Cheyney University officials OK framework for new business model
THORNBURY » As part of its state requirement to formulate a new business model, the Cheyney University Task Force has proposed the creation of an Institute for the Contemporary African-American Experience to study issues around race, ethnicity and diversity in American society.
The university was instructed to make recommendations for a new institutional model after the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors unanimously approved an $8 million line of credit to assist Cheyney. In recent years, the university has had to rely on multiple lines of credit totaling more than $30 million to operate.
The proposal for the Institute for Contemporary African-American Experience will be presented to the PHEAA Board of Governors for further discussion.
Elements of the new institute would include block scheduling of general education, career and professional road maps and intrusive advising. Each student would be paired with a student success coach who would stay with them from their entry to the college through graduation to assist the student in defining a career plan.
In addition, an analysis is being completed that would determine an appropriate size for the university so that it can be viable.
When the announcement was made regarding the establishment of the task force in February, it was unclear whether Cheyney – or 13 other state universities – would face mergers or closures as all were facing funding shortages and declining enrollments.
Implementation could be as early as 2017-18.
A statement released by the Cheyney University Task Force, members commented, “There will be clear alignment among the academic programs, general education and the development of an institute focused on contemporary issues of social and economic justice.”
Members of the task force include co-chairs, Robert Bogle, chairman of Cheyney University’s Council of Trustees and Aaron A. Walton, vice chairman of the State System’s Board of Governors; Board of Governors Chairwoman Cynthia Shapira; Board Vice Chairman David Maser, board member and state Rep. Matt Baker, R-68, of Wellsboro, Pa.; Cheyney trustee and state Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-7, of Philadelphia; Cheyney trustee Samuel Patterson; Gov. Tom Wolf’s Secretary of Policy and Planning Sarah Galbally; and state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-186, of Philadelphia.
Cheyney University was founded in 1837 by Quaker philanthropist Richard Humphreys after he dedicated a third of his estate solely for the education of “descendants of the African race.”