PASSHE Institutions Merging

[boatcapt]

Inside Higher Ed letter quote


"Pennsylvania, you have an opportunity to go further. Why not pull the five western institutions: Edinboro, Clarion, Slippery Rock, Indiana, and California together into one cohesive unit. The same could happen for other state institutions. Lock Haven, Mansfield, Bloomsburg, and East Stroudsburg as one subset, and a Shippensburg, Millersville, Kutztown, West Chester, and Cheyney as an other. Then there would be three subsystems instead of 14 or even the proposed 11. Of course, from a simple map standpoint, one could argue the elimination of 2-3 campuses completely, including Clarion and Indiana, as well as West Chest/Cheyney and Kutztown. I am sure there are both programmatic and political reasons to keep all 14 open, but at what cost? At least their trying. Watch this scenario playout across the country in the next five years."


https://www.insidehighered.com/views...ampuses-letter

That would probably be the most efficient and effective option but it doesn't seem like the BOG is looking for the most effective option. They seem to be stuck trying to "efficiency their way out" of this problem with out doing anything meaningful to the schools. While efficiency is great and you can take a marginal performer and make them functional by increasing efficiency, i think the time has passed were that can generate the change necessary for all PASSHE schools to sustain long term success. To put it bluntly, there are too few students in PA to sustain 14 healthy universities. And the number of students is going to continue to decline.

The efficiency process the PASSHE is engaged in here imay be effective in kicking the can down the road for a few years but in the end,, schools are just going to have to close.

[CALUPA69]

That would probably be the most efficient and effective option but it doesn't seem like the BOG is looking for the most effective option. They seem to be stuck trying to "efficiency their way out" of this problem with out doing anything meaningful to the schools. While efficiency is great and you can take a marginal performer and make them functional by increasing efficiency, i think the time has passed were that can generate the change necessary for all PASSHE schools to sustain long term success. To put it bluntly, there are too few students in PA to sustain 14 healthy universities. And the number of students is going to continue to decline.

The efficiency process the PASSHE is engaged in here imay be effective in kicking the can down the road for a few years but in the end,, schools are just going to have to close.

A very simple step that could/should be taken would be to give IN STATE status for students from OHIO, NY, NJ, DEL, MD and WV. Short term loss for potential long term gain. Increasing student density in the reconfigured system will be critical to success. Especially useful to schools on a border, CAL/CUP, SRU/BORO, LHU/MANS, WCU and ESU.

[Bart]

That would probably be the most efficient and effective option but it doesn't seem like the BOG is looking for the most effective option. They seem to be stuck trying to "efficiency their way out" of this problem with out doing anything meaningful to the schools. While efficiency is great and you can take a marginal performer and make them functional by increasing efficiency, i think the time has passed were that can generate the change necessary for all PASSHE schools to sustain long term success. To put it bluntly, there are too few students in PA to sustain 14 healthy universities. And the number of students is going to continue to decline.

The efficiency process the PASSHE is engaged in here imay be effective in kicking the can down the road for a few years but in the end,, schools are just going to have to close.

I don't understand the recommendation to close WCU and IUP.

[Dirty Harry]

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.

Best football coach recently was Mahlen Luke, So, given that the football has been not very good, they just extended the current coach into his rollover. Four straight losing seasons. Obviously , their standards have been lowered. So, they get what they deserve in football. The idea is to have at least a competitive program.

[boatcapt]

I don't understand the recommendation to close WCU and IUP.

I don't think I did?

[Bart]

I don't think I did?

"""
No you didn't. The Higher Ed letter recommended it and you seemed to agree. "That would probably be the most efficient and effective option". I was commenting on both.

[iupgroundhog]

"""
No you didn't. The Higher Ed letter recommended it and you seemed to agree. "That would probably be the most efficient and effective option". I was commenting on both.

It would seem the letter writer doesn't understand the PASSHE.

[boatcapt]

"""
No you didn't. The Higher Ed letter recommended it and you seemed to agree. "That would probably be the most efficient and effective option". I was commenting on both.

Well I don't think WCU or IUP should be closed. That said I think there are some worry signs at IUP that indicate they might need to do some adjusting.

[Fightingscot82]

This is the best article on the possible "integrations" that I've found. It helps that its written by people who cover (and understand) higher ed, not a local newspaper writer regurgitating what they've read elsewhere then got some quotes from usual suspects.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...-plan-redesign

As for the letter related to the original article, with all due respect to its author, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Less than 1 in 5 PASSHE students live on campus. Less than 2 in 5 live on campus or immediately adjacent to campus (off campus rental). When you close a campus, you're leaving behind 60% of the students who attend - because they commute from their permanent residence. Only in the case of Cheyney/West Chester and *maybe* California-IUP would you find someone who commutes to campus who could commute in a different direction. PASSHE students are highly sensitive to financial and geographic needs. Plus the guy's only higher education experience is teaching a statistics class at GW. He's no higher ed policy wonk.

