Penn State Fayette student takes leadership role during collegiate career
In his time as a student at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Joshua Krause has become quite the leader.
He has displayed that as speaker of the commonwealth, a role in which he advocates for students at all 19 Penn State campuses. It蘑菇视频 something he hopes to take into the future as well as he seeks a career in manufacturing or production management.
Krause, 23, graduated from Penn State Fayette in May 2024 with a bachelor of science degree in electro-mechanical engineering technology and a minor in business. He is in the process of pursuing a second bachelor of science degree in project and supply chain management, which he will have completed in May.
As the Connellsville resident works toward his career goal, he also is in the midst of an engineering internship with Crown Cork & Seal in the city.
鈥淢y goal one day is to be a plant manager for a manufacturing company, so I鈥檓 heading into that realm of things,鈥� Krause said.
With what Krause has achieved collegiately, he appears headed in the right direction.
At the end of his first year of college, the 2020 Connellsville Area High School graduate was contacted by members of the Fayette campus蘑菇视频 Student Government Association (SGA).
鈥淭hey thought I would be a good fit for their academic affairs division,鈥� Krause recalled. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know a whole lot about it, but I talked to them and felt I鈥檇 give it a shot. I wasn鈥檛 necessarily a very involved student prior to coming to college, at least nothing in the student government realm.鈥�
Krause spent two years as chair of the Penn State Fayette Student Government Association蘑菇视频 Academic Affairs Committee. During that time, he worked with colleagues from other Penn State campuses to co-author a resolution advocating for a common hour to boost student engagement and ease scheduling conflicts.
鈥淐lasses were being scheduled during common hour, which is a time set aside on most campuses when classes are not to be scheduled unless they have to be so students can get involved with outside of class activities,鈥� Krause explained. 鈥�(We wanted) to make sure that the only classes being scheduled at that time were those that have to be. So this was a proactive response to make sure that if classes are scheduled at that time, it蘑菇视频 as minimal as possible, so students could get involved in activities outside of the classroom.鈥�
Krause presented the resolution to more than 100 SGA leaders from across the Commonwealth Campuses, securing a vote of 35-2 in favor from council representatives.
After two years in that position, Krause ran for speaker of the commonwealth, an executive role in the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG).
CCSG advocates for students鈥� interests across Penn State蘑菇视频 commonwealth campuses. Speaker of the commonwealth is the student that leads council meetings and serves as a liaison to university leadership. Krause lost in his bid for the speaker position in 2022, a year he said he was admittedly shy and needed to learn more about student government.
鈥淚 took that as a learning year, understanding what I did wrong and what I could have done better,鈥� he said.
Obviously, it worked.
Krause ran again in 2023, winning the position that year and again in 2024 when he was voted in unanimously by the SGA presidents and vice presidents at each of the commonwealth campuses.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 been a wonderful opportunity to connect with people, understand different perspectives,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚 connect with the SGAs at all 19 commonwealth campuses and talk to them about their issues. I advocate on their behalf for larger initiatives in the university.鈥�
Krause said CCSG meets six times a year, meetings that involve about 160 students.
Recently, Krause and CCSG student leaders met with the vice president of commonwealth campuses to gather information for their colleagues.
鈥淚 have those wonderful opportunities,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have the Penn State President Dr. (Neeli) Bendapudi coming to one of our council sessions later on in the year. We also have meetings scheduled in which the vice president of commonwealth campuses and the provost will be joining us. There蘑菇视频 been a plethora of people that have had a chance to come in and talk to us and make sure we鈥檙e insightful in our advocacy.鈥�
Krause also is one of two student representatives on the Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR) Steering Committee, which is focused on enhancing communication between Penn State leadership and student leaders.
鈥淥ur main point that we push is transparency, just more or less making sure the student voice is being heard in the conversations,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e advocated to make sure that student representation was at all, if not the majority, levels of (APPR). A lot of times our questions dissect the current process and ask for information that may not be as transparent, or at least make sure we understand the thought process that is going on with university leadership.
鈥淭here蘑菇视频 been a lot of positive reception for us having these conversations. They say students are very much stakeholders in these conversations and they want to make sure student leaders are part of these conversations.鈥�
He also serves on the Commonwealth Fee Board, which helps to oversee the allocation of student fees across Penn State campuses.
Plus, he is involved with THON at Penn State Fayette. THON is a student-run philanthropy initiative committed to enhancing the lives of children and families impacted by childhood cancer.
It has made for a very busy, yet productive, college career for Krause, but one that has set him on a good path for a future of leadership and has helped him establish relationships that will last forever.
鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檝e loved about this position is getting to connect with other students, getting to see what things are like with different campuses,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淭here蘑菇视频 a lot of factors I get to see through different lenses鈥�. I didn鈥檛 realize how much power there is in the student voice.鈥