Some Penn State faculty are continuing to sound alarms about the impacts they say the university’s voluntary buyouts, budget cuts and restructuring are having on some campuses.
During Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, Susan Fredricks, from Penn State Brandywine, was one of the faculty members to raise concerns about the future of the campuses. Brandywine is one of 14 campuses in the University College.
Addressing the administration, Fredricks outlined a number of factors on the horizon. Those include Penn State trustees’ recent approval of a new classroom building along with new housing at University Park, and the expected decrease in high school graduates heading to college.
“With all of that going forward, with the draconian budgets at the campuses as well, where we’ve lost significant faculty and staff, how will the University College be supported when competing with University Park for the low number of high school graduates?" she said. "With the idea that if we can’t bring more students in, we cannot function.”
University Park saw an increase in enrollment this fall. But at most of the campuses, the number of students continues to go down.
That decline in the number of new students going to college is part of a national trend. Freshman enrollment is down 8.5% at public, four-year schools, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Kristen Pueschel, a faculty senator from Penn State New Kensington, said some programs on the campus are relying on class overloads, adjunct instructors and remote classes.
“Some faculty are growing uncomfortable promising incoming students an education that we do not have the resources and people to deliver," she said.
Penn State is in the process of restructuring many of its campuses. University leaders have said the new approaches are needed to make sustainable programs in light of changing demographics.
