Daily Brief
April 23, 2026
KU hosts Annual Early College Academy Induction Ceremony
Kutztown University's College of Education hosted its annual Early College Academy (ECA) induction ceremony Wednesday, April 22. The ceremony included keynote remarks from Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe, who announced a renewed grant for KU to support the ECA program (details to come). KU’s Early College Academy is an innovative approach to rethinking dual enrollment that thoughtfully and intentionally steps students into college, supporting their successful transition to post-secondary education.
University Relations
Entrepreneurship Week Event: Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
As part of Entrepreneurship Week at Kutztown University, the Small Business Development Center at Kutztown University (Kutztown SBDC) will host “Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn” 5 p.m. Thursday, April 23, 103 Academic Forum and via Zoom, led by Rachael Wolfe, consulting manager at the Kutztown SBDC. This session is designed for students, faculty, staff and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to better understand how to position themselves professionally in a digital environment. In today's economy, visibility plays a critical role in creating opportunities and LinkedIn serves as a key platform for establishing credibility and building professional connections. Wolfe will provide a structured overview of how to develop a high-impact LinkedIn profile, communicate individual or organizational value clearly and create content that reflects expertise and engagement. Attendees will gain practical strategies for strengthening their online presence and using LinkedIn as a tool to support career growth, business development or departmental visibility. All members of the Kutztown University community are invited and encouraged to attend. Registration is available online.
Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
Rachael Wolfe, KU Small Business Development Center
Kutztown SBDC Graduate Assistants Use AI and SEO Skills to Help Small Businesses Rank Higher on Google
The Small Business Development Center at Kutztown University (Kutztown SBDC) is creating meaningful experiential learning opportunities while helping entrepreneurs improve their online visibility. Graduate assistants Josh Cacayan and Emily Deneen are applying skills from Kutztown University's Master of Computer Science program to support small-business owners across Pennsylvania. Through their work, Cacayan and Deneen provide no-cost SEO reports for small-business owners who want to improve website ranking on Google, increase organic traffic and strengthen keyword strategy. These reports analyze website performance, keyword optimization and search visibility using tools such as Silktide and Google Keyword Planner. This allows entrepreneurs to better understand how to get their website to rank higher on Google and attract customers who are actively searching for their products or services. In addition to technical analysis, they help upskill business owners by explaining how to use SEO tools, apply AI in marketing and improve digital content strategies. Clients can opt into one-on-one consulting to learn how to improve Google search ranking for their small-business website and implement best practices. Cacayan and Deneen hosted a webinar Wednesday, April 22, titled “Keyword Research: Find Buyer-Intent Topics in 30 Minutes,” where participants learned how to find high-value keywords, analyze competition and build content that ranks and converts. As part of the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) network, the Kutztown SBDC provides no-cost, confidential consulting to help businesses start, grow and prosper. Small-business owners can request a free SEO report online.
Book Your Custom SEO Report with the KUSBDC PADESK Team
Rachael Wolfe, KU Small Business Development Center
Weather
Weather forecasts are provided by KU's Dr. Michael Davis and "Monsoon Mike" Regensburger
Announcements
KUR Interviews President Cavalier
If you missed Dr. Philip Cavalier as the special interview guest on Kutztown University Radio (KUR) Wednesday, April 22, you can hear it on-demand.
Mike Regensburger, KUR
Moments Create Movements Showcase
Join the movement to empower the creatives, community and the culture as we pay homage to Hip-Hop 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23, Schaeffer Auditorium. Dance, music, art, spoken word, fashion and culture will take center stage in celebrating the shared effort to spread knowledge of and build community within the world's most influential music genre. The Hip-Hop showcase features many of our talented students, faculty and staff from clubs such as Catwalk, Pen2Paper, Hip-Hop and more. Additionally, our talented students are joined by several local guest artists, faculty and staff. We will be giving away t-shirts to our audience, while supplies last. Food will be served outside at 5 p.m. by The Taste Smokers, who smoke on-site and serve up Chicago-style barbecue.
Marlene Fares and Stephen Walker, Academic Advising and Student Development
College of Business Dean Search Candidates
Candidates for the position of dean of the College of Business will visit campus next week, Monday, April 27 to Friday, May 1. Please view the website for candidate information and a schedule of open forums available for faculty, staff and students. Candidates' names and vitae will be posted two business days prior to their visit.
- Candidate A, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Monday, April 27, 183 MSU
- Candidate B, 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, April 28, 183 MSU
- Candidate C, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 29, 183 MSU
- Candidate D, 10:45-11:45 a.m. Friday, May 1, 107 de Francesco
Dean of the College of Business Search
Katie Bowen, College of Business
DSW Dissertation Defense: Keith Blackwell
Both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of Social Work are pleased to announce that Keith Blackwell will defend his Doctor of Social Work dissertation, “Handling Wicked Problems: Assessing Social Workers’ Use of Intuition In the Decision-Making Process,” noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, via Zoom. The dissertation chair is Dr. Chris Harris.
Blackwell Dissertation Defense Zoom
Juliana Svistova, Social Work
Thank You to 2026 KU Inspires Mentors
Sincerest thanks from Undergraduate Research and Creativity to our 36 mentors who supervised over 60 student researchers for this year's KU Inspires conference. See the full list of mentors online.
