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  1. Home
  2. Orientation

Summer Reading Program

All incoming students at Penn State New Kensington participate in the First Year Summer Reading Program. Students will be provided with access to an assigned article over the summer, then asked to read it and come prepared to discuss it during the Extended Orientation Program in August.  

The goals of the annual First Year Summer Reading Program are to:

  • encourage you to read and think critically
  • give you a taste of what skills will be required of you in college
  • provide a shared experience for new students on the campus
  • enhance a sense of community between students, faculty, and staff by giving us something in common to discuss

The 2023 reading selection:

Reading to be announced soon!

What do you need to do?

  • Read prior to Welcome Days in August.  
  • Be prepared to discuss the issues it raises and how they pertain to your own life.
  • Share your ideas with your fellow classmates!

Past reading selections include:

  • College Students are not OK, New York Times article by Jonathan Malesic (2022)
  • All Minus One: John Stuart Mill's Ideas on Free Speech, Heterodox Academy (2021)
  • The Legacy of the Pandemic: 11 Ways it Will Change the Way We Live, Vox article (2020)
  • Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling  (2019)
  • Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work, edited by Dave Isay (2018)
  • Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era, by Daniel J. Levitin (2017)
  • Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/1, by Tom McMillan (2016)
  • The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World, by Russell Gold (2015) (A Penn State Reads selection)
  • This I Believe, Life Lessons, edited by Dan Gediman (2014)
  • Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (2013)
  • Round Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks (2012)
  • My Maasai Life: From Suburbia to Savannah, by Robin Wiszowaty  (2011)
  • Make the Impossible Possible, by Bill Strickland  (2010)
  • The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch  (2009)
  • Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi  (2008)
  • Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie (2007)
  • Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t Get Ahead, by Tamara Draut (2006)
  • Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich (2005)

Welcome to Penn State

  • New Student Orientation (NSO)
  • Transfer Student Orientation (TSO)
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Register for NSO
Transfer Student Orientation
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Mental Health Services

Oscar Aguilera M.S., M.Ed.
Mental Health Counselor
Conference 015
Phone: 724-334-6744
Email: [email protected] 

On campus: August to May

Office of Student Affairs

Student Affairs
112B Administration Building
Phone: 724-334-6062

Student Life
004 Administration Building
Phone: 724-334-6063

Meet The Staff

See Also

  • Penn State New Kensington Campus Tour
Map of the campuses of Penn State throughout Pennsylvania highlighting the location of Penn State New Kensington

Penn State New Kensington

Enjoy the benefits of a small campus environment with the resources of a large research University.  We are only 17 miles from downtown Pittsburgh and all of the sports, arts, and cultural events it offers.
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3550 Seventh Street Road, New Kensington, Pennsylvania 15068-1765 724-334-6000

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