PASSHE Institutions Merging

[IUPNation]

Back when Indiana had two movie theaters ...

Hard to believe.

I only remember the one at Indiana Mall. A group of us saw Revenge of The Nerds that summer at the mall. Where was the other one? Was there one at Regency Mall? I can only remember Refency having Hills, a State Store, National Record Mart and Montgomery Ward.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I graduated high school in 1984. I spent the last week of June, all of July and August 1984 as a new freshman at IUP. Back then, summer had three sessions. Pre session was three weeks in June, Main was last week of June to the first week of August. Post was the last three weeks of August. Fall back then started after Labor Day.

I was there for Main and Post. I was still in high school when Pre session started because Philly area schools went later than Yinzer land schools did back then. So when I got there, kids from Yinzer schools had already been there for three weeks.

Back when Indiana had two movie theaters ...

Hard to believe.

[IUPNation]

Hey Nation, I hate those damn tests too. May I ask what year did you graduate, and was it still a Normal School than or what? LOL, just joking

I graduated high school in 1984. I spent the last week of June, all of July and August 1984 as a new freshman at IUP. Back then, summer had three sessions. Pre session was three weeks in June, Main was last week of June to the first week of August. Post was the last three weeks of August. Fall back then started after Labor Day.

I was there for Main and Post. I was still in high school when Pre session started because Philly area schools went later than Yinzer land schools did back then. So when I got there, kids from Yinzer schools had already been there for three weeks.

[Tdobson]

Because I sucked at taking the SAT (sorry...but not answering the questions should be worse than answering them wrong) I was offered to either start at Punxsy or Kitty U in September or I could be a Summer-January freshman on Main Campus. I took the Summer-Jan route, and two weeks after I graduated high school, I was a college student.

Doesn't IUP have a Hotel/Hospitality major? The Culinary School should be in with that and the students over at the Hilton Gardens working in the kitchen as they study.

The need for a branch campus is no longer needed. I mean with all the spare capacity on campus now, they can admit the kids to Main Campus they'd send to the branches for their first year.

Hey Nation, I hate those damn tests too. May I ask what year did you graduate, and was it still a Normal School than or what? LOL, just joking

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Because I sucked at taking the SAT (sorry...but not answering the questions should be worse than answering them wrong) I was offered to either start at Punxsy or Kitty U in September or I could be a Summer-January freshman on Main Campus. I took the Summer-Jan route, and two weeks after I graduated high school, I was a college student.

Doesn't IUP have a Hotel/Hospitality major? The Culinary School should be in with that and the students over at the Hilton Gardens working in the kitchen as they study.

The need for a branch campus is no longer needed. I mean with all the spare capacity on campus now, they can admit the kids to Main Campus they'd send to the branches for their first year.

They have spare capacity in the Hilton-like dorms they built. But, keep in mind they are tearing buildings down on campus like a mo-fo. Some are being replaced. Some have become parking lots or green spaces. They definitely have the spots to build. Having the coin (or need) is a different topic.

[IUPNation]

Because I sucked at taking the SAT (sorry...but not answering the questions should be worse than answering them wrong) I was offered to either start at Punxsy or Kitty U in September or I could be a Summer-January freshman on Main Campus. I took the Summer-Jan route, and two weeks after I graduated high school, I was a college student.

Doesn't IUP have a Hotel/Hospitality major? The Culinary School should be in with that and the students over at the Hilton Gardens working in the kitchen as they study.

The need for a branch campus is no longer needed. I mean with all the spare capacity on campus now, they can admit the kids to Main Campus they'd send to the branches for their first year.

