PASSHE Chancellor provides answers during critical time

 Chancellor John Cavanaugh of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) came to BU for student and faculty forums on topics ranging from enrollment to the swine flu vaccine.

            The forum was between Cavanaugh,  BU President Soltz, and 12 students representing the student body from a variety of areas of study.  The discussion, led by questions from the students directed to the chancellor, provided information on current issues and concerns within the university and PASSHE on Friday, Oct. 9 in the Kehr Union Fireside Lounge.

Quality of Education as Student Body Grows

            One question that the chancellor fielded in both forums deal with whether the value and quality of education would be affected by the increase of students in PASSHE. 

            This fall BU has an enrollment record 9,512 students, an increase of 657 students from the enrollment total of last year.             A total of 116,935 students are currently enrolled within the 14 PASSHE universities and all but Cheyney University saw record enrollment numbers this year, according to PASSHE reports.

            “I think that the fact that so many students are looking at the state system is a reflection of two things,” Cavanaugh said.  “First they’re looking for the quality of the education that we provide we in the state system and when they look at the cost of that high quality education compared to other opportunities that they have to further their education, the combination of the two is unbeatable. ”

            However, one argument brought up at the faculty forum was that there should be more faculty members hired as the university sees an increase in students enrolled.  A further concern included that if the number of faculty members does not increase with the new enrollment size, then the students will receive less interaction and counseling time, and may ultimately decide to leave the university.       

            Cavanaugh countered by stating, “You don’t always have to hire people; you can rethink how the process gets done.”  But he did admit that administrative growth is necessary to an extent.  “As our students become more diverse the support systems that they need to be successful are far broader than they were 34 years ago when our student body was way less diverse,” he said. 

            “The fact that more and more students are applying now with the mix of programs we have that they might not have heard about.  The more they look at that, the more they realize we’re high quality, affordable, and in that sense what’s not to like?” Cavanaugh said in regards to PASSHE’s new enrollment record.

Tuition Cost is Relative to State Funding

            Another topic discussed in the forum was about PASSHE’s decision to raise the cost of tuition. This year tuition at PASSHE universities cost $5,554 per year for Pennsylvania undergraduate students and from $8,332 to $13,886 per year for nonresident students, according to a report by PASSHE. 

            According to Cavanaugh, the reason why tuition has seen an increase over the last five or six years is due to the Board of Governor’s awareness between how the tuition and the budget of a university is directly influenced by the amount of support supplied by the state legislature.  This year tuition has increased by about 3-4 percent, an increase of $181 per student, according to PASSHE.  “But that’s been way below the nation average,” Cavanaugh said, referring to the rate in which tuition increases in the state system.

            “The primary driver of tuition in the public sector is the declining amount of state support and that’s true not only in Pennsylvania, but also the country,” Cavanaugh said.  “If you look at it from the perspective of inflation with each year the numbers can get bigger.” 

            Cavanaugh explained that over the past 10 years in the state, support from the state legislature has declined 23 percent.  Conversely, he said that the amount of money the state school system received from increasing its tuition by 16 percent has not offset the lack of funds coming into PASSHE’s budget.  “So what that means is over that 10-year period the amount money we have coming in per student has declined from about $11,000 in 1999 to less than $2,000,” Cavanaugh said.

            Thus to make up for the loss in revenue, the chancellor said the only other explicit was to increase tuition.

PASSHE’s Impact on the State

            "90 percent of our students in the system come from Pennsylvania," said Cavanaugh. "Everybody tells us, what's going to bring us out of a recession--no more spending. Well if our graduates stay here in Pennsylvania that is the economy.  So what better investment can you make?  We're the backbone of the state."

This year marks the 13th consecutive enrollment increase for PASSHE institutions with the total state system enrollment currently over 116,000 students according to PASSHE.  As of today, about 454,000 PASSHE alumni live in Pennsylvania, according to PASSHE.

            He said that when talks to members of the general assembly he says, "Look whatever you provide us is an investment, 'Why?' because the students that are from here, they're going to stay here.  They’re going to move back to your collectively district.  They're going to buy a house, get a job, pay taxes, and they'll vote.  They're investing in the economy of Pennsylvania down the road."

Availability of Swine Flu Vaccines

            Another concern from the students was if there would be enough swine flu vaccines made available to all PASSHE students who would like to receive one. 

            "We're not in control of how many vaccines we get that's determined by the companies that make the vaccine," said Cavanaugh. 

"The Centers for Disease Control and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) determines how much vaccine goes where and the priority of who gets the vaccine."

The chancellor said that the PADOH would provide the resources to accommodate all universities in the state system when the vaccine becomes available to the public.  Cavanaugh is expecting to hear more information about the flu vaccine within the next two weeks.

The forum will appear in its entirety on “Husky Connections,” President David Soltz’s television show, in the near future.  For more information about PASSHE visit http://www.passhe.edu.