Pennsylvania university system to study school merger, closure

Seen during a faculty strike Oct. 19, 2016, East Stroudsburg University is one of 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. System Chancellor Frank Brogan said Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, campus mergers or closures must be considered in the face of a worsening budget crisis. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Pennsylvania's university system must consider merging or even closing some campuses in the face of a worsening budget crisis, state system Chancellor Frank Brogan said Thursday.

Brogan gave his state of the system address in Harrisburg to his board of governors, eyeing difficult challenges ahead.

State funding for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, $444 million last year, is about the same as it was 17 years ago, The Associated Press reports.

"Other states are wrestling with the same issues we are, leading to the reorganization of public university systems in many states around the country -- including the merger or even closure of institutions," Brogan said, according to a news release from PASSHE.

"Is that where we are headed?" he asked. "That's a question I can't answer today, nor can anyone else. But it is a question we have to ask -- and we have to answer -- this year, not in the future -- because this system and our universities are essential to Pennsylvania's future."

The system and its professors are coming off a contentious year that saw the faculty union go on strike before a new contract was reached last fall. Brogan offered praise for their dedication.

"Faculty are the heart and soul of our institutions," Brogan said. "They make a difference in our students' lives every day. Their knowledge and dedication; their creativity; and, most of all, their commitment to the education of their students, are what make our universities special. They are what make a State System university education what it is."

Union President Kenneth Mash, in his own remarks delivered Thursday to the board of governors, singled out Cheyney University as embroiled in a particularly difficult financial situation.

"Cheyney's immediate challenge is severe," said Mash, who leads the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties. "Our Cheyney faculty have been clamoring for a permanent leadership team that would provide the necessary vision to lift the university out of the abyss.

"Our Cheyney faculty have been clamoring to be a part of the decision-making process. But their calls for participation have gone generally unheeded. We need Cheyney University. Pennsylvania needs Cheyney University. I have made this point before: We all bear responsibility for that university's circumstances, and we continue to bear it."

Mash said afterward it's premature to discuss the merging or closure of universities, until more concrete plans are announced, but he said he would hope faculty are part of the conversation.

Board of governors Chairwoman Cynthia Shapira also praised the hard work and dedication of faculty and staff at the 14 universities, urging them to "keep their eye on the prize" and continue to do the best they can on behalf of students, according to the PASSHE release.

"It should be the goal of each and every one of us to fully support our students from the moment they first arrive on campus until they walk across the graduation stage," Shapira said. "We want them not only to walk away with a degree, but also with a plan for their future that will help ensure a lifetime of success, not just for themselves, but for their families, their communities and the entire commonwealth."

Without committing Thursday to a timeline, Brogan promised a comprehensive look at the system ahead of what he described as "dynamic changes."

"We will be taking a hard look at how we are organized today, and how we need to be organized in the future in order to continue to serve our students and the Commonwealth as its public university system," Brogan says in the release. "We don't have the luxury of waiting for someone else to do it. We are the people who have to have the courage to step up and sound the clarion call for change."

In addition to Cheyney, the state system universities are Bloomsburg, California, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP) and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City Philadelphia.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.