[Tdobson]

Well, you have now. So, I asked Google AI how much IUP has invested in the Punxsutawney campus and this is the response I got below. My question is: Why can't they direct this investment into the Indiana/IUP Main campus community? Maybe people out there should ask Sam and Brian Smith.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has invested tens of millions of dollars in the Punxsutawney campus, primarily focused on a long-range, $20–22 million facility plan for the Academy of Culinary Arts and, more recently, development for a new college of osteopathic medicine.
Key investment and funding details for the Punxsutawney campus include:

• Academy of Culinary Arts Facility Project: This major project, which includes a new 45,000-square-foot facility and the demolition of adjacent properties, has a total cost estimated at $20 million to $22 million.
• Funding Secured for Culinary Project: As of April 2025, funding for this project includes $2.9 million in design funds, $2 million for demolition, and an additional $2 million for furnishings/equipment through the State System of Higher Education capital allocations budget.
• Government & Private Funding: The project has received over $6 million in initial funding, including $2.25 million in Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) funds, $500,000 from federal appropriations, and more than $1.3 million in private, corporate, and foundation donations.
• Foundation for IUP Contributions: The Foundation for IUP has supported the campus by gifting the Fairman Centre (renovated for $4.7 million in 2009) and other adjacent properties.
• Medical School Investment: In addition to the culinary school, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million to the proposed college of osteopathic medicine project, which is also based in Punxsutawney, with further state budget set-asides of $2 million in 2023 and 2024.

In total, the investment in upgrading the Punxsutawney campus for the culinary academy and new medical initiatives exceeds $25 million in state, federal, and private funds.

In my freshman year of college (1998), I attended Punxsy. I have to say that I loved it. This was when it was still in an old elementary school building. It was charming and small, and allowed me to get used to college without the big college feel. I might not have survived at IUP main my freshman year.

[iupgroundhog]

I'll be honest ... I'm fairly in-tune with IUP and I had no idea the school in Punxsy was even open. I haven't heard it talked about or seen any marketing for it in years (and years).

Well, you have now. So, I asked Google AI how much IUP has invested in the Punxsutawney campus and this is the response I got below. My question is: Why can't they direct this investment into the Indiana/IUP Main campus community? Maybe people out there should ask Sam and Brian Smith.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has invested tens of millions of dollars in the Punxsutawney campus, primarily focused on a long-range, $20–22 million facility plan for the Academy of Culinary Arts and, more recently, development for a new college of osteopathic medicine.
Key investment and funding details for the Punxsutawney campus include:

• Academy of Culinary Arts Facility Project: This major project, which includes a new 45,000-square-foot facility and the demolition of adjacent properties, has a total cost estimated at $20 million to $22 million.
• Funding Secured for Culinary Project: As of April 2025, funding for this project includes $2.9 million in design funds, $2 million for demolition, and an additional $2 million for furnishings/equipment through the State System of Higher Education capital allocations budget.
• Government & Private Funding: The project has received over $6 million in initial funding, including $2.25 million in Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) funds, $500,000 from federal appropriations, and more than $1.3 million in private, corporate, and foundation donations.
• Foundation for IUP Contributions: The Foundation for IUP has supported the campus by gifting the Fairman Centre (renovated for $4.7 million in 2009) and other adjacent properties.
• Medical School Investment: In addition to the culinary school, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million to the proposed college of osteopathic medicine project, which is also based in Punxsutawney, with further state budget set-asides of $2 million in 2023 and 2024.

In total, the investment in upgrading the Punxsutawney campus for the culinary academy and new medical initiatives exceeds $25 million in state, federal, and private funds.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I have no problem with PASSHE member Boards being made up of influential people in the community. That's the nature of Boards. This conversation kind of veered off into the deep recesses of who is best to serve of these Boards. That was not my point concerning the LHU Clearfield campus and the similar situation for IUP's Punxsutawney campus. The point was that the Chair of the Board, in both cases, was successful in directing major investment to their hometowns. I'm referring to a specific situation. It is about allocation of taxpayer money and the strategic direction of the schools. Somebody mentioned former Rep. Bud Shuster, the king of pork, but these two situations involving branch campuses are pork on the PASSHE level.

