a low bar to get over
Penn State BOT Meetings Today
- Thread starter PSUFTG
- Start date
Done, if nothing else for the guaranteed entertainment of him calling out the incumbents on voting 'yes' yesterday on the room & board increase - only 'no' vote was Lubrano.
Put it this way: the folks in Old Main would be exceedingly unhappy, you know, how you feel when confronting an upcoming proctological exam, except on a far more frequent basis.Without corresponding oversight?
In fairness to the folks the in power at PSU at the time, this thing was probably a non-starter. Even if they had agreed to the level of oversight discussed, it faced a titanic uphill slog in the Legislature. But at least a group was willing to try
Thanks. If possible send Barry a copy of your receipt please or post it here. Barry's email: [email protected]
My biggest concern is that the incumbent trustees are actually some of the better alumni trustees. I still prefer Barry and Maribeth, but whoever loses I hope runs against some of the other alumni trustees in future elections.
Congrats - you are now the #5,000 post referencing "onion dip". It was hilarious the first 4,999 times someone cracked that joke. Not so much anymore.
Yet on a Friday afternoon the #5000 post got you to respond. Now that is funny!
Against my better judgment, I plan to vote for Barry if he gets on the ballot
MRS had the largest group around of unhappy Penn Staters at her disposal and accomplished nothing with it. Hard pass
MRS had the largest group around of unhappy Penn Staters at her disposal and accomplished nothing with it. Hard pass
Well, if you're planning to vote for Barry will you consider nominating him so that he can be on the ballot?
Here is the link: Request BOT nomination ballot
If you nominate him please consider sending him a copy of the receipt at [email protected] or post a copy here.
Sadly, every time the university raises room rates the downtown landlords raise their rates. It like clockwork.
Sadly, every time the government offers more student loans the university raises rates.
Sadly, we don't have universal higher education- and as a result we are falling behind
Sadly if we weren't telling every kid they have to go to college, we wouldn't have these issues.
Does the BOT ever address the university’s long term debt which is now at around $3.5b? When Barron took over it was $900m. It’s Barron’s legacy.
The university’s revenues are at an all time high of around $7.2b. Unfortunately expenses are too at $6.7b. Almost entire growth is in the Medical segment as they have been gobbling up assets from around the state.
The university’s revenues are at an all time high of around $7.2b. Unfortunately expenses are too at $6.7b. Almost entire growth is in the Medical segment as they have been gobbling up assets from around the state.
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sadly, while not every kid should go to college, we need the smartest ones to do better than our adversaries' kids do- and they aren't
True but if we could get a quarter of these kids into a trade or even just into the workforce in some type of hospitality or labor job (where many end up anyway) they would have less to no debt, the colleges would have lower enrollments and costs should go down at least a little due to needing less faculty and buildings.
This.
This has been discussed and written about for years - but not by the folks who should be discussing it, the Penn State Administration and Board.
It was discussed in a write up on the February Board meetings, which I will pull up and link in when I get some time.
There was an item on the agenda for the February public meetings, "Update on the Status of Borrowing and Remaining Debt Capacity". But the "public" was kicked out of the public meeting, as the Chairperson declared the meeting at that point to be "privileged and confidential". Even though there is nothing on that topic that is either privileged or confidential.
The $3.5 Billion of long-term debt already creates a $100 Million+ annual surcharge to tuition costs (just to pay the carrying costs of the debt). As interest rates rise, that "tax" will increase significantly. At the current rate of growth of the debt, and normalized interest rates, annual expenses of $300-400 million per year or more might end up being optimistic - and the only revenue stream available to pay those annual expenses will be tuition money.
The Hershey Medical Center Revenues (about 1/2 of the total revenues reported on Penn State's CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENT) are, of course, a separate legal entity.
The Research funds, about 1/4 of the University's $4 Billion annual revenue, are, of course, allocated by contract to those specific research projects.
The one remaining large revenue stream? That would be Tuition. And that is what is tapped into every year to support those massive debt (and interest) loads.
Buckle Up! We haven't even seen the beginning of the beginning regarding how that debt is going to impact future generations of Penn Staters. And every year things continue in this direction will likely require five years of reasoned and difficult fiscal decisions to just get things back to square 1.
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This concerns me. My sense is that no one on the BOT either understands or is in the least bit sensitive to it. The new CFO is more worthless (yes, linguistically impossible, but PSU is always breaking new ground) than the last one.
Still trying to figure out whether borrowing to pre-fund retirement benefits made any sense. The numbers that were released publicly are confounding.
@BobPSU92 as I stated above, Barry is getting very close to the required 250 nominations for him to appear on the ballot. Nominations close this coming Friday, February 25th at 5:00AM EST so for all intents and purposes they close on Thursday February 24th. The good news is that there is still enough time and room for you to jump on the bandwagon. I think we all know you want to do it, so just go ahead make the jump. We'll be there to catch you!
I'm pretty sure that will leave @Tom McAndrew standing alone on an island. But no fear Tom, there's at least one seat for you.
I'm pretty sure that will leave @Tom McAndrew standing alone on an island. But no fear Tom, there's at least one seat for you.
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It should be very concerning.
I can tell you from extensive personal observation and interaction, that your comment ( "...BOT either understands or is in the least bit sensitive to it..." ) is, if anything, optimistic.
I have heard vigorous arguments put forward that "Penn State doesn't take on enough debt" (nevermind that no reason was ever even considered as to what PSU mission would be furthered from that "injection of debt"), as if they were viewing PSU as a start-up tech company looking for venture capital (debt) or some similar thing.
