PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Horror Child]

It costs the same amount of tolls for me to go from the Downingtown Interchange to Fort Washington as it does to go from Downingtown to Lebanon-Lancaster and it's 20 miles longer. The rate per mile is much higher on the far eastern end of the Pike.

Act 44 needed to be redone. Now the Turnpike is deep in debt paying money to PennDOT that should be coming from tolls from 80.

Cletus and April Mae June said their economy would be destroyed if they had tolls along 80.

But they were okay when rural politicians said they should toll the Surekill Expressway to pay for SEPTA's funding.

Wouldn't that ruin our economy?

I may make people mad in saying this and I don't care but Rural PA holds the state back.

Maybe rate per mile isn't the right what of analyzing tolls. Interchanges cost a lot more to build to maintain than roadway and there are a lot more of them in southeast and southwest. Bridges are more costly to build and maintain and rodaway.

[Fightingscot82]

The point is there are fewer students now and there will be even fewer students in the foreseeable future. Yet faculty levels remain the same, which is an unnecessary expense.

That's not necessarily true. Every school has been strategically downsizing. The six consolidated schools plus IUP (really the only ones with significant enrollment drops) have straight up laid off faculty & staff. The consolidations have reduced some professional staff - but I'll argue not much. There are some mid level managers who left because they weren't named the new chief of the conglomerate. The remaining schools have been eliminating positions when it makes sense but through attrition. There have been system-wide retirement incentives for faculty for the last several years. The process to eliminate actively held positions takes about a year. They have to warn the union that they're planning to eliminate X positions, then so many months later name those positions and inform the person in those jobs, then there's a point of no return in case conditions don't improve. I'm not sure how that compares to union jobs in other industries, but that's how this CBA works for professors.

[Ship69]

That's not necessarily true. Every school has been strategically downsizing. The six consolidated schools plus IUP (really the only ones with significant enrollment drops) have straight up laid off faculty & staff. The consolidations have reduced some professional staff - but I'll argue not much. There are some mid level managers who left because they weren't named the new chief of the conglomerate. The remaining schools have been eliminating positions when it makes sense but through attrition. There have been system-wide retirement incentives for faculty for the last several years. The process to eliminate actively held positions takes about a year. They have to warn the union that they're planning to eliminate X positions, then so many months later name those positions and inform the person in those jobs, then there's a point of no return in case conditions don't improve. I'm not sure how that compares to union jobs in other industries, but that's how this CBA works for professors.

Yeah, I'm not aware of exact numbers, but I know there have certainly been some faculty and management positions cut at Ship (mostly by not being replaced when they come open.

[boatcapt]

I still think the triad creation was the last 'we tried' PR stunt before they ultimately close some doors.

Clarion is a total ghost town these days. It's sad.

I wonder what % of students at Clarion are athletes? Also wonder what percentage of the Majors offered there have a student enrollment in the single digits?

Heck, I wonder the same for each of the triad campuses.

[IUPNation]

Maybe rate per mile isn't the right what of analyzing tolls. Interchanges cost a lot more to build to maintain than roadway and there are a lot more of them in southeast and southwest. Bridges are more costly to build and maintain and rodaway.

It easier to charge higher rates where the traffic is heavier. The Turnpike is also a commuter road in SEPA. Again we pay, Cletus receives.

[Bart]

It easier to charge higher rates where the traffic is heavier. The Turnpike is also a commuter road in SEPA. Again we pay, Cletus receives.

Everything is more expensive in southeastern Pa.

[Fightingscot82]

I wonder what % of students at Clarion are athletes? Also wonder what percentage of the Majors offered there have a student enrollment in the single digits?

Heck, I wonder the same for each of the triad campuses.

If majors are single digits it's because they've already been discontinued and the remaining students are being taught out. Harrisburg has set some pretty stringent minimum standards for program excellent enrollment.

Athletes are about 20% of Clarion students.

[IUPNation]

Everything is more expensive in southeastern Pa.

