This should make some of you happy....PSU issues a hiring freeze until next summer...
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“UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of a realignment of Penn State’s financial organization, the University Budget Office and the Office of the Corporate Controller have combined to create the new Budget and Finance Office. Under the leadership of Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for Finance and Business/Treasurer, the new Budget and Finance Office will spearhead the creation of a new budget allocation model for the University.
“Unifying these two previously independent offices under Sara’s leadership will allow us to be even better stewards of the finite resources we use to deliver on our noble mission,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “This realignment and the budget transformation process will help us set up Penn State for another century of success and excellence.”
The Budget Office leads the University’s budget processes, including providing guidance to academic and business units regarding their respective budgets and aggregating unit budgets into the University’s overall financial plan. The Finance Office is responsible for the accounting and reporting of the University’s financial resources. The combined office will be co-led by Virginia Teachey, associate vice president of finance, and a future to-be-named associate vice president of budget and University budget officer, both of whom will report to Thorndike.”
I know that we are UNRIVALED.
, but is this how peer universities do it? Regardless, Sara’s got this.
“UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of a realignment of Penn State’s financial organization, the University Budget Office and the Office of the Corporate Controller have combined to create the new Budget and Finance Office. Under the leadership of Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for Finance and Business/Treasurer, the new Budget and Finance Office will spearhead the creation of a new budget allocation model for the University.
“Unifying these two previously independent offices under Sara’s leadership will allow us to be even better stewards of the finite resources we use to deliver on our noble mission,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “This realignment and the budget transformation process will help us set up Penn State for another century of success and excellence.”
The Budget Office leads the University’s budget processes, including providing guidance to academic and business units regarding their respective budgets and aggregating unit budgets into the University’s overall financial plan. The Finance Office is responsible for the accounting and reporting of the University’s financial resources. The combined office will be co-led by Virginia Teachey, associate vice president of finance, and a future to-be-named associate vice president of budget and University budget officer, both of whom will report to Thorndike.”
I know that we are UNRIVALED.
, but is this how peer universities do it? Regardless, Sara’s got this.
I found this comment interesting. Linked is PSU's demographics. I don't know this website, or the year (s) it was compiled but this is what I found. Currently, 11.4% "international".
Pennsylvania State University - University Park Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats
Explore Pennsylvania State University - University Park diversity statistics including racial demographics, ethnicity, gender ratio, undergrad enrollment, average ages of students and other Penn State University Park student population stats.
Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth campuses - Wikipedia
Wiki (which you may or may not believe), indicates of the 19 Commonwealth Campuses, 13 serve less than 1,000 students.
Six serve less than 500 students.
If you cross reference when they were "founded", none of them were founded after 1965. Further, if you cross reference the median income and high school graduation rates you will probably find lower income communities and lower level of high school graduation rates.
Someone mentioned running the University like a business. So, businesses make decisions to close locations where their services are not in demand - which is probably where these campuses are located.
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Looks like they are rearranging furniture in anticipation of Joe Doncsecz's retirement at the end of the year. Impossible to say whether there are any functional improvements or costs savings in the move. Does seem to muddy responsibility and accountability.Related:
“UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of a realignment of Penn State’s financial organization, the University Budget Office and the Office of the Corporate Controller have combined to create the new Budget and Finance Office. Under the leadership of Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for Finance and Business/Treasurer, the new Budget and Finance Office will spearhead the creation of a new budget allocation model for the University.
“Unifying these two previously independent offices under Sara’s leadership will allow us to be even better stewards of the finite resources we use to deliver on our noble mission,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “This realignment and the budget transformation process will help us set up Penn State for another century of success and excellence.”
The Budget Office leads the University’s budget processes, including providing guidance to academic and business units regarding their respective budgets and aggregating unit budgets into the University’s overall financial plan. The Finance Office is responsible for the accounting and reporting of the University’s financial resources. The combined office will be co-led by Virginia Teachey, associate vice president of finance, and a future to-be-named associate vice president of budget and University budget officer, both of whom will report to Thorndike.”
I know that we are UNRIVALED.
It’s not just the number of students impacted but the number of folks employed by these campuses who are impacted by closing them. This is where the political issues arise.Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth campuses - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Wiki (which you may or may not believe), indicates of the 19 Commonwealth Campuses, 13 serve less than 1,000 students.
Six serve less than 500 students.
If you cross reference when they were "founded", none of them were founded after 1965. Further, if you cross reference the median income and high school graduation rates you will probably find lower income communities and lower level of high school graduation rates.
Someone mentioned running the University like a business. So, businesses make decisions to close locations where their services are not in demand - which is probably where these campuses are located.
One would think with all the new apartment buildings going up in State College, that enrollment is surging. There are 3 new ones under construction now(1 on College Ave down by the McDonalds, the old Days Inn that housed Mad Mex, and 1 on West College where Beaver and College split, there is another planned just up W College from this one where an old brick building now stands.)
