Shannon receives Smeal's COVID Spot Award

Tracie Shannon, the Administrative Director of CSCR®, paves the road for students, corporate sponsors, faculty and future Penn State alumni to make a splash in the world of supply chain through networking and career opportunities she fosters with a steady hand.

You’ve seen her name. You’ve gotten her emails. You’ve hired students as interns and young supply chain professionals because she made it possible.

Tracie Shannon, CSCR® administrative director, paves the road for students, corporate sponsors, faculty, and future Penn State alumni to make an impact in the world of supply chain through networking and career opportunities she fosters with a steady hand.

That is why CSCR is proud to announce that Shannon has won the first-ever Smeal COVID Spot Award — one that speaks to her seamless transitioning of career opportunities from a pre-pandemic world to a post-pandemic world.

The awards were introduced by Smeal’s administration as a “one-time award meant to highlight extraordinary achievement tied to the University’s COVID responses.”

Indeed, Shannon’s hard work in turning the biannual Supply Chain and Information Systems Career Fair virtual allowed growth and career fulfillment to continue as always, meaning employers and students didn’t have to alter their goals due to unprecedented times.

“The semi-annual fairs involve months of planning, but, of course, neither we - nor anyone else at Penn State had held a virtual career fair. In close collaboration with Thompson Harner (in the Smeal Business Career Center), Tracie worked tirelessly to find and select the appropriate technology and then led the efforts in CSCR to execute our fall fair,” Steve Tracey, executive director of CSCR, explained in his nomination. “It was not without its challenges, but the event was a huge success.”

And a success it was — check out Smeal’s article that details the success of the first-ever virtual fair. In summation, Shannon helped to host 94 companies, nearly 1,200 students, and more than 4,300 text chats, video chats, and audio calls were logged.

“There were excellent reviews from both the recruiters and our students. The number of student-recruiter interactions over the three-day event was greater than 4,000,” according to Tracey. “While there were many involved, Tracie led the effort— ergo this emphatic nomination for her recognition.”