OT: State of Penn State(If anyone cares about this stuff)

[TheBigUglies]

So apparently there was a town hall today with the new Pres. I have heard people came out of it thoroughly frustrated and worrying about their jobs because it was all about budget deficit and things are not well within the ivory towers. Employee retention and morale are at an all time low according to the Pres(I did not see that mentioned in the article but heard from many that the pres made that statement). There was a mention of layoffs and restructuring in the meeting but the article seems to sugar coat that saying that someone said there will not be mass layoffs.

This line is especially troubling to me:

"This week, U.S. News & World Report rated Penn State the 207th-best school for value out of 223 national universities. It ranked last among all Big Ten institutions."

https://www.statecollege.com/penn-s...-tuition-increases-during-virtual-town-halls/

 

[JakkL]

We need to hire some more assistant ADs to look into this budget issue.

 

[BobPSU92]

Penn State laughs at value.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

We were…..Penn State.

 

[Bwifan]

 

[PSU12046]

 

[OaktonDave]

So apparently there was a town hall today with the new Pres. I have heard people came out of it thoroughly frustrated and worrying about their jobs because it was all about budget deficit and things are not well within the ivory towers. Employee retention and morale are at an all time low according to the Pres(I did not see that mentioned in the article but heard from many that the pres made that statement). There was a mention of layoffs and restructuring in the meeting but the article seems to sugar coat that saying that someone said there will not be mass layoffs.

This line is especially troubling to me:

"This week, U.S. News & World Report rated Penn State the 207th-best school for value out of 223 national universities. It ranked last among all Big Ten institutions."

https://www.statecollege.com/penn-s...-tuition-increases-during-virtual-town-halls/

As the dad of a HS senior, the line that troubles you is the very reason we haven't seriously looked at Penn State. As a Virginia resident, the value PSU offers does not justify the expense when other schools offer a comparable education and college experience at a much lower cost.

 

[GrimReaper]

I have a cost-saving suggestion: terminated Eric the Fat's consulting gig immediately. Not a huge saving, but a start.

 

[OuiRPSU]

As the dad of a HS senior, the line that troubles you is the very reason we haven't seriously looked at Penn State. As a Virginia resident, the value PSU offers does not justify the expense when other schools offer a comparable education and college experience at a much lower cost.

Exactly why my son didn’t even consider PSU and went to, gulp, the University of Alabama where he basically got a free ride due to their fantastic academic merit scholarships.

 

[PSU12046]

Where is @Nitwit to explain all of these misunderstandings?

 

[Bison13]

So apparently there was a town hall today with the new Pres. I have heard people came out of it thoroughly frustrated and worrying about their jobs because it was all about budget deficit and things are not well within the ivory towers. Employee retention and morale are at an all time low according to the Pres(I did not see that mentioned in the article but heard from many that the pres made that statement). There was a mention of layoffs and restructuring in the meeting but the article seems to sugar coat that saying that someone said there will not be mass layoffs.

This line is especially troubling to me:

"This week, U.S. News & World Report rated Penn State the 207th-best school for value out of 223 national universities. It ranked last among all Big Ten institutions."

https://www.statecollege.com/penn-s...-tuition-increases-during-virtual-town-halls/

To me this is great. All those people working there should be scared of losing their job because it’s obvious that a bunch of them don’t do it very well. If Neely comes in and cleans house I am all for it.

 

[OaktonDave]

Exactly why my son didn’t even consider PSU and went to, gulp, the University of Alabama where he basically got a free ride due to their fantastic academic merit scholarships.

I have friends who are third generation PSU grads and long-time season-ticket holders. They're heading to Auburn this weekend to cheer for PSU and cheer for their son who will be marching with the Auburn band. PSU was his dream school, but the excellent grades and test schools that earned him nothing from State earned him merit scholarships at Auburn. (Alabama offered him more, but he thought the social scene was too Greek-focused for his taste.) Auburn offered him more to be part of the band than PSU offered him in total. The debt he would have taken on by going to Penn State just wasn't/isn't worth it.

 

[PSUFTG]

So apparently there was a town hall today with the new Pres. I have heard people came out of it thoroughly frustrated and worrying about their jobs because it was all about budget deficit and things are not well within the ivory towers. Employee retention and morale are at an all time low according to the Pres(I did not see that mentioned in the article but heard from many that the pres made that statement). There was a mention of layoffs and restructuring in the meeting but the article seems to sugar coat that saying that someone said there will not be mass layoffs.