My best guess is that one or more of the "Financial Engineering Geniuses" on the Board read a book (maybe the Cliff's Notes of a book) on business capitalization - and figured they would transplant the word salad they read there onto the PSU Board.
Penn State reminds me a bit of the USPS
We all know it is stupid to have 6 day a week mail when the USPS loses tons of money every year. But have it we do. Cut mail to 5 days is the logical choice but not the political one.
We all know it is stupid have all these branches campuses. But have them we do. Sell off the real estate of a series of these campuses is the logical choice but not the political one.
Both entities look to govt funds to make up for their bad decisions!
We all know it is stupid to have 6 day a week mail when the USPS loses tons of money every year. But have it we do. Cut mail to 5 days is the logical choice but not the political one.
We all know it is stupid have all these branches campuses. But have them we do. Sell off the real estate of a series of these campuses is the logical choice but not the political one.
Both entities look to govt funds to make up for their bad decisions!
I thought he was very close a week or two ago to 250. Yet still not there.@BobPSU92 as I stated above, Barry is getting very close to the required 250 nominations for him to appear on the ballot. Nominations close this coming Friday, February 25th at 5:00AM EST so for all intents and purposes they close on Thursday February 24th. The good news is that there is still enough time and room for you to jump on the bandwagon. I think we all know you want to do it, so just go ahead make the jump. We'll be there to catch you!
I'm pretty sure that will leave @Tom McAndrew standing alone on an island. But no fear Tom, there's at least one seat for you.
Well then they are sitting on a Yellowstone type eruption with significant ramifications region wide. I red that they approved the purchase of the University Club and suspect most of this debt is in real estate purchases at low interest rates. What are they accumulating all this real estate for and where is it?
Nevertheless, the Robber Barron and his mob have put the university in a very precarious position with an already crumbling infra structure and diminishing academic rating. Rising interest rates could, as you’ve indicated, further cripple the school.
What to do? They need a profit margin better than what it is now which is 7%. Sell off assets, reduce the insidious number of staffing layers, sell naming rights to numerous facilities, reduce branch campuses, need a much better and more efficient operating model, etc...
I will not be celebrating Barron’s accomplishments as he retires. People actually believe there are some. I’m celebrating his and his mobs departure. However, “whoa Nellie” worries me.
Nevertheless, the Robber Barron and his mob have put the university in a very precarious position with an already crumbling infra structure and diminishing academic rating. Rising interest rates could, as you’ve indicated, further cripple the school.
What to do? They need a profit margin better than what it is now which is 7%. Sell off assets, reduce the insidious number of staffing layers, sell naming rights to numerous facilities, reduce branch campuses, need a much better and more efficient operating model, etc...
I will not be celebrating Barron’s accomplishments as he retires. People actually believe there are some. I’m celebrating his and his mobs departure. However, “whoa Nellie” worries me.
Barry is exactly like a former president. While I agree with his politics, his personality traits will prevent him from winning. It's too bad as I really do think he is exactly what is needed to address the massive amount of financial waste that is the Pennsylvania State University and it's BOT.
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Not sure what happened here with my copy and paste, but I did nominate him and received a confirmation.
Ha, universal higher education requires merit based admissions for a limited number of slots. Who's going to tell all of those high-school grads their schools didn't prepare them to either get in college, or be prepared to get a job in the real world?
Look, clearly you don't understand higher education. You have to spend money to spend money.
I'd be happy to- reality needs to raise its ugly head at some point
I think it also is worth pointing out that the trustees who think the university needs more debt aren't necessarily wrong. They grasp the fact that the people and organizations they spend money on are funneling money back to politicians in the form of campaign donations, thus ensuring the government will always bail out their bad behavior. There's a reason government has taken on the structure almost identical to organized crime.
Now hide Joe, do you understand your accusations are directed at the supreme beings that control the BOT and members of the PA Legislature. Typical example ....
First, Yudichak proposed oversight governance for the BOT, then got his a$$ handed to him.
I, John sorry a$$ Yudichak will consider the following:
Yudichak: Penn State Trustees May Have Broken Law with Recommendation
State Sen. John Yudichak, a Penn State graduate who represents Luzerne and Carbon counties, says a Penn State Board of Trustees committee may have violated a state law by recommending board reform.
onwardstate.com
Now hide Joe, do you understand your accusations are directed at the supreme beings that control the BOT and members of the PA Legislature. Typical example ....
First, Yudichak proposed oversight governance for the BOT, then got his a$$ handed to him.
I, John sorry a$$ Yudichak will consider the following:
Yudichak: Penn State Trustees May Have Broken Law with Recommendation
State Sen. John Yudichak, a Penn State graduate who represents Luzerne and Carbon counties, says a Penn State Board of Trustees committee may have violated a state law by recommending board reform.
Oh, I'm sure I'm already on some FBI terrorist watch list. I may or may not have questioned how the school superintendent is following the "science" when the data they are supposedly following is being hidden from the public. Last I checked, trust isn't a scientific principle, but what do I know? I wasn't as eloquent or creative as this woman, but I got the distinct impression the superintendent didn't care to be questioned. I think he wanted to go all Canada on my ***.
Nitfan,
I see they sent you a ballot and you submitted said ballot. Nice!
Did you graduate from Arkansas?
They did send me a ballot, thanks for the link. I got my Masters from Arkansas.
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