Dean's COVID-19 Update: April 3, 2020

Dear Smeal Students,

Welcome to our Smeal COVID-19 Update, a communication vehicle for coordinating and delivering important information regarding Penn State’s response to the global pandemic and the impact on Smeal.

Our Smeal Coronavirus FAQ page contains links to the University’s faculty/staff FAQs and other pertinent information. Be sure to use this as a resource as you navigate through the challenges of remote learning.

These are trying times, and we want to help.

  • If you or a fellow student are experiencing emotional distress, financial hardship, difficulty accessing food, or a similar challenge, please consider the following resources:
  • Make an appointment with Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services, which is operational and providing services via telephone at 814-863-0395.
  • Visit the Student Care and Advocacy website.
  • Visit the Lion's Pantry, located past East Halls and the Katz Law Building, in between Lion Surplus and the Blue Band Building.
  • Take out a hot meal on Thursday evenings, 5-7 p.m., at  Andrew's Community Café, located at 208 West Foster Avenue, State College.
  • If you are experiencing difficulty accessing the technology for completing your online coursework, please contact your instructor immediately or consult the Student Resources for Digital Resilience website.

We Are…stories from Smeal

  • Jennifer Nicholas, assistant director of Alumni Career Services, said that retired and mid-career alumni have been pitching in to help fellow alumni. Through Smeal’s Alumni-to-Alumni Career Support forum on LinkedIn, a dedicated group of volunteers is lending wisdom and encouraging re-engagement with the Smeal community.

Congratulations are in order

  • Min Ding, Bard Professor in Marketing and affiliate professor of information sciences and technology, is co-author of a paper — “Contour-as-Face Framework: A Method to Preserve Privacy and Perception” —that has been accepted by Journal of Marketing Research.
  • Karen Winterich, professor of marketing and Frank and Mary Smeal Research Fellow, has been awarded the AMA/MSI H. Paul Root Award. The award is given to the article that has made the most significant contribution to the advancement of the practice of marketing in a calendar year. Her paper can be found online.

Deadlines for one-year master’s programs have been extended

  • Smeal is now accepting applications to its five residential, one-year master’s programs on a rolling basis. Read the Penn State News story.

Smeal in the news

  • Nick Petruzzi, chair of the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems, professor of supply chain management, and Robert G. and Caroline Schwartz Professor of Business, was quoted in a Financial Post story about supply chain experts watching as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds. Nick was also paraphrased in a USA Today article about a company’s challenges in making ventilators.