PASSHE Institutions Merging

[boatcapt]

No and no. All three schools' Alumni Associations are legally separate 501c3 non-profits with their own revenue streams. Its my understanding that alumni engagement & fundraising offices are being combined and staffing is being determined based on need. Some schools have staff for functions that others do not (for example, Edinboro has the only prospect researcher and Clarion has the only athletics fundraiser). Funding will remain from the state through PASSHE to the schools. For example, Pennsylvania Western will have one budget and will receive one bulk appropriation of state funding.

Ok. So how much money Clarion Campus will get will be determined by PAW main campus based on what the PASSHE provides to PAW.

[Fightingscot82]

So are the individual alumni groups going away?

Also, will the budgets for Pennsylvania Western University and Northeastern PA State University be integrated with distribution to the campuses coming from main campus or will it still come through directly from PASSHE?

No and no. All three schools' Alumni Associations are legally separate 501c3 non-profits with their own revenue streams. Its my understanding that alumni engagement & fundraising offices are being combined and staffing is being determined based on need. Some schools have staff for functions that others do not (for example, Edinboro has the only prospect researcher and Clarion has the only athletics fundraiser). Funding will remain from the state through PASSHE to the schools. For example, Pennsylvania Western will have one budget and will receive one bulk appropriation of state funding.

[boatcapt]

Third dump of public comments are now available (with the previous two) at passhe.edu/publiccomment

Something that came to mind reading through them: these integrations will make small, annual alumni donations more difficult to obtain. Previously, the challenge had been a perception that the state provides so much funding that smaller annual gifts were unnecessary, that the impact of a smaller annual gift is negligible, or that there is mistrust on how the money will be used especially if "unrestricted." These integrations add a new layer: mistrust or confusion whether a financial donation will benefit the campus that person attended. Our alumni giving rates are already single digits - prepare to be decimated.

So are the individual alumni groups going away?

Also, will the budgets for Pennsylvania Western University and Northeastern PA State University be integrated with distribution to the campuses coming from main campus or will it still come through directly from PASSHE?

[Fightingscot82]

Third dump of public comments are now available (with the previous two) at passhe.edu/publiccomment

Something that came to mind reading through them: these integrations will make small, annual alumni donations more difficult to obtain. Previously, the challenge had been a perception that the state provides so much funding that smaller annual gifts were unnecessary, that the impact of a smaller annual gift is negligible, or that there is mistrust on how the money will be used especially if "unrestricted." These integrations add a new layer: mistrust or confusion whether a financial donation will benefit the campus that person attended. Our alumni giving rates are already single digits - prepare to be decimated.

[boatcapt]

Whatever happened to "A penny saved is a penny earned." LOL

Hahahaha! That's not the society we live in now. We have to have INSTANT gratification and immediate double digit return on investment. Saving is for suckers...You need money for something now, just borrow it and worry about it later! Can't pay it back? Maybe the gov will have some sort of program for that or just default.

[complaint_hopeful]

From the Chancellors Blog:

Revised plans do not address issues that were repeatedly raised, but are not grounded in the reality of our situation:

• A vote to integrate does not require a nod from Middle States and NCAA.The integration process has not lacked transparency. Every step along the way is exhaustively documented on the web; deliberations and debate are carried publicly in board meetings, legislative testimony, and hearings; engagement in the process has been encouraged and invited through aggressively-mounted marketing campaigns and countless meetings formally and informally with all stakeholder groups.

Chancellor's Blog: July 2021 (chancellorgreenstein.blogspot.com)

[Fightingscot82]

University consolidation plan should be delayed

https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion...s/202107130019

[WarriorVoice]

As the saying goes, you don't get promoted by building up the rainy day fund! But quite often, building the rainy day fund when times are good is EXACTLY the right strategy.

As for what will work now, the things proposed might be too little, too late. 7-8 years ago, they probably would have worked. Sadly, the longer you let somthing fester, like declining enrollment, the more drastic the response has to be. As I've pointed out before with regard to the problems Cheyney was having, other PASSHE schools were hiding their problems behind them...when Cheyney "went away" as a shield, focus fell to the next tier of failing schools. Everyone seems to be focusing attention on those 4-6 schools and almost ignoring the dramatic enrollment and debt problems being experiences by all but one of the other PASSHE schools.

I think one of the things that would help would be for the PASSHE to come out and declare what their enrollment expectations are for each school. Doing that would give the public AND school leaders a measurable metric to build to. Building to a projected student body of 1500 students is quite a bit different than building to 5000 and 5000 is quite a bit different than building to 10000.

Whatever happened to "A penny saved is a penny earned." LOL

[Bart]

https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/lo..._medium=social

[complaint_hopeful]

As the saying goes, you don't get promoted by building up the rainy day fund! But quite often, building the rainy day fund when times are good is EXACTLY the right strategy.

As for what will work now, the things proposed might be too little, too late. 7-8 years ago, they probably would have worked. Sadly, the longer you let somthing fester, like declining enrollment, the more drastic the response has to be. As I've pointed out before with regard to the problems Cheyney was having, other PASSHE schools were hiding their problems behind them...when Cheyney "went away" as a shield, focus fell to the next tier of failing schools. Everyone seems to be focusing attention on those 4-6 schools and almost ignoring the dramatic enrollment and debt problems being experiences by all but one of the other PASSHE schools.