What I don't understand is how, in each case, the rest of the Board and the community at large allowed the diversion of funds to happen.

Just to be more clear and break this down, in the case of the Clearfield campus, it's existence and continued operation was the product of the Chair of the Board of Trustees putting it in his hometown, whether it made sense or not. In the case of Punxsutawney, the Chair of IUP's Board of Trustees has promoted the support of the Punxsy campus in his hometown. Neither case makes sense.

Note: And now I realize the current State Rep. from Indiana and Punxsy (Jefferson County) is Brian Smith!, son of Sam Smith, who was son of Snuffy Smith, all of Punxsutawney. So, that means that State Rep office has been held by the Smith family for 57 of the last 63 years (Chris Dush held it 2014-2020). How is that working out? Do those guys bring home the bacon to the area or do they just move it around (to Punxsutawney)? I mean holy crap.

I'll be honest ... I'm fairly in-tune with IUP and I had no idea the school in Punxsy was even open. I haven't heard it talked about or seen any marketing for it in years (and years).

[iupgroundhog]

I think having alumni-elected trustees could go both ways. Yeah, they could have tunnel vision and before the gut punch of the mergers, most alumni without a specific grudge thought their schools were doing just fine. I think the schools could have used some more everyman cheerleaders who knew what was going on and could report back. A lot of the trustees are not regular people. They're state reps, wealthy scions who sit on a bunch of other boards, and community leaders like the mayor. Those folks aren't in text chains and message boards disseminating truth or reporting back from everyone. I also think a greater sense of ownership by alumni would have created a greater sense of urgency to reverse enrollment declines and possibly adopt more aggressive strategies. That catch 22 is exactly how Cheyney got into the situation they're in. The most powerful alumnus, Robert Bogle of the Philadelphia Tribune, has controlled much of their politics for years and failed to push for a strategy to save Cheyney has a traditional college/university and instead focused rectifying on past decades of discriminatory funding while ignoring the present. Now they're a glorified open admission trade school. I have no ill feelings towards her, but what really does the wife of the billionaire heir to Giant Eagle living in a $3M Fox Chapel mansion with two Ivy League degrees know about what's best for PASSHE, its students, and their core market? I hope there's something there because its not like they've donated large sums to PASSHE schools. This is what happens when everything is governor appointed.

I have no problem with PASSHE member Boards being made up of influential people in the community. That's the nature of Boards. This conversation kind of veered off into the deep recesses of who is best to serve of these Boards. That was not my point concerning the LHU Clearfield campus and the similar situation for IUP's Punxsutawney campus. The point was that the Chair of the Board, in both cases, was successful in directing major investment to their hometowns. I'm referring to a specific situation. It is about allocation of taxpayer money and the strategic direction of the schools. Somebody mentioned former Rep. Bud Shuster, the king of pork, but these two situations involving branch campuses are pork on the PASSHE level.

What I don't understand is how, in each case, the rest of the Board and the community at large allowed the diversion of funds to happen.

Just to be more clear and break this down, in the case of the Clearfield campus, it's existence and continued operation was the product of the Chair of the Board of Trustees putting it in his hometown, whether it made sense or not. In the case of Punxsutawney, the Chair of IUP's Board of Trustees has promoted the support of the Punxsy campus in his hometown. Neither case makes sense.

Note: And now I realize the current State Rep. from Indiana and Punxsy (Jefferson County) is Brian Smith!, son of Sam Smith, who was son of Snuffy Smith, all of Punxsutawney. So, that means that State Rep office has been held by the Smith family for 57 of the last 63 years (Chris Dush held it 2014-2020). How is that working out? Do those guys bring home the bacon to the area or do they just move it around (to Punxsutawney)? I mean holy crap.

[Fightingscot82]

I suppose it’s a risk-reward question. To clarify, I’m not inherently opposed to your idea, and I can understand the optimistic view that it might make alums care more about the alma mater. I just happen to see a downside case for a motivated minority to dominate the voting, and not necessarily in a way that makes the board better.

