May 15 Update: Penn State's board of trustees will meet at 5 p.m. on May 22 to consider closing some of the Commonwealth Campuses. The board met Thursday in an executive session, which is not open to the public.
The May 22 meeting will be held on a conference call. The public can listen via livestream.
Penn State’s administration released its report Tuesday outlining which of its campuses it is recommending for closure and why, citing factors such as declining enrollment and steep maintenance costs.
The seven campuses named in the university committee’s report for closing are: Penn State DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. The closures need approval from the university’s board of trustees.
The 143-page report looks at each of the 12 campuses that had been under consideration for being shut down. Of the seven recommended for closure, reasons include shrinking enrollment, declining surrounding populations, regional competition and infrastructure costs.
The report says that together the seven campuses enroll 3.6% of Penn State’s students. But, the report also notes those campuses enroll 7.8% of Penn State’s Pell-eligible students and 6.9% of its first-generation students.
In a message to the Penn State community, President Neeli Bendapudi said, "By making hard decisions now, we are choosing to lead through change. This enables us to prioritize our people — students, faculty, and staff — by transforming on our own terms over a two-year timeline and not letting larger external forces make the decision for us in the future. This positions the university to deliver on its founding purpose with greater focus and greater impact than ever before, while ensuring we do not make decisions overnight that have immediate implications for our people."
The closures would not happen for another two years.
The university made the report public earlier than expected, after its recommendations were leaked to reporters. The Penn State board of trustees is scheduled to hold an executive session on the recommendations Thursday. But they’ll vote at a later meeting that has not been scheduled yet.
