The focus of Dr. Cassell's presidency is curriculum development and enhancing the school's image. "One of the things that persuaded me that this was the right thing was the sheer enthusiasm of the faculty, the staff and the community advisory committee. Those people really believe in the institution and are loyal to it." He said that one of his goals would be to improve the community's understanding of just how good UPG is. Dr. Cassell was formally installed as the third president of UPG in March of 1998 as the campus celebrated its 35th anniversary.

During this period in UPG's history many new "firsts" that would become annual events were begun: the UPG Children's Literature Conference; Freshman Convocation; the UPG Cultural Series; UPG Honors Convocation; La Cultura; St. Clair Lecture Series. All of these events were part of countless new initiatives such as the establishment of the Academic Villages, the Smarth Growth Partnership, and Westmoreland Heritage. Cooperative exchanges with Universities in Mexico and Cuba were also begun. New majors were also offered and UPG experienced a higher enrollment of students every year, passing the 1700 mark in 2002.

UPG became a charter member of the newly formed Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), an NCAA Division III conference in 1997. In September 2002, the NCAA Division III Presidents Council approved the addition of UPG as an active member of the NCAA which made UPG eligible for Division III championship selection in all team and individual sports.