State System trustees tell chancellor they’re eager to see results
The same governing board that endorsed an ongoing remake of Pennsylvania’s 14 stateowned universities is signaling that it needs to know sooner rather than later that voluminous planned changes will actually yield results.
Board members who met Wednesday and Thursday in Harrisburg are asking how quickly, and by what measures, they can assure a skeptical public that finances of the 14 schools, their enrollments and student outcomes have benefited from a process that is now 2 years old.
Cynthia Shapira, who chairs the State System of Higher Education’s board of governors, put it this way to chancellor Daniel Greenstein, seated next to her during the opening session.
“How futuristic do you think this is?” she asked.
For months, she and fellow board members have stared at powerpoints and bulky reports teasing what a re-imagined system could look like: hybrid academic offerings created jointly by once-rival but soon-to-be-cooperating universities; opening up every last State System course to students on all 14 campuses; and blending some university business functions.
That’s in addition to deciding as early as April whether to end a three-decade-plus practice of setting a single system yearly tuition, and instead, letting campuses decide based on regional student markets.
Adding to that workload are plans discussed Thursday to reexamine the role of councils of trustees at each university, with possible job evaluations for individual trustees; and deciding whether to adopt a Common Application for prospective students across the system, even if doing so requires them to write multiple checks to cover individual campus fees.
On Wednesday, Mr. Greenstein and staff said 12 to 24 months is a reasonable time frame to see noticeable results, adding that some financial changes must bear fruit sooner, given budgetary needs at some schools.
Board members have been supportive, but also said data, student testimonials and even infographics would better drive home the point to state legislators and to the public.
Begun in early 2017, the methodical redesign, much of it driven by consultants, may sound wonkish. But it has enormous implications for Pennsylvania and the 98,000 students who rely on the system as the least expensive path to a university degree.
A 1982 state law, Act 188, created the State System out of 14 individual campuses to ensure all Pennsylvanians have access to quality, low-cost education. So its financial and enrollment struggles in recent years have raised alarms.
A typical in-state student pays $7,716 yearly for tuition, less than half what they would face at the University of Pittsburgh or Penn State University.
Mr. Greenstein, who inherited the redesign in September from his predecessors, sought to remind leaders this week of the magnitude of what is needed.
“I’m not talking about modest adjustments to our enterprise; we won’t tweak our way out of this,” he said in an address. “What I’m talking about is fundamental transformation and redesign.”
But substantial or not, those changes must occur quickly, leaders have said, since enrollments are down across the system by more than 20 percent.
Enrollments by university are off by as much as 70 percent at Cheyney, by 52 percent at Mansfield, by 44 percent at Edinboro, by 33 percent at Clarion and by 25 percent at Indiana.
And while the goal is to impress upon students at each school that they get benefits of being part of a system, leaders also note that brands, “The Rock” for Slippery Rock University, “Cal U” for California and other campus brands draw more affinity than a government umbrella body known as Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
“You don’t see sweatshirts that say “PASSHE,” said Jeffrey Smith, chair of Slippery Rock’s council of trustees Thursday.
In a public comment portion of the board meeting Wednesday, the head of the system’s faculty union, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, typified the mix of observations. Ken Mash said there is much work yet to be done on how to implement the changes. He also said, “There’s a lot to be excited about.”