KITTANNING -- Down the pathway of years, Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Armstrong Campus has been the neighborhood nexus of higher learning for myriad present-day notables both here in Armstrong County and beyond.
"When you have a college or a branch in your community, no matter what community, you'll find many people from the community throughout the history of that university who started there. The stories they have to tell are what's interesting," said Patricia Scott, dean of students at IUP Armstrong Campus.
Since opening in 1963 along North Jefferson Street, the 15,937 students to have enrolled at the school include Armstrong County Commissioner Jim Scahill, New Orleans Saints Head Coach Jim Haslett, State Senator Jack Wagner, Pittsburgh newspaper photographer John Beale, Elderton High School Principal Vincent Curren, local attorney George Kepple, IUP Alumni President David Siesko and local photographer and former school teacher, Don Toy.
"I graduated from Kittanning High School in 1965, so I started down here right after and graduated with the class of 1969," said Toy, adding that his first year at the school was the first year it granted university-status by government of the commonwealth instead of a state teacher's college listing.
"I was actually in the first class that would graduate as four-year university students from IUP."
On Monday, Toy was on hand to document the school's 40th anniversary, as Scott, English Professor Ronald Smits and several campus students celebrated with a cake-cutting and talk of plans to recognize the anniversary several more times throughout 2003-04.
Other plans include an alumni dinner and celebration and a possible community event in the future.
Such recognition takes on special importance when considering that, by next fall, the campus is scheduled to begin operation at its newly-developing site within the confines of Northpointe Industrial Complex in Slate Lick.
"In the three years that I've been here, I've grown really fond of this location, but I know that for us to grow we need to position ourselves in the larger market, and I think the move will permit us to do that," Scott said. "The location we will be in (at Northpointe) will be accessible to Pittsburgh within 20 minutes and consequently I think that will be our biggest strength."
Scott thinks a more visible and accessible location could enable the Armstrong Campus not only to expand programs currently offered but also to install new programs suitable for the larger region of potential students aware of the school.
"We'll only be ten miles from here (at Northpointe), but that ten miles to some people seems like a far distance. From there we'll be on a very accessible highway," Scott said. "I believe the new location will provide us with a larger number of students, and the more students we have, the more programs, courses and activities we can offer."
Based on feedback from some current students, IUP Armstrong offers them some qualities unique only to a neighborhood college.
Incoming freshmen Angie Serene, 18, of Ford City and Teila Nolder, 19, of Elderton both plan on attending the campus this year before moving on to IUP's main campus in Indiana. They wanted to start here first, though.
"I'm coming here because I live about 10 minutes away and I didn't really want to be overwhelmed with going to IUP (main campus). It's not too expensive to come here, either, and I know a lot of people, too," said Serene, who is currently undecided in her field of study.
The smaller classes and one-on-one interaction with professors have proven to be a big draw for many recent Elderton High School graduates, according to Nolder.
"I decided to come to the Kittanning campus because I don't want to be in a big classroom and not have one-on-one with teachers. My brother came here and his first year he had so much one-on-one and they helped him out," said Nolder, who will major in fashion merchandising.
Cory Doane, 25, of Kittanning enrolled as a nontraditional student in the school's four-year electro-optics program after serving in the Army since 1999.
"I'll be here for the long haul," said Doane, a 1996 Kittanning High School graduate. "The convenience of it being local and affordability are a big part of it, too."
Yet the school remains somewhat of a pipeline to IUP's main campus since 1963, as Scott said roughly 7,000 students enrolled in Kittanning over that time eventually earned their degrees there.
Two of them, Ernie Parsell and Lisa McGaughey of Ford City, have influenced their own children's decision to attend IUP Armstrong based on the positive experience they both had there.
"One of things I liked about going there and having the experience I had was that it was more practical economically, the smaller classes offered more personal help to students, and it allowed for a smoother transition to main campus college life," said Parsell, a special education teacher at Franklin Regional High School.
His elder daughter Misty, attended the school for two years before graduating from IUP main campus with a degree in teaching, and he encouraged his younger daughter Shalaina, 18, to do the same.
"I was thinking about Penn State or Clarion, but he said they all have the same education and each was as good anywhere else," said Shalaina, a recent Lenape Technical School graduate. "I'm glad they had a branch campus, I think it's really nice to go to school here right out of high school; there's more attention (for students)."
Lisa McGaughey, a teacher at Ford City Junior/Senior High School, took IUP Armstrong's two-year computer office and information systems program in 1998 before graduating from IUP main with a degree in business administration.
Her daughter, Julie, will attend the hometown campus with well-thought-out goals in mind as a special education major.
"Rather than being in an auditorium with 200 kids in the class not knowing who they are, this is a much easier transition to the big campus," said Lisa McGaughey.
According to Professor Smits, IUP Armstrong will continue to be a valuable and viable local resource for higher learning in spite of the move down the road.
"It's important to me to honor this date because we're continuing the 40-year commitment to people in Kittanning, Ford City and Armstrong County, and we love it here and we're going to continue that commitment at Northpointe," said Smits. "This is a nice way to honor (the school's) tradition and commitments as we plan to move to another location."
