Meet Sharmain Matlock-Turner!

With Commencement 2014 right around the corner, students are getting excited to walk across the stage and into their prosperous futures! One of the most exciting parts of the night is when the Commencement Speaker takes the podium to share advice, hope, and wisdom with our graduates.

This year, we are excited to welcome Sharmain Matlock-Turner! Last month, we blogged about how thrilled we are to have Ms. Matlock-Turner with us at this special event. We are happy to have had the chance to sit down and ask her a few questions about the upcoming ceremony when she visited campus last week. Take a look at the video below to hear what she had to say:



Congratulations, Class of 2014!  See you at commencement!  

A night to remember: 2014 Spring Reception

One of the most special events of the year here at Peirce is the Spring Reception, the annual celebration which brings together alumni for an evening of social camaraderie, professional networking, and reconnecting with the school. 

This year’s Reception on May 19 brought nearly 300 guests to campus.  Attendees gathered in College and Alumni Halls, as well as the J. Linford Snyder ’33 Courtyard, to get reacquainted with old friends as well as make new connections among members of the alumni community.

President Jim Mergiotti poses with
Clem Piscitelli, Distinguished Service Award winner

A highlight of this year’s Spring Reception was the awards ceremony, during which two individuals were honored by the Alumni Association for service to the College, achievements in their professions, and volunteerism in the community.   This year’s winners -- Frank Brodsky ’53 and Clem Piscitelli ’48 -- have deep roots at the College:  when you combine the total number of the years with which the two of them have been affiliated with Peirce, their connection with the College extends over 140 years.

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The Historical Society of Pennsylvania visits Peirce's Penmanship Past

Bart Everts is Peirce's Reference & Instruction Librarian, as well as curator of our archives. He'll be kicking off a new feature on the blog exploring the history of Peirce College, so stay tuned for his monthly posts.

These days, we don’t tend to think too much about penmanship. You might have spent some time in grammar school learning to write cursive, and maybe you still use a paper notebook in your classes, but you’d probably get a strange look (and a poor grade) from your professor if you turned in a handwritten assignment.

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The votes are in! Our 2014 Peirce Idol is …

The contest is closed and the votes have been counted! For the past three weeks, friends, family, students, colleagues, and peers of our Peirce Idol contestants have cast their votes to choose our 2014 Peirce Idol. Today, we’re happy to announce that the winner is …

Renee Martin!

Renee is majoring in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship and small business management. Watch her winning audition here:




Congratulations, Renee! We look forward to hearing you sing the national anthem on stage at Commencement, June 9!

Featured Learner Series: Mother and son fulfill their academic goals together at Peirce

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Cathy Arnold will graduate on June 9;
Chris in August of 2015

In the Arnold household, it isn’t unusual for Chris to remind his mother, Cathy, to do her homework. In fact, over the past few years, this role reversal has become the norm in their family. Today, both Cathy and Chris are enrolled at Peirce College and are encouraging each other along the way.

Cathy was born in the West Oak Lane area of Philadelphia, where she finished high school early, at the age of 16. She applied to the Community College of Philadelphia shortly after, but decided instead to pursue a job opportunity with the Internal Revenue Service. Five years later, her son Chris was born and Cathy dedicated her time to motherhood and succeeding in the workforce.

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Peirce College makes U.S. News’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans list

EDUCATION FOR VETERANS: Peirce College is named by
U.S. News as one of the best online bachelor's degree
programs for veterans.

Here at the College, we recognize that veterans and active-service duty members have unique needs when it comes to pursuing an education.  For many of these service men and women, the flexibility of earning their degree online is the best option. Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases a ranking of colleges and universities that help veterans and active personnel choose their school.

For the second year in a row, Peirce College has made the list of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans. In order to be considered for this list, our degree program must:

• Belong to an institution certified for the GI Bill.
• Belong to an institution participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program.
• Belong to an institution that is a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium.
• Offer at least one credit-granting course listed in the Defense Activities for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) Catalog of Nationally Accredited Distance Learning Programs.
• Be ranked in U.S. News & World Report's 2013 Best Online Education Programs rankings.

Besides these requirements, Peirce also offers support for military members transitioning back into civilian life in other ways.  First is the Protect & Serve Grant, a tuition-based scholarship for veterans, active military members, and their families.

In addition, we offer the opportunity for military members to get school credit for their military experience, and partner with several veteran support services. 

We are glad to be honoring our military members for their service! We’d like to thank our staff, faculty, students, and the overall Peirce community for supporting our efforts to help these men and women start their civilian lives as easily and successfully as possible.

Take control of your healthcare with Peirce College’s personal health record workshop

CREATING A PHR: Join us on May 28 to learn more about
the benefits of having a PHR. 

A personal health record is a valuable tool that can help ensure that your healthcare needs are being properly met, as well as help you look after the health of someone in your care. A personal health record, whether it be electronic or on paper, is your own account of your medical records. To help you take an active role in monitoring your health, the College is presenting a free workshop on how to build and maintain your personal health record on Thursday, May 28 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in College Hall, room 41.

The workshop will be presented by Stephanie Donovan, MBA, RHIA. Stephanie is a regional leader in healthcare education, and serves as the faculty chair of Health Programs here at Peirce. She is also a member of AHIMA’s Council for Excellence in Education, and past State Advocacy Coordinator for PHIMA.

