Penn State Management Development Begins Yearlong Commemoration of 90th Anniversary
Established in 1915, Penn State Management Development has provided education and training to more than 5,000 businesses and industries throughout Pennsylvania and around the world. With its continuing education network and faculty, who all have real-world business experience, Management Development is continuing to help companies educate and train their most valuable resource - their workforce.
University Park, PA (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) June 10, 2005 -- Penn State Management Development, one of the
nation's first continuing education programs, is celebrating its 90th year of
helping businesses and industries educate and train their workforces to be
competitive in the marketplace.
In 1915 when The Pennsylvania State
College's Board of Trustees created management education, the movie "Birth of a
Nation" premiered, Kraft introduced processed cheese, taxi rides cost a nickel,
and the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, beating the Philadelphia Phillies
four games to one. For a brief history of Management Development, see the
attachment.
"From our beginnings as Engineering Extension, we have grown
dramatically as an education and training resource for organizations not only in
the Commonwealth, but also throughout the country and around the world," said
Dr. Wesley Donahue, director of Penn State's Management Development Programs and
Services, a unit of Penn State Outreach. "We have served more than 5,000
organizations in the last 90 years. Today, we deliver more than 200 education
and training programs annually."
Management Development kicked off its
yearlong 90th anniversary celebration during the Penn State Continuing Education
Council meeting, because of Management Development's close partnership with
Continuing Education. Management Development collaborates with Continuing
Education offices at each Penn State campus to bring its education and training
programs to businesses and industries throughout the state.
A highlight
of the anniversary celebration was a presentation by Alexis M. Herman, former
U.S. Secretary of Labor, who discussed the "U.S. Workforce: Ways to Understand
it and Leverage It." Herman served as America's 23rd Secretary of Labor and the
first African American ever to lead the U.S. Department of Labor. She currently
is chair and chief executive officer of New Ventures Inc.
"We have a
noble mission," said Donahue. "What has kept us in business all these years is
our distribution network and our philosophy. We are unique in management
education, because we have a tremendous continuing education network that serves
every county of the Commonwealth, and we have our own faculty. Each of our
faculty members has academic credentials and at least 10 years of real-world
business experiences."
Donahue noted that Management Development matches
faculty with the needs of clients to create customized education and training
programs for on-site delivery, to offer courses online or to arrange public
programs for groups of businesses at locations almost anywhere in the world.
"Our goal is always to improve an organization's most important resource - its
workforce."
Management Development's approach is working for clients,
according to a recent survey. Clients report that for every dollar spent on
Management Development programs they received $10 in economic benefits,
including increased revenue, cost savings and cost avoidance. Clients also
report 98 percent satisfaction with both Management Development programs and
instructors. In addition, they report improvements in communication, work
climate, customer satisfaction, morale, job satisfaction, job performance and
retention.
Management Development's core of six full-time faculty and its
cadre of professional associates (Penn State faculty and industry experts) are
affiliated with six Penn State academic colleges. Management Development also
collaborates with Penn State's Continuing Education network and Outreach Client
Development unit to establish relationships with businesses and organizations in
Pennsylvania and beyond.
One client, Gwendolyn D. Rosser, organizational
development consultant at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, which has
facilities in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pa., has been working with Management
Development since 1998 to provide a Leadership and Supervisory Skills
Development program to first-line managers, patient-care coordinators, nurse
supervisors, directors and other staff interested in preparing for managerial
roles within the health network. "The program enables them to function better as
leaders, coaches and performance models as they work toward excellence in
quality and service," she said.
Management Development also is working
with Horsehead Corporation, headquartered in Monaca, Pa., to train engineers and
managers in the Six Sigma method of process improvement. "Our goal is to improve
efficiency and reduce costs," said Ed Beatty, manager of Six Sigma and special
projects. "We have several projects in progress and have already seen
benefits."
Gannett Fleming Inc., an international consulting engineering
and planning firm with almost 2,000 employees, also has benefited from
collaborating with Management Development. As a result of the project management
certificate program Management Development and the company developed and
delivered to 400 project managers, the company has rewritten its Project
Management and Quality Guidelines. Dr. Thomas M. Rachford, corporate quality
manager, said, "The Penn State program was of enormous value to us."
As
Management Development commemorates 90 years of outreach to the business
community, Donahue said he hopes the next 90 years will be as successful and
challenging. "It is very rewarding to help companies and nonprofits grow and
prosper."
For more information about Penn State Management Development
Programs and Services, visit http://mdev.outreach.psu.edu.
Penn State is committed
to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its
workforce.
Contact:
Deborah A. Benedetti
Outreach Marketing and
Communications
The Pennsylvania State University
814-238-4895
http://www.outreach.psu.edu/news
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb249932.htm