PASSHE board votes to begin consolidation of 6 universities
California, Clarion and Edinboro universities in Western Pennsylvania will be consolidated into a single university, and Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities in the northeastern part of the state will be consolidated into one as well.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors decided in a unanimous 18-0 vote to plan to consolidate the six state-owned universities into two at a virtual meeting Wednesday.
This would bring the 14 universities owned by the state, including Slippery Rock University, down to 10.
Cindy Shapira, board chairwoman, said the motion to move forward means the state system will begin a multiyear process to plan the consolidation.
“A positive vote today is the start of this process,” she said in the meeting. “The system will embark on a multi-year process to implement those plans.”
According to the board's preliminary consolidation plan, “each campus will continue to provide a residential university experience, including face-to-face classes and engagement with faculty and staff, participation on athletic teams, in co-curricular activities and in student clubs and organizations.”
The first cohort of students will begin at an integrated university in August 2022, with the integrated curriculum being finalized by August of 2024.
Daniel Greenstein, chancellor of PASSHE, said students currently pursuing degrees at the universities that will be consolidated will be able to finish without incident.
“Your lives will not change overnight,” he said. “You will complete your degree and your major without disruption. You have my word.”
Presidents of several of the universities to be consolidated spoke about how they will take on the process in the coming years. They acknowledged that the loss of some state funding and reliance on enrollment and tuition payments could not be sustainable.
“By implementing with Lock Haven and Bloomsburg, we will achieve the operational scale and cross-campus collaboration,” said John Ulrich, president of Mansfield University, “not just to maintain, but significantly expand the educational opportunities accessible to Mansfield students while simultaneously preserving our small campus environment.”
Several people affiliated and not affiliated with the PASSHE universities spoke in the public comment section. Some were in favor of the board moving forward with the consolidation, while others were concerned about the issues that could arise in the process.Emily Keener is an associate professor of psychology at SRU and interim president of the Women's Consortium of PASSHE. She asked the board members to table the vote to take into account how the consolidation will affect women and people of color on the university staffs.“Women faculty will be negatively harmed at higher levels than men due to tenure and nontenured status and seniority status,” Keener said. “We want to raise awareness of and protest against these harms and ask that the PASSHE leadership not contribute to and replicate long-term structural oppression of women.”State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st, said in a statement after the vote that the decision is necessary.“The decision made by the Board of Governors today was difficult, but necessary,” he said. “We can no longer delay in moving forward on the necessary work to reduce costs and ensure that PASSHE remains a quality and affordable option for students and their families.”Greenstein said this consolidation could be one of the biggest educational opportunities in the history of Pennsylvania higher education.“This is an opportunity to build these universities together,” he said. “This is not the end, this is the beginning.”
