PASSHE Institutions Merging

[CALUPA69]

Clarion really had an epic fall in athletics.

For the somewhat older crowd on here, it wasn't really all that long ago when Clarion had some outstanding football and men's basketball teams.

Recall they made the football Final Four in 1996. As a long-time PSAC basketball fan, trust me they had some really good teams as recent as the early 2000s.

Fast forward a bit and football had a winless season and a one-win campaign. The men's basketball program there has become, well, horrific.

Clarion is a nice town up in the mountains. Very remote. The campus is nice in kind of a 1980s way. I hope it survives.

Their football program has made strides under Chris Weibel. They went from dumpster fire to kind of being an annoying, tough team to play. They've given Cal and IUP fits in the recent past.

Support seems to be totally lacking. Clarion is one of the road trips I go on in football and basketball. It's like a yearly home game for IUP in basketball. I've also been to football games there where IUP had more fans in the stadium.

They just pumped a fortune into Tippin Gymnasium. It turned out pretty nice.

Maybe focus on M/W BB, M/W SWIMMING/DIVING, WRESTLING and VB to take advantage of renewed TIPPIN. I leave out FB simply because it throws Title IX all out of whack. Those six sports would be a pretty nice mix.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Don't really think CLARION has had the athletic history to justify having any sports on campus. Way back when they were outstanding in wrestling and well above average in football and basketball. Recently they seem to have fallen on hard time. At the same time CAL came out of a deep valley of mediocrity when AA showed up and along with 4 team NCs and 2 individual ones, have been more than competitive in most sports so even putting aside my rooting interest, I don't believe the VULCANS should give up anything unless their administration thinks it wise.

Clarion really had an epic fall in athletics.

For the somewhat older crowd on here, it wasn't really all that long ago when Clarion had some outstanding football and men's basketball teams.

Recall they made the football Final Four in 1996. As a long-time PSAC basketball fan, trust me they had some really good teams as recent as the early 2000s.

Fast forward a bit and football had a winless season and a one-win campaign. The men's basketball program there has become, well, horrific.

Clarion is a nice town up in the mountains. Very remote. The campus is nice in kind of a 1980s way. I hope it survives.

Their football program has made strides under Chris Weibel. They went from dumpster fire to kind of being an annoying, tough team to play. They've given Cal and IUP fits in the recent past.

Support seems to be totally lacking. Clarion is one of the road trips I go on in football and basketball. It's like a yearly home game for IUP in basketball. I've also been to football games there where IUP had more fans in the stadium.

They just pumped a fortune into Tippin Gymnasium. It turned out pretty nice.

[CALUPA69]

I think Cheyney can (is on the road to?) recover. But I think the return to DII athletics isn't going to happen any time soon...MAYBE they return as a D3 program in 5 or 6 years but even then, I don't envision football in their future.

Lock Haven/Mansfield merger (or partnership or whatever non-threatning word they want to use) is the most problematic of the bunch. Can you make one viable University out of two failing ones? The Cal/Clarion merger has more potential but I note that Greinstein specifically mentioned Cal as one of the PASSHE universities he was concerned about. Certainly the Cal/Clarion merger is not on as shaky ground as Mansfield/Lock Haven, but apparently it is more shakey than SRU/Edinboro. For us sports fans, the question is how will the athletic landscape shake out at these merged schools...specifically, football and basketball? IMHO, here is how things break out:

Lock Haven/Mansfield - LH keeps football, Mansfield keeps mens and womens basketball. Other sports are distributed between the two with no overlap. But if money is truly a problem even after merger, I could envision the dropping of football and the dropping of both schools to D3 with the remaining sports split between the two campuses.
Cal/Clarion - Cal keeps football and mens/womens basketball. Some secondary sports are given to Clarion.
SRU/Edinboro - I could envision both schools keeping football and basketball.

Don't really think CLARION has had the athletic history to justify having any sports on campus. Way back when they were outstanding in wrestling and well above average in football and basketball. Recently they seem to have fallen on hard time. At the same time CAL came out of a deep valley of mediocrity when AA showed up and along with 4 team NCs and 2 individual ones, have been more than competitive in most sports so even putting aside my rooting interest, I don't believe the VULCANS should give up anything unless their administration thinks it wise.

[Sec10-A-14]

Been around these things a long time. Co-ops leads to combinations..., to mergers..., to consolidations..., to Community Colleges or bye bye for the unlucky smaller school. It may takes a decade or so but it will happen. Immutable law of the universe BIG FISH eat Little Fish. The Bd of govs are just trying to use a little Ky-Gel to ease the pain.