I think one of the things that would help would be for the PASSHE to come out and declare what their enrollment expectations are for each school. Doing that would give the public AND school leaders a measurable metric to build to. Building to a projected student body of 1500 students is quite a bit different than building to 5000 and 5000 is quite a bit different than building to 10000.

I think for the West Triad, it could take 10-15 years to dig out of the hole they're in.

Pay close attention to the Fall enrollment too. I've heard some rumblings and we're about a month away from kids being on campus for Fall. So won't be able to say it's early still when they talk about the numbers.

[complaint_hopeful]

I think that latter part should have been a long-term strategy and still could be. To the ignorant, a 1,500 student school looks like its failing. But if the budget is balanced and that model is sustainable, that's a good thing to offer an alternative to the 10,000 student school and maybe points in between.

That's exactly what is needed to form an economy of scale. Simply growing to grow isn't always what's best if you have to take on more debt to get there.

[Fightingscot82]

As the saying goes, you don't get promoted by building up the rainy day fund! But quite often, building the rainy day fund when times are good is EXACTLY the right strategy.

As for what will work now, the things proposed might be too little, too late. 7-8 years ago, they probably would have worked. Sadly, the longer you let somthing fester, like declining enrollment, the more drastic the response has to be. As I've pointed out before with regard to the problems Cheyney was having, other PASSHE schools were hiding their problems behind them...when Cheyney "went away" as a shield, focus fell to the next tier of failing schools. Everyone seems to be focusing attention on those 4-6 schools and almost ignoring the dramatic enrollment and debt problems being experiences by all but one of the other PASSHE schools.

I think one of the things that would help would be for the PASSHE to come out and declare what their enrollment expectations are for each school. Doing that would give the public AND school leaders a measurable metric to build to. Building to a projected student body of 1500 students is quite a bit different than building to 5000 and 5000 is quite a bit different than building to 10000.

I think that latter part should have been a long-term strategy and still could be. To the ignorant, a 1,500 student school looks like its failing. But if the budget is balanced and that model is sustainable, that's a good thing to offer an alternative to the 10,000 student school and maybe points in between.

[boatcapt]

No doubt. There was a lot of excess in building and hiring. Had they not went to such excess...some schools would be better off.

As far as other strategies? Maybe cooperating. Focusing on retention. Some of the things they're looking at now. Developing new programs that are in demand. Agreements with community colleges. Lobbying for more state assistance. The usual suspects.

As the saying goes, you don't get promoted by building up the rainy day fund! But quite often, building the rainy day fund when times are good is EXACTLY the right strategy.

As for what will work now, the things proposed might be too little, too late. 7-8 years ago, they probably would have worked. Sadly, the longer you let somthing fester, like declining enrollment, the more drastic the response has to be. As I've pointed out before with regard to the problems Cheyney was having, other PASSHE schools were hiding their problems behind them...when Cheyney "went away" as a shield, focus fell to the next tier of failing schools. Everyone seems to be focusing attention on those 4-6 schools and almost ignoring the dramatic enrollment and debt problems being experiences by all but one of the other PASSHE schools.

I think one of the things that would help would be for the PASSHE to come out and declare what their enrollment expectations are for each school. Doing that would give the public AND school leaders a measurable metric to build to. Building to a projected student body of 1500 students is quite a bit different than building to 5000 and 5000 is quite a bit different than building to 10000.

[Fightingscot82]

I agree with all you said/pointed out.

There were probably a number of ways that the individual schools could have worked through the decline in the number of available students. But dramatic changes in strategy every few years was a guaranteed ticket to failure...Which the PASSHE as a whole and individual schools are having to live with now.

While I dislike lawyers as a group much more, I do dislike Faculty/Teachers Groups almost as much...Seems like there only focus is increasing their employment opportunities or protecting their members from any accountability.

I don't imagine this will happen, but it would be an interesting experiment to see what a successful business leader would do if he/she were hired as the president of a PASSHE school.

https://cheyney.edu/who-we-are/leade...sident-walton/

[complaint_hopeful]

I agree with all you said/pointed out.

There were probably a number of ways that the individual schools could have worked through the decline in the number of available students. But dramatic changes in strategy every few years was a guaranteed ticket to failure...Which the PASSHE as a whole and individual schools are having to live with now.

While I dislike lawyers as a group much more, I do dislike Faculty/Teachers Groups almost as much...Seems like there only focus is increasing their employment opportunities or protecting their members from any accountability.

I don't imagine this will happen, but it would be an interesting experiment to see what a successful business leader would do if he/she were hired as the president of a PASSHE school.

No doubt. There was a lot of excess in building and hiring. Had they not went to such excess...some schools would be better off.

As far as the hiring, one of the reasons these schools need so many employees is because their process maturity isn't high. If they'd just work on that, the customer service and quality would improve. (I realize that when I talk about process maturity...the point typically hasn't landed on these boards.)

As far as other strategies? Maybe cooperating. Focusing on retention. Some of the things they're looking at now. Developing new programs that are in demand. Agreements with community colleges. Lobbying for more state assistance. The usual suspects.