing a personal statement is a very important part of the graduate program application process, but it can be the most intimidating part as well. Trust me — I know. I’ve been there, too. Before applying to Penn State World Campus’s higher education…

4 Ways We’re Making Online Courses Accessible to Students with Disabilities

By Sonya Woods, Accessibility Consultant with Penn State World Campus At Penn State World Campus, we want all our students to have a great learning experience. Part of our focus with course design is keeping in mind students with disabilities, whether they are vision-impaired, hearing-impaired, or have cognitive disabilities such as ADHD. And designing to…

A Student Aid Professional’s Best Advice for Minimizing Debt: Carefully Manage Aid Refunds

By Brad Yeckley and Nick Dikas, World Campus Office of Student Aid An article in US News and World Report titled “Undergrads Blow It With Student Loan Refunds” (July 24, 2013) features students who found themselves struggling to pay back high loan debts as a result of their student aid refunds. It’s important to know…

Universal Design for Learning: Penn State World Campus’s Approach to Course Design

by Nikki Massaro Kauffman, Multimedia Specialist with Penn State World Campus “Teaching is a series of decisions that increase the probability that learning will occur.” Early in my career, when I was working as a high school teacher, someone shared this definition of teaching, and I’ve taken it with me ever since. What struck me…