LIFE University administrator overcame setbacks

October 9, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Facing adversity and challenges is an inevitable fact of life, but in addition to testing one’s resolve, they can place a person on a fulfilling path that otherwise would not have been possible.

One person who is intimately familiar with that trajectory is Shannon Penn.

“I’ve been at the University of Dayton for 15 years. If not for my setbacks and challenges, I wouldn’t be in this position,” Penn said recently, referring to her positions as registrar and associate dean of student affairs at the private Roman Catholic school.

Initially, Penn, a 1988 graduate of The Rayen School, wanted to be an attorney, but attending law school was cost-prohibitive. Also, she had to place her educational pursuits on hiatus after less than two years at Youngstown State University partly because her mother was ill, recalled Penn, adding that she attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, afterward, but ran out of grant money, which led to her position being dissolved.

“I was not sure what to do, then a position at the [UD] School of Law came up, but my credits did not transfer due to Central State being on quarters and the University of Dayton being on semesters,” she explained.

Penn began at the law school as a secretary while simultaneously taking classes as a nontraditional student. About 10 years ago, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English, followed by her master’s degree in education from the university.

Before her current positions at the UD’s School of Law, Penn served seven years as an assistant registrar, then joined the School of Business Administration as an academic-success specialist for business majors and taught an orientation program for new students.

As registrar, her duties include handling students’ academic records and registration, administering exams and managing bar registrants. She also works with the associate dean for academic affairs on counseling students as well as preparing exam and course schedules.

“Our whole family is very proud of her,” said her mother, Mary Anderson of Austintown. “She’s a very driven person, which I admire. Once she sets her mind to do something, she does it.”

Penn didn’t have long to make certain transitions, however. After the dean left, she had about a week to train for the job of associate dean, even without a law degree, her mother recalled.

Education also is highly valued by Penn’s husband, Karl Penn, formerly of Youngstown, who is coordinator of an Education Talent Search program at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. He mainly works to make it easier for middle- and high-school students to enter college while assisting high-school students with passing the Ohio Graduation Test and applying for grants. In addition, he works with parents, Shannon noted.

She also credits her mother and father, Melvin Anderson, for helping to develop much of her work ethic. Even though her father was affected by the Mahoning Valley’s steel mill closings in the late 1970s, he’s “one of the hardest workers I know,” Penn said.

“Neither of my parents have a college degree, but they sought it for us,” she added.

Just because this driven woman loves her dual positions that entail helping students at the university’s law school doesn’t mean she’s under any illusions that things will maintain permanence.

Little job security remains today, but on the other hand, people should refrain from succumbing to fear, she continued.

“I always want to be able to present myself as a marketable person. One thing I’ve learned is that anything can happen; life happens and we grow and change,” said Penn, who also intends to pursue a doctorate degree in higher-education administration.