PROFESSOR: STATE SYSTEM CONSOLIDATION IS NOT GOING “GREAT”

Last week’s meeting of the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education featured appearances before the board by several members of APSCUF, the faculty union at IUP and the other state-owned universities.

Each speaker advocated for a specific cause, but one, Bloomsburg chemistry professor Eric Hawrelak, spoke forcefully about an overriding concern, that the consolidation of six universities into two is not going “great” as Chancellor Dan Greenstein often asserts.   Hawrelak said there were “numerous issues” affecting students, staff, and faculties but – in his words – “The System gave us a one-word plan – ‘Consolidate’ – and then walked away.”

Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield joined to form Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania while California, Edinboro, and Clarion formed PennWest University of Pennsylvania in 2022.

Hawrelak said he wants to see State System personnel and members of the Board of Governors on campuses to talk with students, staff, and faculty to “assess the situation.”