This line is especially troubling to me:

"This week, U.S. News & World Report rated Penn State the 207th-best school for value out of 223 national universities. It ranked last among all Big Ten institutions."

https://www.statecollege.com/penn-s...-tuition-increases-during-virtual-town-halls/

One can watch the actual "Town Hall" here.
(and those who are interested should watch it, IMO)

Live Events – (psu.edu)

 

[91Joe95]

One can watch the actual "Town Hall" here.
(and those who are interested should watch it, IMO)

Live Events – (psu.edu)

Maybe the university should build more museums to attract more students.

 

[dcf4psu]

Think of how worse it could be without the leadership of Dr. Barron.

 

[PSU12046]

Maybe the university should build more museums to attract more students.

What ever happened to Sandy's new cement pond?

 

[dcf4psu]

As the dad of a HS senior, the line that troubles you is the very reason we haven't seriously looked at Penn State. As a Virginia resident, the value PSU offers does not justify the expense when other schools offer a comparable education and college experience at a much lower cost.

Unfortunately I believe you are being too politically correct when you say "comparable education." The reality is a better education at a lower cost elsewhere.

 

[dcf4psu]

"Many factors increased that deficit, officials said, including enrollment declines, limited state funding, COVID-19-related economic pressures and nationwide inflation."
Enrollment declines with non-stop new housing construction. Can you say housing bubble?

 

[dcf4psu]

And the best way to reverse the downward enrollment trends: Increase tuition.

 

[PSU12046]

And the best way to reverse the downward enrollment trends: Increase tuition.

Seems to be PSU's answer to EVERYTHING!

 

[J.E.B]

Was in on the town hall today and was disappointed to hear Neeli say five times that “she gets it”... about the budget crisis, about tuition hikes, about some of things that have to be done to right the ship. About how the ratings are wrong and that they have asked for a redo...

At one point when Sara was trying to explain tuition hikes, blah, blah, blah... Neeli chimes in that she “gets it” because all of the panelists have kids in school at PSU. My question to Neeli would have been “are you paying out of state tuition rates for your kids? Are the others paying instate rates?”. My guess is they are paying deep discounts if not receiving free tuition. But we should be happy because she “gets it”.

It’s clear this group still does not know how to communicate and are tone deaf. As usual questions were pre arranged and softballs.

As Daltrey sang.. “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.. won’t get fooled again.”

There’s a reason why she is here! And it ain’t for steering a major university out of a mess that the previous cabal created and made off like bandits.

 

[PSU12046]

Was in on the town hall today and was disappointed to hear Neeli say five times that “she gets it”... about the budget crisis, about tuition hikes, about some of things that have to be done to right the ship. About how the ratings are wrong and that they have asked for a redo...

At one point when Lynn was trying to explain tuition hikes, blah, blah, blah... Neeli chimes in that she “gets it” because all of the panelists have kids in school at PSU. My question to Neeli would have been “are you paying out of state tuition rates for your kids? Are the others paying instate rates?”. My guess is they are paying deep discounts if not receiving free tuition. But we should be happy because she “gets it”.

It’s clear this group still does not know how to communicate and are tone deaf. As usual questions were pre arranged and softballs.

As Daltrey sang.. “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.. won’t get fooled again.”

There’s a reason was she is here! And it ain’t for steering a major university out of a mess that the previous cabal created and made off like bandits.

Well, not really . . .

 

[Nitwit]

It’s a free country. If students feel that they would rather go elsewhere because of “value”, so be it. There are a lot of less expensive options including community colleges they can attend for a cheap education. Apparently many of them still choose PSU over these less expensive options, and the numbers that make that choice are increasing. There are plenty of factors other than cost which obviously factor into choices students and their parents make, and many of us who graduated from PSU are wealthy as a result of our PSU degree, so cost is a non factor fortunately.

It does raise the question of whom the university should be serving, the children of the poor or lower middle class, or the more fortunate among us. I suspect there may be some correlation between the economic strata of the student body and their academic achievement, but those are dicey issues obviously for many reasons I’d rather not get into. I frankly don’t know if the pressure to increase DEI has an impact by admitting more students from lower performing high schools. You get into the whole question of what is the mission of a large State university, and whether that mission is influenced or even eroded by the lack of State financial support to enable the university to behave more like a private school serving a different clientele with different priorities, i.e., international students or out of state students, or even wealthy suburban students students for example. I’m not sure Penn State knows exactly where it fits in this matrix, or perhaps it has decided to try to change from one set of priorities to another?