The rate per mile should be exactly the same along the entire highway. I should not pay more to drive east than it does to drive west from Downingtown.

[IUPNation]

If majors are single digits it's because they've already been discontinued and the remaining students are being taught out. Harrisburg has set some pretty stringent minimum standards for program excellent enrollment.

Athletes are about 20% of Clarion students.

What is the number of Education students (teachers in training) at each school?

I think sone schools like IUP should get out of that business. We don’t need 14 schools training future teachers despite a teacher shortage. However the state could designate Clarion as a campus highly dedicated to educating students to be teachers. They could invest funds to make it affordable to major in Education there and the state starts churning out teachers to fill the staffing shortages as boomers retire. That could be Clarion’s saving grace.

[iupgroundhog]

What is the number of Education students (teachers in training) at each school?

I think sone schools like IUP should get out of that business. We don’t need 14 schools training future teachers despite a teacher shortage. However the state could designate Clarion as a campus highly dedicated to educating students to be teachers. They could invest funds to make it affordable to major in Education there and the state starts churning out teachers to fill the staffing shortages as boomers retire. That could be Clarion’s saving grace.

That's not going to happen. IUP still has a very strong education department, with Ph.D's and everything. Regarding Clarion (and Edinboro), there is no "saving grace."

There is an element to all this that relies on market-based dynamics. It doesn't make sense to remove that from the equation.

[iupgroundhog]

It easier to charge higher rates where the traffic is heavier. The Turnpike is also a commuter road in SEPA. Again we pay, Cletus receives.

The state's goal is to maximize revenue. Demand for using the Turnpike is highly inelastic. It won't change based on the price of using it. In the Phila. region people have to use the Turnpike to get to work in a timely manner or do other things efficiently. So, Southeastern Pennsylvanians are exploited. That's the way it works.

By the same token, the "I-80 corridor" politicians were blowin' smoke when they said that people in their constituencies wouldn't be able to go to work if the interstate was tolled. They would have and they would have contributed to paying their fair share.

[Bart]

The rate per mile should be exactly the same along the entire highway. I should not pay more to drive east than it does to drive west from Downingtown.

It wasn't that way before, is private business running it now?

[Ship69]

The state's goal is to maximize revenue. Demand for using the Turnpike is highly inelastic. It won't change based on the price of using it. In the Phila. region people have to use the Turnpike to get to work in a timely manner or do other things efficiently. So, Southeastern Pennsylvanians are exploited. That's the way it works.

By the same token, the "I-80 corridor" politicians were blowin' smoke when they said that people in their constituencies wouldn't be able to go to work if the interstate was tolled. They would have and they would have contributed to paying their fair share.

PennDOT recently proposed temporarily tolling the South Bridge at Harrisburg to help pay for repairs to that structure. People screamed bloody murder about it, and that got nowhere.

[Ship69]

Everything is more expensive in southeastern Pa.

Big-city areas are almost always more expensive. Land is at a premium, there is extensive infrastructure to maintain, and it costs more to administrate them and maintain order. The up side is that they are centers of wealth, jobs, and culture.

[Fightingscot82]

What is the number of Education students (teachers in training) at each school?

I think sone schools like IUP should get out of that business. We don’t need 14 schools training future teachers despite a teacher shortage. However the state could designate Clarion as a campus highly dedicated to educating students to be teachers. They could invest funds to make it affordable to major in Education there and the state starts churning out teachers to fill the staffing shortages as boomers retire. That could be Clarion’s saving grace.

14 schools plus nearly every other school. They won't market themselves aggressively. A degree from PASSHE and one from a more expensive school like Penn State or a private doesn't pay any more. There are other fields like this too like nursing. They should market as the lowest cost pathway to a job that pays the same no matter where you went.

Elementary education is still very popular, usually top 3 or top 5 at all the schools. Pretty sure business administration is the most popular systemwide. At SRU its Exercise Science (basically pre-PT), Safety Science, and Elementary Education.