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Introducing one of Peirce College’s very first Human Resource Management graduates!

CONGRATULATIONS: The inaugural Human Resources
Management class will graduate on June 9.

Over the past few years, the field of human resources has achieved faster-than-average growth as HR professionals are taking on increasingly strategic roles in organizations within many industries.

Because our understanding of the job market in Philadelphia plays a large part in the College’s program development, we decided to introduce our Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management in 2011. Now, in 2014, our inaugural class will graduate on June 9!

We sat down with Ursula Days, a member of this graduating class, to discuss what made her choose Peirce, this area of study, and her plans for using her new degree.

After attending Murrell Dobbins High School in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Ursula entered the workforce with a health insurance agency. She spent 10 years working successfully with customers in the agency’s call center when she decided it was time head back to school and further her education.

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Peirce Colleges celebrates Commencement at the annual Toss Your Caps event

Each year, Mayor Nutter and the Education Task Force of the City of Philadelphia invite area universities and colleges to come together on the Art Museum steps to celebrate graduation with the annual Toss Your Caps event.

On Friday, May 9, a group of the College’s graduating seniors gathered to attend and as always, it was a blast! We are so grateful for the opportunity to have Peirce students recognized by Mayor Nutter and join their fellow Philadelphia graduates of neighboring schools as they toss their caps in celebration!

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Live from Washington, D.C., keeping up with the latest Homeland Security education and technology

GOVSEC D.C.: Professor Bob Brzencheck
is representing Peirce at the event.

Greetings from Washington, D.C.! I’m here in our nation’s capital for GovSec, the nation’s premier event for government, homeland security, and law enforcement professionals.

Over the next two days, we’ll explore proven strategies and cost-effective technology that can help Criminal Justice professionals protect the nation’s critical infrastructures, key assets, and communities.

For the fourth year in a row, I am serving as an advisory council member and presenter. This year my presentation topic is: “The Forgotten Domestic Terrorist: Radical Left Wing Gangs in America," and I’ll be co-presenting with Dale Yeager from Seraph.

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Cast your vote for Peirce Idol 2014!

Voting is now open for our 2014 Peirce Idol? On April 30, we had four talented performers share their talent at this year’s Peirce Idol auditions. Now it’s up to you -- students, alumni, fans, family, and friends -- to decide which contestant has what it takes to come out on top.

The winner of Peirce Idol 2014 will sing the national anthem at this year’s Commencement ceremony on June 9, take home a brand-new iPad mini, and have bragging rights -- so your vote matters!

Voting is easy: Visit the Peirce College Facebook page and watch the videos of each contestant sing during their audition. Then vote for your favorite right on our page. Don’t forget to remind your Facebook friends to do the same! 

The deadline for voting is May 26, so be sure to visit the blog and Facebook page on May 27 to find out who this year’s winner is. Your votes will be combined with the Peirce judging panel to select the winner. Good luck to this year’s contestants!

Mother-daughter duo conquer college together

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: Raye and
Shiela will graduate together on June 9

Raye and Shiela Goldsborough are the mother-daughter duo being recognized throughout the city for their hard work, determination, and teamwork in earning their degrees together. You might have seen their story featured in the Philadelphia Business Journal on Friday, and here on NBC 10 this morning.
Over 20 years ago, Raye Goldsborough made a promise to her parents that she would finish college. At the time, she never imagined that she would accomplish that goal with her daughter by her side, completing her own education.

Raye grew up in North Philadelphia and attended high school at Dobbins Vocational School, where she focused on bookkeeping. Her passion for numbers and accounting first attracted her to Peirce in 1981, but she ultimately decided to leave school and pursue a job in the banking industry as well as starting a family.

When her daughter Shiela was entering her junior year of high school, Raye decided it was the right time to continue her education, and immediately thought of Peirce. “I thought of Peirce because I was familiar with the school. I was familiar with their curriculums,” Raye told us. “Then, I found out that the school was now a four-year program and they still had all of my information from back in 1981!”

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Please join the College in welcoming Sharmain Matlock-Turner as our 2014 Commencement speaker

It’s almost that time again! We’re fast approaching Commencement 2014, which will be held on Monday, June 9 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Today, we’re happy to announce the keynote speaker of Commencement 2014: Sharmain Matlock-Turner. Sharmain is the President and CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC). The UAC is dedicated to uniting government, business, neighborhoods, and individuals to both improve the quality of life and build wealth in urban areas.

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Student Leadership Retreat Recap

By Carolyn Terry

One of the major reasons that students like me choose Peirce is because we have seen how the College’s alumni have used their degrees to excel in leadership roles in various organizations. Peirce knows how to cultivate the necessary skills for these roles-- both inside and outside of the classroom.

Earlier this year, I learned that Peirce would be hosting its annual Student Leadership Retreat, where students travel off-campus for a weekend dedicated to developing our leadership skills through workshops, activities, and exercises.

UNLOCKING YOUR POTENTIAL: Peirce students gather for the annual

Student Leadership Retreat where they focus on developing leadership

 skills through workshops, activities, and exercises.

This year’s retreat was held from March 14 to March 16 at Bryn Mawr Mountain Retreat and Conference Center in Honesdale, Penn. I've heard many of my classmates say that this is an experience you don’t want to miss, so I quickly signed up. I was eager to network with my peers and learn leadership skills that I can apply to my daily life. I was especially looking forward to the team-building exercises that I had heard so much about.

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