UNIVERSITY PARK, — The Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee will hold the first of a series of public hearings on the role of the Commonwealth’s state-related universities, beginning with Penn State, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, in Room 217 of the Forest Resources Building on Penn State’s University Park campus. The meeting is free and open to the public, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
As one of Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities, Penn State receives state funding but is independently operated. It shares this status with Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University.
The committee will hear testimony from Penn State President Graham Spanier and other University officials on a variety of topics, including the impact of the state budget on the University’s operation.
“Our goal is to learn more about how the state-related universities operate and their role in our higher education system,” said Sen. Jake Corman, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Like our other institutions of higher learning, they have been forced to do more with less during these difficult fiscal times – these hearings will give the state-related universities an opportunity to talk about how they are meeting these challenges.”