Penn State Berks

History

First known as Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute, Penn State Berks became part of the Penn State system in 1958. The Berks campus has experienced many changes since then. WPI occupied the original Sacred Heart Church building on Hill Road, where the McDonald's Restaurant now stands, from 1930 to 1958. Its facilities were offered to Penn State to establish Penn State Wyomissing Center. It moved to its present Spring Township location in 1972. Dormitories were first added in 1990 with additional dorms in 2001, which made Berks a commuter as well as a residential campus.

Student enrollment at Penn State Berks has increased steadily since 1972, when approximately 500 students attended. Today, there are an estimated 3,216 students enrolled. The campus currently has 15 buildings on 241 acres (1 km²) of land. There are 100 full-time and 70 part-time faculty members.

While being a commonwealth campus of the state land-grant university, since 1997 it has offered baccalaureate degrees independently from The Pennsylvania State University University Park campus in partnership with a neighboring campus under the title of Berks and Lehigh Valley College. Under a university-ordered reconstruction, Penn State Berks and Penn State Lehigh Valley were split in 2005. Penn State Berks became a stand-alone college in the Penn State system and Penn State Lehigh Valley became a part of the University College system.

Degrees offered

As with any Penn State Commonwealth Campus, a student can start their undergraduate degree here and "transfer" to the University Park Campus or any other Commonwealth Campus to complete their degree, usually after two years of study.

Student life

Penn State Berks has over 50 active clubs. All student organizations are overseen by the Student Government Association, which requires that all clubs complete 24 hours of community service per semester in return for providing funds.

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) consists of two groups: The General Assembly, which is composed of a representative of each active club, as well as several Representative Senators, who each represent 300 students, and the Staff. The Staff is broken into two groups. The Executive Staff consists of the President, Vice-President, Financial Manager (elected positions) Chief of Staff, and Secretary(appointed).

The rest of staff consists of Directors and the Chairs and Co-Chairs of different committees; directors do not have committees. Every committee has a Chair and Co-Chair or two Co-Chairs. Members of the Staff do not get to vote on legislation brought to the General Assembly; the President may pass or veto the legislation, however, a veto can be overturned by a 3/4 vote of the General Assembly. General Assembly members are required to be an active member of at least one committee. Members of the Executive Staff, Staff, and General Assembly regularly attend the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments at the University Park Campus.

An independent position of Parliamentarian (consultant) is a separate from the Staff, but is included as an honorary member, and has the option of attending the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments as a representative of the Berks Campus.

Athletics

Penn State–Berks, known athletically as the Nittany Lions, compete at the NCAA Division III level; which is also a member of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).

Penn State–Berks fields 12 varsity sports:

Club Sports

Penn State–Berks also fields a number of competitive club sports that have no affiliation with the NCAA or NEAC.

Club programs include: