The academic department serves as the basic unit for outreach activities, as well as for resident instruction, and research. Faculty are supported by the Associate Vice President for Outreach and Executive Director of the Division of Continuing Education. Continuing Education participants hail from all fifty states and eighty countries on six continents. More than 1,000 faculty engage in Continuing Education initiatives. Conferences, Workshops, and Institutes Faculty are encouraged to disseminate research through conferences, institutes, workshops, seminars, symposia, and short courses.
Colleges are responsible for program content and for instructional staff.
Staff from the Outreach Office of Program Development, Conferences and Institutes, and Continuing Education Offices at all Penn State locations support development and delivery of these programs. Approval for the offering of noncredit programs is provided by the Coordinating Council for Outreach and Cooperative Extension. Programs are offered at all Penn State locations and centers, Cooperative Extension sites in all sixty-seven counties, and at national and international sites. Professional planners assist faculty in offering conferences, workshops, and institutes. Many conferences and workshops are offered at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, which is located in the Research Park to the east of the University Park campus.