Chalked Up: Geneva College offering new majors, Challenge Program celebrates 20 years

A new partnership with Rize Education will allow a local college to offer three high-demand programs for students in Beaver County.

Geneva College announced the educational partnership on Aug. 29, sharing that they would be bringing programs for public health, game development and user experience design to the Christian school. Students can begin to apply for these programs now and classes for the new concentrations will launch during fall semester 2024.

"We are pleased to offer new majors in high-need public service and cutting-edge technological fields," said Calvin Troup, president of Geneva College. "We are grateful for the opportunity to launch these new programs with support through our new partnership with Rize Education."

According to the college's announcement, the new programs will feature specialized classes offered by Rize Education mixed with the biblical approaches currently offered at Geneva College. By learning the skills in these classes, the college hopes that students will "engage in the modern world faithfully, creatively and courageously" during their careers and higher education.

On the Rize Education website, the group advertises that adding a "small number of online courses" allows colleges to quickly launch these high-demand programs and bolster enrollment.

"These programs are exciting additions to our academic offerings," said Melinda Stephens, Geneva College's provost and a chemistry professor at the college. "These innovative majors are designed to empower our students for the future and prepare them for dynamic careers in today's evolving job market."

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In addition to the new programs coming next fall, the college has announced students whose families make less than $70,000 per year will be eligible to have their tuition waived in the fall of 2024. These changes come as enrollment in college programs has declined across the United States.

Butler County Community College receives a $3 million gift

Officials at the Butler County Community College (BC3) have announced they received the largest donation in the college's history last month.

According to the college, the donation came from the estate of Pennsylvania state Sen. Tim Shaffer, who was from Prospect. The politician, who died on May 3, 2022, left half of his estate to the community college and the new $3 million donation will fund a variety of scholarships honoring Shaffer's family history at the school.

"He loved our mission,” said Nick Neupauer, president of BC3. “He absolutely loved our students. And he believed in the vision and the strategic plan that related to the college."

Officials at BC3 said Shaffer's brother, John "Stephen" Shaffer, was a member of the inaugural class at the community college and Shaffer's father, John Shaffer, had served on the BC3's board of trustees. Both men were killed in automobile accidents in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

In previous years, full-time students from Butler County have been eligible for the endowed John “Stephen” Shaffer Memorial Scholarship. While the criteria for the County Commissioner John and Jean Shaffer Memorial Scholarship have not yet been determined, the college's administrators are determined to make the program benefit as many students as possible and honor the memory of Sen. Shaffer.

“He’s left a history-making gift to this institution,” said Megan Coval, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation and external relations. “But what is particularly notable is that he chose for those funds to be designated to BC3’s scholarship program. This is a gift of opportunity and a gift of access to higher education, which will, of course, have exponential impacts not only on the students, but on the entire community.”

The Challenge Program celebrates 20 years of helping students

A regional program supporting students is celebrating 20 years of service during the start of the 2023 school year.

The Challenge Program, which works with over 120 high schools in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, has been supporting students for over two decades after it launched in 2003. The group partners with local business partners to offer awards, college support and job education to students in grades 10 to 12.

To inspire students to apply themselves, the Challenge Program gives a cash award to 15 local students in categories including academic excellence, academic improvement, attendance, community service and STEM learning each year. To date, the program has reportedly helped 650,000 students through its services and awarded $6 million to award winners.

In Beaver County, the Challenge Program assists students in the Aliquippa, Ambridge Area, Big Beaver Falls, New Brighton Area, Rochester Area and South Side school districts. The group also works with students at the Beaver County Career and Technical Center.

More local education news to note:

• On Aug. 4, officials from the Butler County Community College Foundation announced a record number of 128 players joined them for a golf outing benefiting the college, earning over $108,000 for the community college's various programs. Since starting the program in 1996, these golf outings have raised more than $1.4 million for the school.

• Shell Polymers Monaca joined members of the Big Beaver Falls School District for a ribbon cutting at the newly renovated basketball court at Big Beaver Elementary School on Aug. 29, showcasing the efforts that student recycling has on their communities. Shell Polymers and Lindy Paving worked together to install the basketball court, which is constructed from 300 pounds of recycled plastics and local asphalt that was repurposed for the project, throughout the summer. According to the groups, students worked to gather recyclable plastic and collected over 100 bags of separated plastic waste from the students' cafeterias during the 2022 school year.

• The University of Pittsburgh and Vesper Energy cut the ribbon on their Gaucho Solar project on Aug. 16, welcoming public officials and members of the U.S. Department of State to the solar panel project located on the borders of Findlay and Independence townships. The 20-megawatt solar farm is now one of the largest solar projects in western Pennsylvania, with 55,000 solar panels generating electricity at the facility.

• After an 18-month construction period, Penn State-Beaver reopened its General Classroom Building for use during a ceremony on Aug. 30. According to the college's officials, the construction was a complete overhaul of the academic building and is the first update to the structure since it was built in 1968. As a part of the $8.4 million renovations, improvements include new technology in classrooms, more space in common areas, an outdoor courtyard and improvements to accessibility.

• On Sept. 6, the Pittsburgh-based Remake Learning announced it had restructured its existing three-person board to a five-person board to include a wider range of education institutions within their peer connection network. As a part of this change, the board has welcomed Roger Davis, president of the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC), as a new member of this expanded administrative group.

• Penn State-Beaver will host a screening of Kevin Schreck's "Persistence of Vision" and a discussion with the director as a part of its "The Current" speaker series at 6 p.m. Oct. 4. The documentary follows the 30-year journey of animator Richard Williams, known for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," to create the "ill-fated" project "The Thief and the Cobbler." Community members are invited to attend the discussion and attendees are encouraged to register for the event online.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Chalked Up: Geneva College offering three new programs, Challenge Program celebrates anniversary