The course array at six state-owned universities facing controversial mergers will be combined over three years instead of one, and the State System of Higher Education now has a favorable economic impact study and a clearer idea of studentsโ tolerance for learning online, officials say.
Those modifications were outlined by system Chancellor Daniel Greenstein on Wednesday โ some in response to almost 700 comments so far over the now completed 60-day public comment period. Nearly all oppose the mergers or seek a delay in what they call a rushed plan.
But two key aspects of the mergers that are slated for a final vote in two weeks โ the likelihood of retaining a full complement of sports on each campus and accreditation issues โ garnered little mention during a special system board workshop. During it, Mr. Greenstein updated the board of governors on the biggest change to the 94,000-student system in its 38-year history.
The mergers would combine California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion and Edinboro universities in the west and Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities in the northeast. If approved on July 14, the combined institutions with 29,000 students would enroll their first class in August 2022.
An NCAA official told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Friday the universities affected have yet to submit information needed to review and render a decision. The official, Gail Dent, had no timetable for that determination.
The Middle States Commission for Higher Education must also sign off on academic program accreditations and does not have a timetable. It met this month and does not meet again until November, but its executive committee could act in the meantime, spokesman Brian Kirschner said.
Mr. Greenstein and others began Wednesdayโs session knowing the commonwealthโs 2021-22 budget will include $50 million to support system redesign โ the first installment of $200 million over four years for that purpose.
It is a sizable boost over the systemโs $477 million yearly appropriations, although well short of the $300 million in additional yearly funds that Mr. Greenstein has said would bring this state closer to the average in support โ and thus remove the need for mergers.
Nationally, Pennsylvania ranks 47th per capita in higher education funding.
The chancellor defended the merger review process and said the plan, while still subject to modifications, is the best option for a system reeling financially.
โWe have as an entity, not as individuals, postponed this for years. This is why weโre here,โ Mr. Greenstein told the board meeting via Zoom call. โThis is what happens through inaction.โ
He acknowledged angst on the campuses impacted. โChange is hard,โ he said.
But he also took issue with what he suggested were false narratives, including that 1,500 layoffs have or will occur when in reality most job cuts will come through early retirements. โFacts matter,โ he said.
The State Systemโs 14 member universities have lost 22% of their enrollment since 2010 when the total peaked at almost 120,000. Population loss, costs to attend and a higher education market shift away from 18- to 22-year-old residential students are seen as culprits.
An economic impact study cited by Mr. Greenstein put the combined western universitiesโ economic impact at $758 million by 2025-26, an 8% increase, and $574 million in the northeast, a 2% increase.
He pointed to another survey indicating that 90% of students were willing to take โat least up to 25%โ of courses online if there were financial, course choice and time-to-degree benefits.
But critics โ from employees and some students to campus trustees โ say there are too many unknowns in a plan with little margin for error. Calling the stakes too high for failure, they have sought to slow the process.
Todd Spaulding, whose union represents professional staff at the 14 schools, said system leaders previously touted changes that supposedly would fix universities, but did not work.
โWe were told for years that if we built housing with all the amenities that you could imagine we will be overflowing with new students,โ said Mr. Spaulding, president of the State College and University Professional Association. โBut what did we get? Massive amounts of debt, housing we cannot fill and less students.โ
On Friday, Cal U trustees passed a resolution asking the system to delay implementation, citing concern about the planโs financial viability, plus unanswered questions including accreditation and athletics and share of in-person versus online courses. The trustees asked why leaders did not include a larger number of healthier institutions financially to boost the combined institutionsโ prospects for long-term survival.
A resolution warned of a โnegative impact the creation of the new university will have on current and prospective students, alumni, donors.โ More time could lead to a plan with higher chances of success, but trustee Chairman James T. Davis, a Uniontown attorney and Cal U graduate, said that may not happen.
โThe Legislature has pretty much sent the message they want something done,โ he said.
In April, shortly after the mergers received initial board approval, Mary Jane Bowes, chair of Bloomsburgโs Council of Trustees, expressed unease about the plan, too. Her campus, like Cal U, would carry the accreditation for their three-campus institutions and is seen in somewhat better financial shape.
But successfully blending finances with campuses that are more stressed is high stakes. She wrote that the mergers are โbased on assumptions that a combined academic array will attract more students, who will fill dorms, which will enable debt to be serviced, reduce duplicative expenditures through shared services and yield a positive return on investment.โ
She added, โWhat will happen if those projections are not realized?โ
On Wednesday, Jamie Martin, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, reiterated her objections to the plan. She said the goal should not be simply to do something but rather to get it right.
She said another survey by the Blue Beyond Consulting Group asked potential fall 2022 students in the northeast how having more major choices at an integrated university but having to take some classes by distance learning would affect their school choice.
โThe response to that question should raise concern, as approximately 60% of all students said they would be less likely to attend the โNew U,โ โ she said.
Mr. Greenstein has said the time to act to save the system is long past due. At a legislative hearing this spring, he testified that "four and maybe five of our universities are insolvent. They just are."
Campuses in a better financial position collectively subsidize those less so by $46 million, and it is stressing those institutions, too, he said. Tuition and fee hikes, said Mr. Greenstein, have driven away lower- and middle-income students โ groups the State System was created to serve.
"We're out of options,โ he said.
The 1982 legislation that created the system promised a vehicle to give Pennsylvanians regardless of their location access to a quality, affordable university education. But in practice, those schools operate in very different markets, from fast-growing suburbs near Philadelphia to struggling mill towns outside Erie.
Decisions, good and otherwise, about new dorms and amenities to attract students have added to those financial strains, especially in the west.
Also Wednesday, the board appointed Zakariya Scott of Bloomsburg University and Alexander Roberts of Edinboro University as student members of the board.
Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 and on Twitter @Bschackner
First Published: June 30, 2021, 5:19 p.m.
