UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Students seeking opportunities for activities can use Discover, an updated digital platform designed by Penn State Student Affairs to enhance student engagement and streamline the management of co-curricular experiences across the University’s campuses.
Discover — which replaced the former OrgCentral system last July — serves as the central hub for student organizations, event promotion and involvement tracking at all Penn State locations.
Discover is tailored to meet the evolving needs of students, faculty and staff by improving access to involvement opportunities, simplifying organization management, and supporting co-curricular learning through robust engagement tools and analytics, according to Kristen Carr, associate director of student organizations with Student Leadership and Involvement.
“Discover is more than a rebrand — it’s a complete transformation of how we support student involvement,” Carr said. “Our goal is to create a seamless, student-centered experience that supports leadership development, builds community, and helps students make meaningful connections both inside and outside the classroom.”
To better serve Penn State’s distributed campus structure, and provide students with the opportunity to find opportunities in their immediate area, Discover is organized geographically into three regions:
- Discover Central — for University Park and Penn State World Campus students, faculty and staff
- Discover East for eastern Commonwealth Campuses — Abington, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, Schuylkill, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and York students, faculty and staff
- Discover West for western Commonwealth Campuses — Altoona, Beaver, Behrend, Dubois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, New Kensington and Shenango students, faculty and staff
Each version allows students to explore and engage with organizations and events specific to their location while maintaining consistent tools and support across the University.
Discover offers a range of features to support student organizations and co-curricular programming, including:
- A centralized calendar of events
- QR code check-in for attendance tracking
- RSVP and waitlist functionality
- Post-event surveys and feedback tools
- Secure document storage for bylaws, forms and policies
- Organization management dashboards with reporting and analytics
- Integration with co-curricular transcripts
Discover also expands access to departments and units at Penn State, allowing each to create a profile, add and share events, and utilize features to help support streamlined programming and co-curricular learning opportunities.