Proposed PennWest cuts spark union concerns
The Council of Trustees is being asked to ensure that the faculty is involved in any future decisions.
By KELLEN STEPLER
TribLive
Campus union presidents at Pennsylvania Western University are concerned about the university’s future as the college weighs a proposed academic array that cuts dozens of programs.
“We agree that thoughtful planning is necessary,” said Mario Majcen, faculty union president at PennWest California. “However, decisions about academic programs must be data-informed, mission-driven and meaningfully shaped by faculty expertise.”
Majcen and the faculty union presidents at the Clarion and Edinboro campuses called upon PennWest’s Council of Trustees to make sure future decisions they make regarding programming at PennWest are transparent, include faculty involvement and maintain the university’s academic integrity.
“We believe that we should, at the very least, be participating as equal members, equally vested stakeholders in the academic array,” said Mark Kilwein, faculty union president at PennWest Clarion.
In an effort to enhance students’ learning experiences and meet workforce needs, PennWest interim president James Fisher proposes offering: • 43 bachelor’s degree majors, down from 47.
• 23 master’s degree programs, down from 27.
• 40 minors, down from 74.
• 37 undergraduate certificates, up from 19.
Some current minors would be shifted to certificates; the plan also calls to add a certification and concentration to two master’s degree programs.
“Our academic redesign removes unnecessary complexity and helps students meet their goals with confidence,” Fisher said. “This work is about creating clear, flexible pathways that put opportunity — and outcomes — within reach for our students.”
PennWest doesn’t anticipate staff or faculty reductions as a result of the cuts. Current students in programs that could be affected would still be able to finish their program at their campus, officials have said.
University President Jon Anderson is reviewing the plan. A final decision is anticipated this spring.
In a statement, Sam Claster, Edinboro’s union president, compared the proposal to when the three campuses merged to form PennWest four years ago. He compared the feeling to the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day.”
“The faculty are yet again starting the spring semester with massive lift in terms of curricular work, all while doing our day-to-day work with students and dealing with all other changes we are still adjusting [to],” Claster said.
Claster said things at PennWest are at an “inflection point.”
“(The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties) is asking (trustees) to take up the torch and advocate for us and with us … to advocate for equitable funding and targeted investments in technology and new program development for our consolidated investments,” he said.
Majcen said many faculty members have felt the process was rushed and opaque, “with insufficient clarity about criteria, financial impacts and long-term academic consequences.”
“An academic array is not merely a budgetary structure,” he said. “It is the intellectual core of the institution and the promise — a promise that we make to students and to the public that we serve.”