BTW one of the cost savings which Barron allegedly takes credit for, and I have no way of knowing whether or not it’s true, is that under his leadership, the number of students who graduated in 4 years instead of 4.5 or 5 years increased substantially, and that this in fact lowered the cost of a Penn State degree. Anyone care to refute this?

 

[91Joe95]

What ever happened to Sandy's new cement pond?

Not expensive enough.

 

[PSU12046]

It’s a free country. If students feel that they would rather go elsewhere because of “value”, so be it. There are a lot of less expensive options including community colleges they can attend for a cheap education. Apparently many of them still choose PSU over these less expensive options, and the numbers that make that choice are increasing. There are plenty of factors other than cost which obviously factor into choices students and their parents make, and many of us who graduated from PSU are wealthy as a result of our PSU degree, so cost is a non factor fortunately.

It does raise the question of whom the university should be serving, the children of the poor or lower middle class, or the more fortunate among us. I suspect there may be some correlation between the economic strata of the student body and their academic achievement, but those are dicey issues obviously for many reasons I’d rather not get into. I frankly don’t know if the pressure to increase DEI has an impact by admitting more students from lower performing high schools.

BTW one of the cost savings which Barron allegedly takes credit for, and I have no way of knowing whether or not it’s true, is that under his leadership, the number of students who graduated in 4 years instead of 4.5 or 5 years increased substantially, and that this in fact lowered the cost of a Penn State degree. Anyone care to refute this?

University-wide (excluding Penn College of Technology), fall 2020 total enrollment stands at 89,816, down by 1.8% or 1,611 from 2019. At University Park, enrollment decreased by 1.8% or 822 students to 45,901. Overall enrollment at Commonwealth Campuses, including Great Valley, declined by 5.1% to a total of 26,926. Undergraduate enrollment (excluding Penn College of Technology) declined by 2.2% from 76,099 in 2019 to 74,446 in 2020.

Fall enrollment for 2021 at UP is 40,600.

These numbers are from PSU's enrollment website.

 

[Nitwit]

University-wide (excluding Penn College of Technology), fall 2020 total enrollment stands at 89,816, down by 1.8% or 1,611 from 2019. At University Park, enrollment decreased by 1.8% or 822 students to 45,901. Overall enrollment at Commonwealth Campuses, including Great Valley, declined by 5.1% to a total of 26,926. Undergraduate enrollment (excluding Penn College of Technology) declined by 2.2% from 76,099 in 2019 to 74,446 in 2020.

Fall enrollment for 2021 at UP is 40,600.

These numbers are from PSU's enrollment website.

2022 numbers at UP are up 2.2 %. Update your data.

 

[PSUJam]

Was in on the town hall today and was disappointed to hear Neeli say five times that “she gets it”... about the budget crisis, about tuition hikes, about some of things that have to be done to right the ship. About how the ratings are wrong and that they have asked for a redo...

At one point when Sara was trying to explain tuition hikes, blah, blah, blah... Neeli chimes in that she “gets it” because all of the panelists have kids in school at PSU. My question to Neeli would have been “are you paying out of state tuition rates for your kids? Are the others paying instate rates?”. My guess is they are paying deep discounts if not receiving free tuition. But we should be happy because she “gets it”.

It’s clear this group still does not know how to communicate and are tone deaf. As usual questions were pre arranged and softballs.

As Daltrey sang.. “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.. won’t get fooled again.”

There’s a reason why she is here! And it ain’t for steering a major university out of a mess that the previous cabal created and made off like bandits.

So let me get this straight. She's talking about getting rid of bloat and now you guys are pissed about that too? Am I missing something?

 

[A2nit]

I have friends who are third generation PSU grads and long-time season-ticket holders. They're heading to Auburn this weekend to cheer for PSU and cheer for their son who will be marching with the Auburn band. PSU was his dream school, but the excellent grades and test schools that earned him nothing from State earned him merit scholarships at Auburn. (Alabama offered him more, but he thought the social scene was too Greek-focused for his taste.) Auburn offered him more to be part of the band than PSU offered him in total. The debt he would have taken on by going to Penn State just wasn't/isn't worth it.

Yep, including my son, SEC 1st semester freshman. At least 15 kids from our area went south with great academic scholarships in 4 or 5 schools…

 

[PSUJam]

"This week, U.S. News & World Report rated Penn State the 207th-best school for value out of 223 national universities. It ranked last among all Big Ten institutions."

Our new president certainly didn't have anything to do with that. It seems she may be trying to clean up the mess. Sounds really familiar with the state of the country.

 

[PSU12046]

2022 numbers at UP are up 2.2 %. Update your data.