Lynn M. Kutch, Undergraduate Research and Creativity
Upcoming Events
| Date | Time | Event |
| April 23-24 | -- | Entrepreneurship Week de Francesco |
| April 23 | 8:30 a.m. | Take Your Child to Work Day Campus (RSVP) |
| April 23 | 10 a.m. | BSU and FDI Book Fair MCC Classroom |
| April 23 | 11 a.m. | Tree Walk Boehm |
| April 23 | 11 a.m. | CEL: How Are You Using AI? 6 Rohrbach |
| April 23 | 11 a.m. | University Curriculum Committee Zoom |
| April 23 | 11 a.m. | Strategies for Educators on Community Building and Equity MCC Unity Room |
| April 23 | 1:30 p.m. | Council of Trustees Committee Meetings 322, 323, 324, 325 MSU |
| April 23 | 3 p.m. | Council of Trustees Plenary Session 250 MSU |
| April 23 | 6 p.m. | Moments Create Movements Schaeffer Auditorium |
| April 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Saxophone Ensemble Schaeffer Auditorium |
| April 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Rock Ensemble IV Schaeffer Auditorium |
| April 24-25 | -- | Spring Alumni Weekend |
| April 25 | 7 p.m. | Golden Bear Theatre Cabaret 163 Old Main |
| April 26 | 7:30 p.m. | Chamber Players Concert Wells-Rapp Center |
| April 27 | 10:30 a.m. | College of Business Dean, Candidate A 183 MSU |
| April 27 | Noon | Dissertation Defense: Stevie Kioske Zoom |
| April 27 | 7:30 p.m. | Recital: Emily Lucas and Peyton Small 163 Old Main |
| April 28 | 10 a.m. | College of Business Dean, Candidate B 183 MSU |
| April 28 | 11 a.m. | Thesis Presentation: Craig Harrell 158 Old Main |
| April 28 | 7:30 p.m. | Rock Ensemble III Schaeffer Auditorium |
| April 29 | 10 a.m. | Senior Recital: Eric Smith 163 Old Main |
| April 29 | 10:30 a.m. | College of Business Dean, Candidate C 183 MSU |
| April 29 | Noon | Dissertation Defense: Keith Blackwell Zoom |
| April 29 | 3 p.m. | Dissertation Defense: Margaret Lerch 213 Beekey |
| April 29 | 6:30 p.m. | Senior Recital: Kylan Fry Wells-Rapp Center |
| April 29 | 7:30 p.m. | Rock Ensemble II Schaeffer Auditorium |
| April 30 | 4 p.m. | Dissertation Defense: Katelyn Murphy Zoom |
| April 30 | 7:30 p.m. | Rock Ensemble I Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 1 | 10:45 a.m. | College of Business Dean, Candidate C 107 de Francesco |
| May 1 | 7:30 p.m. | Wind Ensemble Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 2 | 3 p.m. | Saxophone Concert 163 Old Main |
| May 2 | 7:30 p.m. | Spring Symphonic Band Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 3 | 9 a.m. | Pickleball Picklefest O'Pake Fieldhouse (Register) |
| May 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Trombone Concert Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 4 | 7:30 p.m. | Piano Palooza Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 5 | 7:30 p.m. | Senior Recital: Brandon Ramos Wells-Rapp Center |
| May 5 | 7:30 p.m. | Latin Ensemble Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 6 | 7:30 p.m. | Jazz Ensemble II Schaeffer Auditorium |
| May 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Jazz Ensemble I Schaeffer Auditorium |
Athletics
| Date | Time | Event |
| April 23-24 | 10 a.m. | Women's Golf at PSAC Championships Berkleigh Golf Club (Kutztown, Pa.) |
| April 23 | 3 p.m. | Men's Tennis vs. Chestnut Hill Keystone Courts |
| April 24 | 1 p.m. | Baseball vs. Millersville (DH) North Campus Field (Watch | Stats) |
| April 24 | 4 p.m. | Women's Tennis vs. Drew Keystone Courts |
| April 25 | Noon | Women's Lacrosse vs. Shepherd Keystone Field (Watch | Stats) |
| April 25 | 2 p.m. | Women's Lacrosse vs. Shepherd Senior Day Keystone Field (Watch | Stats) |
Accommodations
Persons with a disability, and who require accommodation, should notify the Disability Services Office two weeks prior to the event at 610-683-4108 or email DSO@kutztown.edu, TDD number: 610-683-4499, in order to discuss accommodations. Every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations. Please note: Kutztown University does not provide wheelchairs or other mobility devices.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Kutztown University does not discriminate in employment or educational opportunities on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or veteran status. To discuss a complaint of discrimination, please contact the Office of Social Equity, Old Main A-Wing, Room 02, by phone at 610-683-4700 or by email at socialequity@kutztown.edu. Pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Kutztown University does not discriminate on the basis of sex and prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that it operates, including admissions and employment. Any inquiries regarding the application of Title IX at Kutztown University may be made to Bradley Davis, the university’s Title IX coordinator, located in Old Main A-Wing, Room 01, by phone at 610-683-4782 or by email at titleix@kutztown.edu. You may also contact the Office for Civil Rights located in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg., 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-1100, by phone at 800-421-3481 (TDD: 800-877-8339), by fax at 202-453-6012, or by email at OCR@ed.gov.