President's Update

April 2025

President Wubah

As the vibrant colors of spring paint our Millersville campus, there's an undeniable energy in the air. It's evident in the classrooms, on the playing fields, and in the Student Memorial Center, where our new Chick-fil-A is quickly becoming a popular new student and community gathering location. I can hear the buzz of campus energy from my home at Tanger House where the nearby Brooks Gymnasium is undergoing a full-scale renovation to become the new home for the Lombardo College of Business.

At the state system level, I was excited to be present at the Board of Governor’s meeting for the vote to select Dr. Chris Fiorentino as the next Chancellor of PASSHE. Fiorentino is a dedicated public servant and skilled leader who will take PASSHE to new heights. I have worked closely with Chris during his time as West Chester University’s president and I can personally attest to his character and his unwavering passion for public higher education.

As a follow-up to last week’s message regarding our international students, I remind our campus community to be especially mindful of our international students, scholars and guests. We recognize that you may be navigating unique challenges, and we want to assure you that Millersville University is deeply committed to supporting your educational journey. You enrich our campus immeasurably, and we are here to ensure you feel connected, supported, and valued as integral members of our 'Ville family.

The enthusiasm and dedication of our 'Ville students were truly on display this past month. In this edition of my monthly newsletter, I highlight the terrific work of our ‘Ville students at the Made in Millersville Conference, where our students pushed the bounds of scholarship and creativity to new heights. I was thrilled to meet with employers, alums, and students at the Spring Job and Internship Fair in early April and see our students in action as they put their best foot forward. You can also read more about our nationally ranked baseball team and record-setting performances and the worthy recipients of the recently announced APSCUF scholarships. Finally, I’m pleased to share an update on our progress with the OneSIS project, which represents a major step forward in how we support our students, faculty, and staff across the campus community.

With the final stretch now upon us, I extend my best wishes to everyone at the end of another successful semester. I eagerly anticipate celebrating the accomplishments of our graduating students at the Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 10th. 

A Celebration of Student Scholarship and Creativity

Female student standing in front of her research projectFounded in 2014 by a committee of faculty members, the Made in Millersville Conference returned to campus for its eleventh year on April 8. Hosted and organized by the Office of Grants, Sponsored Programs, and Research, this year’s event highlighted 420 presenters and co-presenters, 298 presentations, 56 faculty mentors and featured work from students ranging across 35 majors and 26 academic departments.

The Made in Millersville Journal is a companion piece to the event that is published online by a team of six student editors and interns under the supervision of Millersville faculty members, Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol, associate professor and undergraduate research and instruction librarian, and Dr. Kerrie Farkas, professor of English. This year, 33 journal authors and co-authors contributed 27 articles to the journal.

“The Made in Millersville Conference and Journal showcase the depth and diversity of our students’ scholarship, insight, knowledge, creativity, and professionalism. Made in Millersville provides a moment for the community to appreciate the scope of influence and impact of this regional public university – students, alumni, and faculty – on individual lives and the region,” says Jeffry Porter, associate vice president for the Office of Grants, Sponsored Programs and Research.

For student presenters, the conference and journal are extensions of their learning and a chance to have their work viewed and published. Porter says, “Made in Millersville is by design an opportunity for student presenters to practice their ability to effectively communicate the purpose, rationale, and importance of their work, especially with people outside the presenter’s specialization.” Porter says scholarship, innovation, creativity are moot if their creators cannot effectively communicate the purpose and utility of their work to society.”  He says, “The Conference and Journal are both celebratory and one more experiential learning opportunity for Millersville students.”

For more information about Made in Millersville, visit millersville.edu/madeinmu

10 Year High at Job & Internship Fair

Job & Internship Fair in the SMCEach spring, the Career Center hosts a job and internship fair, connecting current Marauders and alumni with potential employers from across the Commonwealth and beyond. With more than 405 students and alumni in attendance and 123 hiring businesses and organizations present at the event, the 2025 fair represented a 10-year record high for the University.

Notably, approximately one third of the employer partners had at least one MU gradate present to speak with current students and this year’s employer attendees included some of Central Penn Business Journal’s 2024 Best Places to Work in PA winners, like Cargas Systems, McKonly & Asbury, SEK CPA’s & Advisors, RKL and Mid Atlantic Machinery.

Also in attendance was Millersville graduate Kristen McDade, representing her employer, McClarigan CPAs & Advisors, where she is also a partner. She received her degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University in 2012. “We are always so pleased with the number of students and quality of potential interns and new hires,” says McDade. “McClarigan CPAs & Advisors has developed a great relationship with the accounting professors at Millersville, as well as with the team running the fair. We look forward each year to meeting the Millersville students who are interested in a career in accounting, with a focus on building client relationships in a business advisory role. We are grateful for the opportunity to meet these students - one which wouldn’t be possible without the Job & Internship Fair!”

