HARRISBURG Public commentators speaking Thursday at a nearly two-hour hearing on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s proposal to integrate Bloomsburg University with two other northeast schools were unanimously against the plan. The state system held four public comment sessions Wednesday and Thursday, led by its Board of Governors Chairman Cindy Shapira. The
The team project has been the bane of many an educational institution.
There are the ones who have done the reading, come up with a plan and broken it all out into a series of tasks. There are the ones who will do what they are told. And there are the ones who are just going to be a name on the finished project, with little to no involvement in what actually gets done.
This is why no one except possibly the odd slacker who picks up a stray A in an otherwise D- academic career actually likes group projects. There are too many variables, too much dependence on other people. Too much opportunity for someone else’s lack of commitment to affect the final product.
State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport Thursday urged officials to pause vote on university consolidations.
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A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education says there are no plans to delay or postpone next month’s scheduled vote that could be one of the final steps in consolidating six state-owned universities into two institutions.
System spokesman Cody Jones said Thursday that officials remain on target to vote on plans to consolidate the universities, despite pleas from anxious students and state Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, who Thursday penned a letter, seeking a two-year pause in the process.
Clarion University is one of three schools that would merge into a West group.
Members of the public have their chance to weigh in on plans to consolidate six of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities this week. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) board of governors is hosting virtual public hearings Wednesday and Thursday.
Passionate opposition was shared at the first hearing Wednesday morning about merging California, Clarion and Edinboro universities. Most speakers asked the system board to delay the merge or forgo plans to consolidate schools altogether.
Two new universities would be created as part of the proposed consolidation. California, Clarion and Edinboro would form a “West” group and Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities would form a “North East” group. Each group would share one president but all campuses would remain open. Faculty and curricula would be integrated.
BLOOMSBURG Under the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s plan to integrate campuses, Bloomsburg University likely would retain most of its programming in person, while expanding online access to its new partner schools in Lock Haven and Mansfield, university officials said Thursday. BU Provost Diana Rogers-Adkinson outlined the proposal during the university