December 11, 2000
WAGONSELLER TO DIRECT NORTHERN TIER INITIATIVE
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Walter R. “Rick” Wagonseller of Tionesta has been named coordinator of the State System of Higher Education’s Northern Tier Educational Initiative (NTEI), a comprehensive outreach effort that operates in communities in north central and northwestern Pennsylvania.
The NTEI is part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming for the State System.
“The program coordinator serves as a single point-of-contact for the region and works collaboratively with higher education councils, economic development agencies and schools and agencies to facilitate access to the educational programs and services of the System’s universities,” said Charles Clevenger, the Educational Resource Group’s chief operating officer.
The NTEI coordinator works out of the Clearfield Campus of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, but travels regularly and extensively throughout the region to monitor pertinent trends and issues, to assess needs for programs and services and to facilitate the design of programs to meet identified needs.
Wagonseller has worked most recently as education supervisor of Cornell Abraxas I in Marienville. He also has been a staff trainer, assessment specialist and science instructor at the facility, for which he has worked for most of the last 15 years. He spent two years from 1989 to 1991 as an employability assessment specialist for the Northwest Pennsylvania Training Partnership Consortium, Inc., in Franklin.
Wagonseller has a bachelor’s degree in nature interpretation and secondary biology education from the University of Findlay and a master of science in special education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
The State System of Higher Education’s 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group.