Bren Taylor Joins Elite 300-Hit Club, Eyes PSAC Records

Bren Taylor at batWith Millersville leading by two runs in the top of the seventh inning and a runner on second base, Mansfield could ill afford to surrender another run. The second baseman lingered close to the bag, limiting Keegan Soltis’ lead off second base. With his ever-relaxed hitting stance—legs straight but ready, hands low and close to his chest with the head of his bat rhythmically ticking like the pendulum of a clock, Bren Taylor eyed the empty expanse on the right side of the infield. It was too easy. With expert bat control and situational awareness, Taylor guided a fastball precisely where the second baseman should have been, allowing Soltis to score.  While it was just one single on just another Sunday afternoon at Cooper Park, that hit epitomized the rarity of Taylor’s hitting talent. That ground ball joined Taylor to West Chester's Matt Cotellese (2005-09) and Millersville's Chas McCormick (2014-17) only players in PSAC history with 300 career hits.

Taylor closed the weekend just seven hits shy of breaking McCormick’s record and within reach of the PSAC’s career runs record. Taylor, a two-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year, graduated in 2023 and worked full-time as an educator in 2024, but with a season of eligibility remaining, he returned to the Marauders with hopes of competing for a national championship. Taylor reached 300 career hits faster than either Cotellese or McCormick, boasting a career .407 batting average. Among Marauders with at least 40 games played in a season, Taylor is the only one to hit over .400 twice. He hit .399 in 2021, and even after a year away from the game, he’s hitting .391 through 33 games this season.

“It’s the whole body of work that is so impressive,” said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. “His ability to adjust from pitch to pitch with his swing is exceptional…To hit .400 that long, you are going to line out a lot. What is his hard-hit percentage to be that good? In this day and age, pitching is so good. Even teams at the bottom of the standings have starters who can throw 95. PSAC-level pitching has been really, really good. Bren is a pro. He’s a step above the rest of the league.”

APSCUF Names 4 Scholarship Award Winners

Faculty standing with scholarship recipientsEarlier this April, APSCUF-MU awarded four Millersville students with $1,000 scholarships. These annual scholarships are funded by current and retired Millersville faculty and coaches who raise money for the award. The 2025 award winners are Valerie Boguslowski, an early childhood education major, Brendan Calv, an emergency management major, Sarah Casler, a social studies secondary education major, and Julia Fischer, a mathematics major.

The recipients are selected by a committee of faculty members, which included chair Dr. Daniel Albert, Dr. Melissa Mullen Davis, Cindy English, Dr. Jason Petula and Frank Vitale. “Every year it is difficult to select the recipients of these scholarships because the work being done by our students both inside and outside of the classroom is exemplary,” says Albert, “Engaging with students and helping them achieve success is at the core of what Millersville faculty do. We see the hard work our students put into the classroom while also often juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities. These awards allow us to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our students while also making it a little easier for them to continue excelling here on campus.”

The ASPCUF scholarships are available to eligible undergraduate students enrolled in a degree program that have completed at least 45 and not more than 80 semester hours at Millersville, and who has maintained a GPA of 3.5.

OneSIS Project Update: Modernizing Our Student Information System

Female student sitting at a computerMillersville University continues to make excellent progress on OneSIS (One Student Information System), a major technology initiative that will bring our Student Information Systems (MAX and Banner) into a shared environment with the other PASSHE universities.

The OneSIS project is designed to streamline our technology, foster collaboration across campuses, and ultimately make it easier for students to take courses at multiple PASSHE institutions. For users, Banner Administration will maintain its familiar look and functionality, while MAX will be upgraded with a more modern, intuitive interface.

Several major milestones have already been completed. In September 2024, all person information was successfully migrated from Banner into the new OneSIS system. To keep information current, monthly data synchronization has been running and will continue through the end of the spring semester. Undergraduate Admissions moved into OneSIS for Fall 2025 applicants starting in October, followed by Graduate, Online, and International Admissions by the end of December. Financial Aid is fully operational within OneSIS and has been processing awards for the 2025–2026 academic year since early January.

Work within the Student Module has also been very successful. End-to-end testing of the student lifecycle was completed in November. MarAUDIT, our degree audit tool, and the new MAX (Banner Self-Service) interface both launched in February 2025. The Summer 2025 course schedule went live in December 2024, and students have been actively enrolling through the updated MAX system. We are pleased to report that registration for the Fall 2025 semester was successfully completed in OneSIS this April, marking an important milestone for the project and the campus community.

Looking ahead, Accounts Receivable and Office of Student Accounts (OSA) functions will go live in OneSIS in April 2025, with billing beginning for Summer 2025 courses. In June, we will move eTranscripts into OneSIS following Spring degree conferrals, at which point we will complete our full transition off the legacy on-premise systems. Throughout the remainder of 2025, IT teams will continue migrating reports, integrations, and homegrown applications to the new environment to ensure a seamless experience.

For regular updates on OneSIS progress, please visit the Employee section of the myVILLE portal (Requires login)