[boatcapt]

Lock Haven & Mansfield merging was something i kept thinking would happen at some point. Now Clarion of course would probably have to come to California since they've dumped all that money into their arena and their athletic facilities are more modern than Clarion maybe they keep some buildings open on the Clarion campus for non traditional students, graduate classes and certificate programs but no dorms or athletics. If Cheyney can somehow raise themselves from the dead, stabilize their finances, enrollment and accreditation they could thrive in this current climate. HBCU in the northeast for kids in PA, NJ, DE and NJ to attend that is only a hour or two away from home, rich history, and if they can get money to restart athletics and upgrade the gym and stadium they could do fairly well. In a perfect scenario I could see them having 2500-3000 students and a great athletic program with both FB/BB and track & field.

I think Cheyney can (is on the road to?) recover. But I think the return to DII athletics isn't going to happen any time soon...MAYBE they return as a D3 program in 5 or 6 years but even then, I don't envision football in their future.

Lock Haven/Mansfield merger (or partnership or whatever non-threatning word they want to use) is the most problematic of the bunch. Can you make one viable University out of two failing ones? The Cal/Clarion merger has more potential but I note that Greinstein specifically mentioned Cal as one of the PASSHE universities he was concerned about. Certainly the Cal/Clarion merger is not on as shaky ground as Mansfield/Lock Haven, but apparently it is more shakey than SRU/Edinboro. For us sports fans, the question is how will the athletic landscape shake out at these merged schools...specifically, football and basketball? IMHO, here is how things break out:

Lock Haven/Mansfield - LH keeps football, Mansfield keeps mens and womens basketball. Other sports are distributed between the two with no overlap. But if money is truly a problem even after merger, I could envision the dropping of football and the dropping of both schools to D3 with the remaining sports split between the two campuses.
Cal/Clarion - Cal keeps football and mens/womens basketball. Some secondary sports are given to Clarion.
SRU/Edinboro - I could envision both schools keeping football and basketball.

[shipfbfan1]

Lock Haven & Mansfield merging was something i kept thinking would happen at some point. Now Clarion of course would probably have to come to California since they've dumped all that money into their arena and their athletic facilities are more modern than Clarion maybe they keep some buildings open on the Clarion campus for non traditional students, graduate classes and certificate programs but no dorms or athletics. If Cheyney can somehow raise themselves from the dead, stabilize their finances, enrollment and accreditation they could thrive in this current climate. HBCU in the northeast for kids in PA, NJ, DE and NJ to attend that is only a hour or two away from home, rich history, and if they can get money to restart athletics and upgrade the gym and stadium they could do fairly well. In a perfect scenario I could see them having 2500-3000 students and a great athletic program with both FB/BB and track & field.

[WarriorVoice]

Here's the skinny from the Philly Inquirer...https://www.inquirer.com/education/p..._8wXHxJq0MmRgo

[boatcapt]

[Bart]

https://www.lockhaven.com/news/urgen...-integrations/

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvan...slippery-rock/

[SW_Mustang]

Integrated Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania has a nice ring too it.

[IUPNation]

I watched the chancellor's presentation live. This is about exploring collaboration.

They should outsource Harrisburg while they are at it....

They should put Clarion, Edinboro, Lock Haven and Mansfield As one group and Mon Valley U. and Slimey Pebble together.

Just leave IUP alone...

[Fightingscot82]

System Redesign Project Progress

Cal and Clarion have the most online offerings in the system.



Philly Inquirer

I watched the chancellor's presentation live. This is about exploring collaboration.

[Fightingscot82]

It's interesting that they didn't combine the closest geographically.

Because it's not about combining. It's about collaboration.

[Horror Child]

So it's three unique partnerships to explore different types of shared services or future innovation.

Cal and Clarion are going explore online driven programs.

Edinboro and Slippery Rock are exploring shared back end functions plus trying a unified admissions plan.

Mansfield and Lock Haven are going to pursue creating non degree credentials to promote lifelong learning and career pivots without requiring a new degree.

These are not mergers. They're exploring different models of the larger system redesign.

System Redesign Project Progress

Cal and Clarion have the most online offerings in the system.



Philly Inquirer

The system could go from 14 to 11 schools.

[iupgroundhog]

It's interesting that they didn't combine the closest geographically.