The chancellor's presentation hit the nail on the head: the magic bullet is a radical increase in annual funding to the degree of ~$250 million increase over the current level. That's just not happening because the money isn't there nor is universal support for PASSHE's mission.

[IUPNation]

This is the best article on the possible "integrations" that I've found. It helps that its written by people who cover (and understand) higher ed, not a local newspaper writer regurgitating what they've read elsewhere then got some quotes from usual suspects.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...-plan-redesign

As for the letter related to the original article, with all due respect to its author, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Less than 1 in 5 PASSHE students live on campus. Less than 2 in 5 live on campus or immediately adjacent to campus (off campus rental). When you close a campus, you're leaving behind 60% of the students who attend - because they commute from their permanent residence. Only in the case of Cheyney/West Chester and *maybe* California-IUP would you find someone who commutes to campus who could commute in a different direction. PASSHE students are highly sensitive to financial and geographic needs. Plus the guy's only higher education experience is teaching a statistics class at GW. He's no higher ed policy wonk.

The chancellor's presentation hit the nail on the head: the magic bullet is a radical increase in annual funding to the degree of ~$250 million increase over the current level. That's just not happening because the money isn't there nor is universal support for PASSHE's mission.

[Fightingscot82]

I agree that its a really bad idea for a state with declining population and declining revenue to be funding two exclusive systems competing with one another - the same state that says competition on liquor & wine sales is a bad idea. With the exception of Penn State Behrend, the only Pitt & Penn State branches on strong footing provide geographic access (Pitt Bradford, Penn State Abington & Harrisburg). All other branches have experienced declines just as bad if not worse than PASSHE. Behrend's secret is leveraging its Penn State brand and beating Edinboro at its own game. Why fund two failing systems when you can prop up the one you own?

[Matt Burglund]

Cutting football also cuts out 80 or so students ... most paying their own way. Who knows. They are in a tough spot.

I think you just let in another 80 applicants. It's not hard at all.

Easier said than done.

Based on the rate of fall 2019, for Clarion to get another 80 students, it would have to admit another 280 (2,622 applicants, 755 enrolled).

Clarion only turned down 131 applications last year (2,491 admitted out of 2,622 applications), so it would have to find a way to drive up applications while the number of Pennsylvania high school seniors is going down.

[iupgroundhog]

Easier said than done.

Based on the rate of fall 2019, for Clarion to get another 80 students, it would have to admit another 280 (2,622 applicants, 755 enrolled).

Clarion only turned down 131 applications last year (2,491 admitted out of 2,622 applications), so it would have to find a way to drive up applications while the number of Pennsylvania high school seniors is going down.

Good point.

[boatcapt]

Easier said than done.

Based on the rate of fall 2019, for Clarion to get another 80 students, it would have to admit another 280 (2,622 applicants, 755 enrolled).

Clarion only turned down 131 applications last year (2,491 admitted out of 2,622 applications), so it would have to find a way to drive up applications while the number of Pennsylvania high school seniors is going down.

The hope (some would say pipe dream) is that the changes they are going to make with decrease costs meaning they will be closer to balancing their budgets AND that the changes will result in more students enrolling.

Question I have is will it just result in "rearanging the deck chairs?" Students that used to attend Mansfield for example now opt to take on-line classes at Cal/Clarion. Unless you increase the number of students coming through the PASSHE door, I fear it will just be moving numbers around.

[Horror Child]

This is the best article on the possible "integrations" that I've found. It helps that its written by people who cover (and understand) higher ed, not a local newspaper writer regurgitating what they've read elsewhere then got some quotes from usual suspects.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...-plan-redesign

As for the letter related to the original article, with all due respect to its author, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Less than 1 in 5 PASSHE students live on campus. Less than 2 in 5 live on campus or immediately adjacent to campus (off campus rental). When you close a campus, you're leaving behind 60% of the students who attend - because they commute from their permanent residence. Only in the case of Cheyney/West Chester and *maybe* California-IUP would you find someone who commutes to campus who could commute in a different direction. PASSHE students are highly sensitive to financial and geographic needs. Plus the guy's only higher education experience is teaching a statistics class at GW. He's no higher ed policy wonk.

The chancellor's presentation hit the nail on the head: the magic bullet is a radical increase in annual funding to the degree of ~$250 million increase over the current level. That's just not happening because the money isn't there nor is universal support for PASSHE's mission.

Source? Surely this value varies widely for each institution, but some quick self-reported information:
Bloomsburg 42% of students live in college owned, operated or affiliated housing
Clarion 30% of students live on campus
Mansfield 57% of full-time undergraduates live on campus
Millersville 32% of students live in college owned, operated or affiliated housing
West Chester 40% of all undergraduates live on campus