University Times

Pitt-Bradford has received a $35,000 gift from the Stackpole-Hall Foundation, which will be used to enhance academic programming at UPB’s off-campus site in St. Marys.

Pitt-Bradford will use the gift to implement two new programs at the Elk/Cameron Higher Education Council — an executive R.N. to B.S.N. program and an associate degree in information systems — enabling students to complete these degrees in St. Marys.

The nursing program will enable registered nurses in the area to complete their B.S. in nursing and will be offered beginning fall 2006. The associate degree program in information systems, a revision of the current program, will be offered on the Pitt-Bradford campus beginning in fall 2006 and in St. Marys in fall 2007.

Steven Hardin, UPB vice president and dean of academic affairs, said: “The foundation’s generosity helps us to better serve this region and to make a difference in the lives of a greater number of people in our local communities, which is part of Pitt-Bradford’s mission.”

The gift will enable UPB to pay faculty for developing and teaching both programs.

The money also will be used to purchase and install a computing/networking lab at the education council in St. Marys, which will be equipped with network switching and routing equipment, as well as PC client and server machines.