PASSHE Institutions Merging

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Horror Child]

As someone who makes a living off of other peoples taxes, thanks for the job.

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.

[iupgroundhog]

IUP is in trouble, and may be holding the State back...a 40 percent decline in student population since 2012 is battering the university’s finances.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...ment-freshmen/

I nominate this for the least timely post of all time.

[IUPNation]

IUP is in trouble, and may be holding the State back...a 40 percent decline in student population since 2012 is battering the university’s finances.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...ment-freshmen/

Speaking of a freeloader enjoying his free I-80…,

[Fightingscot82]

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.

The legislature won't close any campuses anytime soon. Too bad of a PR blunder.

[iupgroundhog]

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.

It will wither down to a resource for locals. In the future, people won't actually 'go to' Clarion.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They're each 3-link chains. You're only as strong as your weakest link. Mansfield is still struggling and hurting the other two. Lock Haven is alright but not nearly at the same level of alarm as Mansfield.

Kutztown is down quite a bit this year, too. Unfortunately the folks who need to be held accountable for recruiting & advising students are unionized so you can't just jettison them for poor performance. They have to violate policy or be convinced to leave.

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.

[Ship69]

IUP is in trouble, and may be holding the State back...a 40 percent decline in student population since 2012 is battering the university’s finances.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...ment-freshmen/

That article is more than a year old now, but some of the problems obviously still apply. What is does nail is Pennsylvania's generally crappy support for public higher education. Something is wrong when a high cost-of-living state such as New Jersey can have lower average tuition than Pa. West Virginia, one of the poorest states in the country, has lower tuitions (as well as a higher minimum wage than Pa.).

[Ship69]

I'm hearing things aren't going well for EITHER triad...

From what I've heard, about $65 million went toward bailing out PennWest this year.

[Fightingscot82]

I'm hearing things aren't going well for EITHER triad...

They're each 3-link chains. You're only as strong as your weakest link. Mansfield is still struggling and hurting the other two. Lock Haven is alright but not nearly at the same level of alarm as Mansfield.

Kutztown is down quite a bit this year, too. Unfortunately the folks who need to be held accountable for recruiting & advising students are unionized so you can't just jettison them for poor performance. They have to violate policy or be convinced to leave.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP's enrollment is up slightly this year. They brought back the cap on per-credit tuition and marketed it as a 20% reduction in tuition. That's all smoke and mirrors but it reads really well to the masses. But they're still down quite a bit from their peak. There's a lot of factors in there that plays into that. They've cut mid and upper level management and recently hired an ass ton of entry level advisors to keep students on the right path academically.

PennWest is the new anchor now that Cheyney has a balanced budget.

The diploma factory era is lost to history. It's never getting back to those numbers.

Ironically the nicest the campus has ever been ...

[WarriorVoice]

IUP's enrollment is up slightly this year. They brought back the cap on per-credit tuition and marketed it as a 20% reduction in tuition. That's all smoke and mirrors but it reads really well to the masses. But they're still down quite a bit from their peak. There's a lot of factors in there that plays into that. They've cut mid and upper level management and recently hired an ass ton of entry level advisors to keep students on the right path academically.

PennWest is the new anchor now that Cheyney has a balanced budget.

I'm hearing things aren't going well for EITHER triad...

[Fightingscot82]

IUP is in trouble, and may be holding the State back...a 40 percent decline in student population since 2012 is battering the university’s finances.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...ment-freshmen/

IUP's enrollment is up slightly this year. They brought back the cap on per-credit tuition and marketed it as a 20% reduction in tuition. That's all smoke and mirrors but it reads really well to the masses. But they're still down quite a bit from their peak. There's a lot of factors in there that plays into that. They've cut mid and upper level management and recently hired an ass ton of entry level advisors to keep students on the right path academically.

PennWest is the new anchor now that Cheyney has a balanced budget.