Consultant’s recommendations face scrutiny

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A consultant’s recommendations for fixing Pennsylvania’s struggling state university system, released Wednesday, likely will be scrutinized and debated for months and could require a state law changeto fully enact.

The result might be a more streamlined State System of Higher Education, whose universitiesare better braced for an era of fewer students andlackluster state support.

But those familiar with university system reviews and reorganizations elsewhere say things also could bog down in a tug-of-war between interest groups on and off the campuses, given that the state-owned schools generate not only thousands of graduates each year but sustain thousands of jobs.

As such, some of the loudest voices could be those of politicians hoping to protect communities with campuses.

“One of the things that makes these reorganizations so difficult is that it can create winners and losers,” said Thomas Harnisch, director of state relations and policy analysis for the Washington D.C.-based American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “No legislator wants to be on the losing side of things.”

If one or more schools were to face something approaching consolidation, or in some way be de-emphasized within the system, which ones should they be? What should it look like?

“This is a process that can take several years,” Mr. Harnisch said. “There has to be a spirit of compromise and a spirit of give and take within the various constituencies.”

That said, State System leaders including chancellor Frank Brogan have in recent weeks downplayed the likelihood of any university closures, even though they announced the strategic review in January by saying all options were on the table. The consultant recommendations did not include closing any schools.

There is little doubt about what’s at stake. Even after a 12 percent enrollment loss in six years, the campuses collectively enroll 105,000 students, employ 12,500 people and are the least expensive option in the state for obtaining a university education.

The consultant, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, was paid nearly $400,000 to do the work.