So still down overall at UP and branch campuses?

Those aren't my numbers, they are PSU's numbers.

Bottom line . . . kids today are not going to PSU for value, education or ROI for their debt. Have you read this thread?!??

 

[91Joe95]

So... less than 5 minutes in - deficit is structural in nature and not related to covid. But don't blame the bot. According to her they have a fiduciary duty to the University and are doing a good job. Just ignore that part about the deficit being structural, reoccurring, and long term.

 

[91Joe95]

Our new president certainly didn't have anything to do with that. It seems she may be trying to clean up the mess. Sounds really familiar with the state of the country.

Dammit Neeli, spend more this year so that you can spend less next year and claim a reduction in the deficit. Put a museum on every street corner. Problem solved.

 

[PSU12046]

Dammit Neeli, spend more this year so that you can spend less next year and claim a reduction in the deficit. Put a museum on every street corner. Problem solved.

All spending is fungible (I can check that word off of my corporate bingo card)

 

[91Joe95]

Minute eight - Sara Thorndike - balance sheet is great. Apparently you are supposed to ignore all of Neeli's comments about the deficit.

 

[PSUJam]

Dammit Neeli, spend more this year so that you can spend less next year and claim a reduction in the deficit. Put a museum on every street corner. Problem solved.

Dammit Neeli, spend more this year so that you can spend less next year and claim a reduction in the deficit. Put a museum on every street corner. Problem solved.

We have a freshman currently at Main. We spent freshman orientation doing all the fluff then she went off to schedule classes with her academic advisor. She was with him for 1 1/2 hours and came out stressed to the max. She then tells me he had her take a 4 credit Statistics class to which I replied are you effing kidding me? She tried to reach out to get things changed and it turned out he was no longer with the University and wasn't assigned with a new advisor until classes started then was assigned a temporary advisor. I'm living it not bitching from my couch.

 

[Nitwit]

So still down overall at UP and branch campuses?

Those aren't my numbers, they are PSU's numbers.

Bottom line . . . kids today are not going to PSU for value, education or ROI for their debt. Have you read this thread?!??

Must be the chicken cosmos.

 

[91Joe95]

We have a freshman currently at Main. We spent freshman orientation doing all the fluff then she went off to schedule classes with her academic advisor. She was with him for 1 1/2 hours and came out stressed to the max. She then tells me he had her take a 4 credit Statistics class to which I replied are you effing kidding me? She tried to reach out to get things changed and it turned out he was no longer with the University and wasn't assigned with a new advisor until classes started then was assigned a temporary advisor. I'm living it not bitching from my couch.

A crappy advisor brings back so many memories. Look on the bright side - you have a prime opportunity to teach her no one will ever or can ever look out for her interests better than she can.

 

[BobPSU92]

It’s a free country. If students feel that they would rather go elsewhere because of “value”, so be it. There are a lot of less expensive options including community colleges they can attend for a cheap education. Apparently many of them still choose PSU over these less expensive options, and the numbers that make that choice are increasing. There are plenty of factors other than cost which obviously factor into choices students and their parents make, and many of us who graduated from PSU are wealthy as a result of our PSU degree, so cost is a non factor fortunately.

It does raise the question of whom the university should be serving, the children of the poor or lower middle class, or the more fortunate among us. I suspect there may be some correlation between the economic strata of the student body and their academic achievement, but those are dicey issues obviously for many reasons I’d rather not get into. I frankly don’t know if the pressure to increase DEI has an impact by admitting more students from lower performing high schools. You get into the whole question of what is the mission of a large State university, and whether that mission is influenced or even eroded by the lack of State financial support to enable the university to behave more like a private school serving a different clientele with different priorities, i.e., international students or out of state students, or even wealthy suburban students students for example. I’m not sure Penn State knows exactly where it fits in this matrix, or perhaps it has decided to try to change from one set of priorities to another?

BTW one of the cost savings which Barron allegedly takes credit for, and I have no way of knowing whether or not it’s true, is that under his leadership, the number of students who graduated in 4 years instead of 4.5 or 5 years increased substantially, and that this in fact lowered the cost of a Penn State degree. Anyone care to refute this?

 

[PSUJam]

A crappy advisor brings back so many memories. Look on the bright side - you have a prime opportunity to teach her no one will ever or can ever look out for her interests better than she can.

Yup, but again cutting the bloat should start with those that aren't committed.

 

[BobPSU92]

Yup, but again cutting the bloat should start with those that aren't committed.

Penn State’s leaders need to be committed.