Senior US Labor Department Official Keynote Speaker at HU Gala
Oct 13, 2006
Carlisle native and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor Emily Stover DeRocco will return to the region to serve as keynote speaker at the November 3rd gala for Harrisburg University of Science and Technology’s new 16-story Academic Center.
The invitation-only event begins at 6 p.m., November 3, and will take place at 326 Market Street in Harrisburg.
“Our mission is playing a key role in meeting the science and technology workforce needs of the region, and we are pleased to welcome the person who manages the country’s workforce investment system here for this special event,” says Dr. Mel Schiavelli, president of Harrisburg University. “She has made it her purpose to develop a ‘demand driven’ workforce investment system, which links employment, education, and economic development.”
Nominated by President Bush to be Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, she was sworn in on August 3, 2001. As Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Asst. Secretary DeRocco is responsible for managing the country's public workforce investment system, which includes a number of important programs for America's workers and businesses.
“We share in her belief that only by effectively equipping workers with the skills that are needed by employers, and better understanding the workforce needs of business, can we create the highly skilled workforce needed to be globally competitive in the 21st century,” says Schiavelli.
The new Academic Center will bring together Harrisburg University and area industries in an unprecedented collaborative effort to provide new and enhanced educational opportunities in Central Pennsylvania.
“Fulfilling Harrisburg University’s mission requires a technologically sophisticated teaching space where students can learn new and innovative skills essential to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers: the STEM disciplines. That is the driving force behind our new 371,000 gross-square-foot Academic Center, a signature building that welcomes visitors to Harrisburg, serving as an anchor for innovation and education as well as a visual reminder of our role in the region’s economic future,” says Schiavelli.
The $70-million Academic Center will rise 16 stories above Fourth and Market streets, providing state-of-the-art classroom space for 1,600 students. Housing a library, a 125-seat auditorium, a one-stop-shop student services center, numerous laboratories, retail businesses, the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement and hundreds of parking spaces, the Academic Center provides a home for the growing university over the next decade.
“This state-of-the-art Academic Center will serve as a major catalyst in the continued revitalization of Downtown Harrisburg’s economy by expanding higher educational opportunities in the region, helping to retain and attract new businesses, and encouraging new private sector investment in the region,” says David Schankweiler, Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Plans call for the Academic Center to open in 2008. The project, which is supported by grants from the Commonwealth Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, is designed by Burt,Hill. Reynolds Construction is providing construction management services.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, founded in 2001, is a private, non-profit, science and technology-focused comprehensive university. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, HU offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as professional and continuing education and certificate programs, in biotechnology and biosciences, computer and information sciences, e-business and management, integrative sciences, and geography and geospatial imaging.