CONGRATULATIONS! to the Slippery Rock University ASSP Student Section.

Slippery Rock University ASSP Student Section has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 –2026 ASSP Outstanding Student Section of the Year Award. The 2026 OSSA Evaluation Task Force stated the “…was strong in all three critical areas – Professional Development, Research, and Campus and Community Involvement.” The Task Force continued “The quality of research conducted by the members was outstanding and the committee was impressed that your application was very well organized. The committee was also impressed with the amount of student participation in meetings and events along with the strong variety of technical meetings.”

The SRU ASSP Student Section receives a $5,000 award, will be recognized in the ASSP May edition of the Student Services Update online publication and Student News webpage, and at the Leaders & Honorees Celebration held at Safety 2026 on Sunday, June 14th.

Again, Congratulations!

Congratulations! to the newly elected Chapter Executive Officers for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 Chapter Years:

• President – Alec Kinslow
• Vice President – Trudy Hayes
• Secretary – Jocelyn Milby
• Treasurer – open
• Advisory Group Members (4)
  • Fran Sehn
  • Daniel Wible
  • Josh Muth
  • David Johnson

Current President, Chris Saracino, CSP, CIH, will move to the office of Past President.

The new Chapter Officers will take office July 1, 2026, with the start of the new Chapter Year. The elected officers’ term is for two Chapter years 2026-2027 and 2027-2028.

Thank you to Melissa Heike for being the Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee and John Alivetto for serving on the committee!

On April 09, 2026, ASSP emailed a separate email to each Chapter member with the link to vote for the ASSP WPA Chapter Executive Committee.

As a member of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of ASSP, you are encouraged to vote for your elected leadership. Voting is currently open through April 24, 2026.

The Candidate Bios are here. Please review the bios to assist in making your election decisions!

Please take a minute or two to exercise your right to vote by filling out the ballot using the link in the email. The link is individual and can only be used once by to vote.

Thank you! to the 2026-2028 Nominations & Elections Committee: Melissa Heike, Chair, and John Alivetto.

The PDC featured the Opening Keynote of Charles A. Simpson, CSP, speaking on “Hazard Recognition – Overcoming Cognitive Limitations”. Thank you to Komatsu for being the exclusive Diamond Sponsor and the sponsor of the Keynote speaker. The lunchtime Speaker was Pam Walaski, immediate Past President of ASSP and long-time member of the Western PA Chapter of ASSP. The Student Sections from Thiel College, SRU, and IUP provided the speakers for the student presentation section of the PDC. The PDC once again conducted an auction of gifts generously donated by the vendors. The winners of the gifts had to be present to win. The Western PA Chapter Executive Committee provided the two grand prizes which were one paid registration for a Professional and one paid registration for a student to the ASSP Safety 2026 in Anaheim CA June 15-17, 2026, (the hotel, travel, and meals are the responsibility of the winners). The PDC also had a 90-minute networking event immediately following the closing session that included appetizers and a cash bar.

Attendees had a choice of 9 sessions in 3 timeslots throughout the day. The event had a total attendance of 208 people, of which there were 115 Professionals and 93 Students. The event offered 0.6 CEUs for those that participated in the entire event.

Thank you! to our generous Sponsors: Komatsu, Guidant Power, National Safety Apparel, Click Safety, AM Health and Safety, RJR Safety Inc, and Snyder Brothers Inc. The PDC had 13 Vendors exhibiting during the event – Guidant Power, National Safety Apparel, Click Safety, AM Health and Safety, RJR Safety Inc, MES Life Safety, Voxel, Axelent, BCSP, Laurel Highlands Construction & Supplies, West Virginia University, PSX Inc, and Larson Davis Inc. OSHA’s Pittsburgh Area Office, SRU Student Section, IUP Student Section, and IUP OSHA Consultation had information tables.

Thank you! to the 2026 PDC Planning Committee Members – Wayne Vanderhoof – Chair, Jocelyn Milby, Melissa Heike, Tracey Cekada, Majed Zreiqat, Cindy Medford, Hope Dropp, Daniel Finn, Dan Wible, Carl W. Heinlein, Sophia Naugle, Kelley Edmier, Leif Lindgren, Cody Bergad, Matt Christy – SRU, Micah Nygren – IUP, Shane Scisciani-Brown – SRU, Ben Schurr – IUP, Austin Little – IUP, and Anna Buterbaugh – IUP.