Oh, I fully understand. But hard choices have to be made. But, how many staff do you need to service less than 1000 students?
However, that is part of the procss of developing a sound financial organization.
So, the easier thing would have been for these legislators to provide the extra funding, correct? I don't know if the reps in these areas voted against the increase, but if they did - then this is what may very well happen.
Doing so would be a huge blow for those college towns. Colleges provide lots of jobs.
So did steel mills, until their owners went belly up.
Nah, nowhere near that serious. Just don't see what this accomplishes other that changing some nomenclature and lines and boxes on org charts.
How many jobs are required to support student population of less than 500? Six of the commonwealth campuses have less than 500 students (based on 2021 data). And I believe all of them are within a reasonable drive to another campus; so the campuses can be joined, and now you don't shortchange the students in that area who do want to go on to college. And these are not "college towns". They are towns that have an extension of Penn State within their municipal footprint.
Combine the commonwealth campuses and you can still serve the students, still have the necessary faculty and have reduced staff (between the two campuses) and you can unload (possibly) the empty campuses.
So, I disagree with your statement.
Whether you have 500 students or 2000 students, you still have to cut the grass, shovel the walks, paint the classrooms, and maintain the labs, etc. The fixed costs of keeping up the campus so it doesn’t become a community eyesore is not trivial and if the campus closes, what becomes of the property? How is it divested? It’s a problem….these old PA depressed towns don’t want another closed facility on their hands.
That is a business decision for the University to make. The University can also agree with the local town for their Public Works people for upkeep. It is done relatively often.
Yes, these old PA depressed towns - with low incomes and HS graduation rates - are not attracting enough students to make as many campuses viable.
So, you see the circular argument here?
Better question to ask - why would PSU want to keep these campuses open (from a business perspective).
I’m not making an argument that the commonwealth campuses should remain open. But any time a company the size of a small college closes, the impact is going to be felt. What would Slippery Rock be without SRU, for example?
Slippery Rock is a town of 3,100 plus 9,000 students at SRU. It's more of a college town than any of the commonwealth campus towns. So, you are comparing apples to oranges.
McKeesport has a population of 20,000. PSU Campus has 400 students.
Lehman, PA has a population of 3,500. PSU campus has 314 students
Sharon, PA has a population of 13,200. PSU campus has 330 students.
Look at some of the other commonwealth campuses. Isn't it also abundantly clear that these communities are not locations where higher education is an aspiration?
So, I disagree again with your presumption that it will be a "significant impact". I also stand by my statement that PSU needs to do what is best for PSU.
I used SRU for an example because it’s my daughter’s school, and I try not to use examples I’m not familiar with.
My wife’s alma mater, MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, went belly-up two years ago. It had around 600 students when it closed. We went back for a belated reunion this summer and the impact of the closing on Jacksonville was pretty clear. It’s not just the jobs directly connected to the college that are lost. College kids spend money and any business that relied for those students for even 10% of their business is going to have a hard time.
I’m actually of the mind, not that it matters, that the Commonwealth campuses should be somehow consolidated. We agree on this. But closing these colleges will have an impact on these towns. If you disagree, well, I’m fine with leaving that there, no point in continuing the discussion.
I am not disagreeing. I am saying it may be an unfortunate reality in order to have a more financially prudent organization.
Only a few of the commonwealth campuses have housing. So you don’t necessarily have the high spend by the student body you do when they live at the school.
Penn State likes to brag that there is a psu campus with 30 miles of 95% of all Pennsylvanians. Big deal. With virtual learning, it’s not that important. At UP there are still professors forcing virtual classes to the student body that is on site and not entry level courses.
That’s true. The world campus has made the commonwealth campuses obsolete, or at least redundant. In some cases it’s making the UP campus obsolete.
I'm with you, a bunch of the branch campuses should be closed. Donate the land and buildings to the towns where they are located and let them start their own universities if they wish.Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth campuses - Wikipedia
Wiki (which you may or may not believe), indicates of the 19 Commonwealth Campuses, 13 serve less than 1,000 students.
Six serve less than 500 students.
If you cross reference when they were "founded", none of them were founded after 1965. Further, if you cross reference the median income and high school graduation rates you will probably find lower income communities and lower level of high school graduation rates.
Someone mentioned running the University like a business. So, businesses make decisions to close locations where their services are not in demand - which is probably where these campuses are located.
Why is that Penn State's problem? Is providing jobs in small towns part of the university's mission? Spoiler: No, it isn't.
I'm sure there's savings to be had in closing some of the branch campuses but I suspect it's not the panacea that most seem to think. I've seen some analysis and recall that the campuses are actually somewhat profitable.
Barry @PSUFTG , was it you that did the analysis a couple of years ago? If not, I'll dig it up.
