PA State System Board of Governors: 3 state schools to merge into Commonwealth University

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Three state-owned universities in Pennsylvania will soon be known as the consolidated Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania after a vote by the State System Board of Governors on Wednesday.

The board voted unanimously to make the change involving Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities, although those previous names will still be widely used — including for logos and on diplomas.
The system says Commonwealth University will not be “a public-facing identifier,” but rather a background name that will let the three schools legally become a single entity. There will be one accredited institution and a single administration, said state system spokesman Cody Jones.

The merger is seen as a way to provide a broader range of programs to students at a time when enrollment has been falling. The change is expected to make it easier for students to attend classes at any of the three schools.

The change requires approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Last fall, the state system board merged California, Clarion and Edinboro universities into Pennsylvania Western University, or Penn West. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education could vote on both sets of name changes later month, Jones said.

The university system also is working with the NCAA to get permission for each campus to continue to field its own sports teams.

“We expect a decision sometime in the next couple months,” Jones said.

Board: 3 state schools to merge into Commonwealth University (msn.com)

 

I did a paper in college on a consolidation of some provincial health agencies in Ontario that didn't actually save any money, despite the claim that it would. I wonder if these university systems that join together actually cut budget anywhere useful, or do they just pour those savings into additional administrative employees?

 

I am an alumni of Edinboro. I haven’t followed it very closely, but I can tell you that it has been a LONG process. They have been keeping everyone informed and requested feedback along the way. From what I can gather, it sounds like the long term plans are to reduce a lot of things. Like, they will have certain majors within specific locations. Although current students will be able to finish the program they started. When they first started talking about it, it was basically a matter of deciding whether to consolidate like this, or close some of the colleges. Each campus will retain their colors and mascots. So Edinboro University will be PennWest Edinboro. I don’t think it will feel the same.

 

It will be interesting to see if there are redundancies to be trimmed, or just another layer of bureaucracy to be fed.

 

From the emails I get from Edinboro, they will be cutting a lot of redundancies, but gradually so as not to disrupt current students any more than necessary. At the same time, they will maintain some of their individual identities when it comes to things like sports mascots/colors.

 

At least they can reduce million dollars in leadership roles, they don't need 3 presidents. They don't need 3 academic registrar, or 3 vice-presidents.

 

I wouldn't assume that. Not at all.

 

Exactly. That is what is currently happening with the PennWest schools. They now have one President of all three. And in one communication they talked about how eventually, you will apply through one location. But for now, you still apply to the location you want. Certain things have to go through a approval process before they can change it. It will be weird to me, but I wish them the best of luck. A lot of these state schools are basically college towns. If the University closed completely, that would have a devastating effect on most of the local businesses.

 

Why would you assume that?

When Cornell established its college of business by consolidating the Dyson School of Management, Johnson Graduate School of Management and School of Hotel Administration, all of those schools had their own Deans. Then they were consolidated under one college and now they have....4 Deans. Each school still has its own Dean to preserve the identity of the school and the college itself as a Dean.

PA is probably not just going to fire a bunch of state employed executives. Some? Maybe, sure. But all they have to do now is have one President and three Chancellors or Vice Presidents or whatever. They're still going to want someone on the ground at each location.

I lived in Pennsylvania long enough to know that if the government is making a big move it is because someone will be profiting from it. And, generally and even beyond PA, it's never the taxpayers profiting.

 

My daughter is a sophomore at Bloomsburg. Hopefully this doesn't have any negative consequences (doesn't seem like it will).

 

As an Edinboro Alumni, I got an email today with a survey about “Brand Perception”. Basically, they asked for comparisons of various universities on Prestige, Local Community, Job Placements, the new logos, etc. etc. They included Penn State, Edinboro, Youngstown, SNHU, Liberty and several others. I think that they were really trying to see how they fit in compared to Penn State (the “prestige”) and other area and online schools. I am not crazy about the new look. It reminds me more of a community college or something rather than a state college. https://www.pennwest.edu/ To me, it’s disappointing…. But if I am honest with myself, I guess it really doesn’t effect me too much. I do hope to stop by there later this month just to get a little tour of the place before the official change.

 

Is it Pen State or Univ of Pennsylvania that has the prestige?

Every Penn Stater has experienced that uncomfortable pang of self-consciousness when someone mistakes Dear Old State for UPenn, the mighty Ivy League institution to the southeast founded by Benjamin Franklin and lauded for bringing rubella and hepatitis B vaccines into the world.
Pen State is a great school and one attending it possibly saves 30K+ a year but its UPen that is Ivy.

 

Are you saying that only Ivy League institutions are prestigious? Why can't both be prestigious? As a Pennsylvanian, it is my understanding that Penn State is the prestigious public (state-related) institution in the Commonwealth. Penn, on the other hand, is the most prestigious school in the Commonwealth, and among the most prestigious in the nation. Both Penn State and Penn are R1 (very high research activity) doctoral institutions. In my discipline, criminology/criminal justice, Penn State ranks among the top 5 in the country.

 

Pen State is great university, last I checked it was ranked on 63 witch is awesome.
Penn State has built a strong name that few other schools can rival. And indeed are one of the top public research institutions in the nation.
As to prestigious I think it's in the eye of beholder and when it comes to prestigious, people may have different views or benchmarks. For example UPenn or Penn is consistently ranked in the top 10 national universities, making it an extremely prestigious school.
I can be wrong, but usually prestigious in US applied to top 20 or so schools like Wharton of UPenn, UPenn, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, Yale, Carnegie, MIT, CAlTech, etc. Or Oxford , Cambridge in UK etc.
Pen State graduates should be proud in their achievement from top university with solid academic reputation. I would be very honored to have earned a degree from PenState, it will be top but not prestige by my definition.

 

Agreed. Prestige is in the eye of the beholder. Penn State is a public ivy. According to Wikipedia, "Public Ivy" is a term that refers to prestigious public colleges and universities in the United States that provide a collegiate experience similar to those in the Ivy League.

 

I think for the purposes of the survey sent out to Edinboro graduates, they may have been looking for Regional perceptions. Edinboro is in Erie County. Penn State’s Behrend campus is in Erie. Many students plan to get in there in order to eventually transfer to main campus. In that sense, it’s kind of the prestige of the area. They also mentioned Youngstown State (Ohio) and a few NY schools that are probably near Buffalo. Edinboro is in a reasonable distance from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo. So most B&M schools they listed could probably fit in that regional net. Then they threw in some of the typically online schools you see advertised… SNHU, Liberty… As a former Erieite, I rarely ever heard anyone talk about UPenn. That’s more on the Philadelphia side of the state.