Penn State’s decision to hire McKinsey & Company to conduct a review of the university’s programs is raising questions, both about the hiring of an outside company and the choice of a consultant known for its past work for Purdue Pharma.
McKinsey & Company helped Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, to increase sales of the addictive painkiller. McKinsey later settled a federal investigation and apologized for its role.
Elisa Beshero-Bondar, a faculty senator from Penn State Behrend in Erie, asked whether the university was aware of McKinsey’s past work with Purdue.
Speaking later, Beshero-Bondar said: “It raised questions for us about whether our administration is taking proper care in reviewing those who would want to work with us on our future planning.”
She said she thinks it's debatable whether the university needs to pay outside consulting firms at all, but McKinsey in particular.
“I think it would be nice if they said, ‘Oh, well perhaps this wasn't a good choice and we will rethink our partnership and find another partner,'" Beshero-Bondar said.
A Penn State spokesman said in an email that the university “cannot comment on McKinsey & Company’s work with other clients.”
McKinsey’s review at Penn State is expected to cover a range of academic and administrative areas, with a goal of finding strategic places to invest and save money. The university has declined to say how much they are paying the company.
Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos, responding to an earlier question in the faculty meeting, said this type of review by a consultant is not new.
“This is a process of discovery aimed at surfacing new ideas and opportunities, some of which we may not have even imagined yet," Sotiropoulos said.
Sotiropoulos said it’s needed as the university faces rising costs, a decline in college-aged students and flat state funding.