I think having alumni-elected trustees could go both ways. Yeah, they could have tunnel vision and before the gut punch of the mergers, most alumni without a specific grudge thought their schools were doing just fine. I think the schools could have used some more everyman cheerleaders who knew what was going on and could report back. A lot of the trustees are not regular people. They're state reps, wealthy scions who sit on a bunch of other boards, and community leaders like the mayor. Those folks aren't in text chains and message boards disseminating truth or reporting back from everyone. I also think a greater sense of ownership by alumni would have created a greater sense of urgency to reverse enrollment declines and possibly adopt more aggressive strategies. That catch 22 is exactly how Cheyney got into the situation they're in. The most powerful alumnus, Robert Bogle of the Philadelphia Tribune, has controlled much of their politics for years and failed to push for a strategy to save Cheyney has a traditional college/university and instead focused rectifying on past decades of discriminatory funding while ignoring the present. Now they're a glorified open admission trade school.

I have no ill feelings towards her, but what really does the wife of the billionaire heir to Giant Eagle living in a $3M Fox Chapel mansion with two Ivy League degrees know about what's best for PASSHE, its students, and their core market? I hope there's something there because its not like they've donated large sums to PASSHE schools. This is what happens when everything is governor appointed.

[Ship69]

They've straightened 22, 28, and 422 so much in the last 20 years. I have a lot of memories of driving those old windy roads on my way to/from Indiana and State College and now its much easier but lost a lot of its character.

Rt 15, which was a three-lane road for most of the way north from Harrisburg years ago and actually went through the center of towns such as Mansfield, has been widened and diverted over the decades. Going south on 15 when I was returning home from a summer job between my junior and senior years of college, I was passing a car in the center lane and was temporarily blinded by bright sunlight. I pulled back into the right lane, and not two seconds later a car going the opposite direction in the center lane whizzed by me. I was that close to a head-on collision that likely would have been the end of me. As much as we complain about Pennsylvania's roads and as inadequate as some of them still are, they're a lot better than they used to be.

[TheBigCat2192]

You see that play out at Penn State with the JoeBot bloc.

I suppose it’s a risk-reward question. To clarify, I’m not inherently opposed to your idea, and I can understand the optimistic view that it might make alums care more about the alma mater. I just happen to see a downside case for a motivated minority to dominate the voting, and not necessarily in a way that makes the board better.

[Fightingscot82]

I actually wonder if alumni-elected trustees could lead to more partisan/ideological boards than the current appointment system. Alumni donation/engagement for our campuses isn’t the highest, especially for Gen X and younger, who tend to view college as a box to be checked on the path to getting A Good Job(TM). What happens if most of the disinterested alumni don’t vote (not an uncommon event in other membership orgs like credit unions or even elections at large) and the polling is completely dominated by, say, alums from a campus chapter of the DSA or Campus Crusade for Christ?

You see that play out at Penn State with the JoeBot bloc.

[TheBigCat2192]

Trustees are appointed by the governor and names are usually fed by local state reps and the PASSHE board or chancellor. I've not seen the level of political partisanship on the boards like you see in say Florida, but there certainly are some folks who have everything at their fingertips yet still view their campus through the lens of their preferred political lens's view on higher education. One of the reforms I believe could have saved the 14 university model would have been allowing for alumni-elected trustees. State law says 2 of 11 must be alumn. That's it. Meanwhile

I actually wonder if alumni-elected trustees could lead to more partisan/ideological boards than the current appointment system. Alumni donation/engagement for our campuses isn’t the highest, especially for Gen X and younger, who tend to view college as a box to be checked on the path to getting A Good Job(TM). What happens if most of the disinterested alumni don’t vote (not an uncommon event in other membership orgs like credit unions or even elections at large) and the polling is completely dominated by, say, alums from a campus chapter of the DSA or Campus Crusade for Christ?