State System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Greenstein yesterday appeared before a joint Senate Appropriations/Educations committee hearing to update senators on the State System Redesign, a week after the Board of Governors voted to forge on with plans to consolidate six universities into two.
Greenstein talked about the dismal financial picture for the entire System and its effect on enrollment and the affordability of an education at a state-owned university. He addressed a variety of issues, including the plan to submit the two new entities in September for accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education; the NCAA’s approval or disapproval of the plan from the athletics perspective; and, of course, how to pay for the Redesign.
Finances raised a concern for Senator Joe Pittman, who asked the chancellor about debt relief at the System’s other schools that are not part of the consolidations. He pointed out that the Redesign is not just about the integration of six schools into two.
Greenstein said that the System is working on finding “creative means” of addressing (debt service) at schools such as IUP. He shared a pie chart with the committees showing how the System plans to spend a $50 million special legislative allocation and $25 million in savings from prepaying pension obligations. One of Pittman’s points was that the pie chart appeared to show that only about a third of those funds would be applied to debt service.
The $50 million state appropriation this year is the first payment of a three-year $200 million state commitment to help finance the Redesign.
Comments