Barry @PSUFTG , was it you that did the analysis a couple of years ago? If not, I'll dig it up.
I didn’t say it was PSU’s problem. Read my other posts in this thread. I said at least twice that it’s probably best to consolidate. That doesn’t nullify the point you were responding to.
Edit: And I was responding to your post that legislators would never vote to close a campus in their district. Why not? Because legislators never vote against jobs in their districts. If you have a problem with my post it should be because I was making too obvious a point.
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Don't have the exact numbers in front of me - but potential savings are much less than I would have thought (before running the figures), and probably a lot less than most people might think.... and in many cases the commonwealth campuses are significant cash flow positive.
Selectively, there are likely some cost savings to be had - and the value of the real estate would be a possible important parameter (but that would be under the assumption that the land, as is, would be attractive enough to a buyer to fetch a hefty sum - which may or may not be true, depending on the location).
Of course, there are also very significant non-financial factors that muddy up the water (probably, for better or worse/rightly or wrongly, more so than the financial issues)
I’ve always been fascinated at how a hiring freeze is effective across a large, diverse organization. It’s not like you can move a specialized professor from Engineering to Liberal Arts without a significant impact to educational quality.
This no doubt has quite a bit of nuance, including likely tasking the deans of different colleges to better load balance their teaching staffs as able.
It’s not a simple problem to fix and quantitative business cases grow on trees. Anyone can manipulate data without financial or operational oversight.
This no doubt has quite a bit of nuance, including likely tasking the deans of different colleges to better load balance their teaching staffs as able.
It’s not a simple problem to fix and quantitative business cases grow on trees. Anyone can manipulate data without financial or operational oversight.
I don't think the hiring freeze would happen at faculty levels first (although frankly I have not re-read the article). However, the staff/administrative levels that support the Unviersity such as Police Dept, Office of Physical Plant, etc would probably be the first targets. As far as if it got to faculty level, I would imagine some sort of early retirement program would be made available. Or perhaps simply cutting out certain academic majors and reducing faculty that way.
Or shutting down/combinging commonwealth campuses.
BTW - if an engineering prof did go and teach liberal arts students, those "Woke Freaks" might learn something of value.
I don't think the hiring freeze would happen at faculty levels first (although frankly I have not re-read the article). However, the staff/administrative levels that support the Unviersity such as Police Dept, Office of Physical Plant, etc would probably be the first targets. As far as if it got to faculty level, I would imagine some sort of early retirement program would be made available. Or perhaps simply cutting out certain academic majors and reducing faculty that way.
Or shutting down/combinging commonwealth campuses.
BTW - if an engineering prof did go and teach liberal arts students, those "Woke Freaks" might learn something of value.
Of course, the hiring freeze will not apply to positions related to DEI. Some people won’t like that.
I believe the freeze is for administrative staff, not faculty positions.Of course, the hiring freeze will not apply to positions related to DEI. Some people won’t like that.
Of course, the hiring freeze will not apply to positions related to DEI.
Defensive End Inclusivity?
It's not actually a hiring freeze - more like a hiring slow down that they are trying to create good PR for.
So the interview process takes six months, and the offer letter is sent by snail mail?
Hold on there. Are you missing all of the references PSU makes to the profound economic impact it has on PA? Can't have it both ways, though it seems PSU spends considerable effort to do so.
They always want it both waysHold on there. Are you missing all of the references PSU makes to the profound economic impact it has on PA? Can't have it both ways, though it seems PSU spends considerable effort to do so.
On a somewhat tangential note:
Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Office of the Board of Trustees (psu.edu)
The PSU Board of Trustees Compensation Subcommittee (Composed of Trustees Mark Dambly - Chair, Matt Schuyler, Mary Lee Schneider, David Kleppinger, and Dan Delligatti) approved a salary increase this afternoon, for Penn State's VP of Finance. Last year the VP of Finance's base compensation was reported to be $448,800 - it was not announced what the new salary would be. The salary increase goes into effect immediately (in fact, it is back dated a bit) - and will not be subject to deliberation or approval by the full Board.
The Finance VP was hired in November of 2020, and last received a salary increase in September of 2021.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Office of the Board of Trustees (psu.edu)
The PSU Board of Trustees Compensation Subcommittee (Composed of Trustees Mark Dambly - Chair, Matt Schuyler, Mary Lee Schneider, David Kleppinger, and Dan Delligatti) approved a salary increase this afternoon, for Penn State's VP of Finance. Last year the VP of Finance's base compensation was reported to be $448,800 - it was not announced what the new salary would be. The salary increase goes into effect immediately (in fact, it is back dated a bit) - and will not be subject to deliberation or approval by the full Board.
The Finance VP was hired in November of 2020, and last received a salary increase in September of 2021.
Sounds about right.
Two salary increases in less than a year for the VP of Finance when PSU is crying poor and is supposedly curbing expenses.
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