CLEARFIELD – The future of Lock Haven University’s Clearfield Campus is possibly in jeopardy.
Last month, the Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education authorized Chancellor Daniel Greenstein to review the financial impacts of integrating operations at selected system universities.
PASSHE will review proposals to integrate California University with Clarion University, Edinboro University with Slippery Rock University and Lock Haven University with Mansfield University.
If approved, each combination of universities would be unified with one leadership team, faculty and staff, array of academic programs, enrollment management strategy, budget, reporting lines, etc., while both campuses keep their “institutional identity.”
“Along with other system campuses, Lock Haven is engaged in a comprehensive financial review of its operations through the PASSHE Financial Sustainability and System Redesign process,” said Elizabeth Arnold, executive director of LHU’s Strategic Communications Advancement Division. “In addition, the university is engaged in discussion surrounding potential integration with Mansfield University.”
A financial review is the first step in the university integration process, as outlined in Act 50 of 2020 – legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in July.
Act 50 requires a “detailed, transparent, and broadly consultative review, planning and implementation process,” one that will be undertaken over the next two years.
“As a result, the financial sustainability of all campus operations, including the Clearfield branch campus, is currently being examined,” Arnold said. “The university and state system are having discussions about how to best achieve long-term financial sustainability.
“These discussions have only recently been undertaken and must examine all aspects of how the university operates, its expenses and revenues, as we identify what changes are possible in order to achieve financial sustainability objectives set out by the State System.”
Arnold said the university is “far from any final decisions or actions” as part of these processes, adding that LHU’s Council of Trustees has final authority to make decisions around the operation of LHU’s Clearfield campus.
Greenstein said these university combinations were selected because they show enormous potential to sustainably serve more students, expand educational opportunity for their regions and leverage the universities’ proximity to one other.
The board’s action also allows PASSHE to assess other combinations of universities and integration approaches.
“We will let the data drive the process, as we seek the most effective and reliable means of sustaining affordable higher education for all Pennsylvanians,” Greenstein said.