Collaboration & Integration
Higher education institutions (HEIs) face multiple challenges in balancing revenue and expenses in a competitive environment that demands higher standards of quality. Factors including the complexity of allocating financial aid, the changing demographics in the United States, the public perception regarding the long-term return on investment of a college degree, and the decline in state support due to economic conditions are having a significant impact on college enrollments.
On the revenue side, the historical trend of increasing tuition beyond inflation cannot continue because it will put higher education out of reach for many families. The answers seem to be on the side of delivering the best education at a lower cost and reaching out to new students to develop new sources of revenue. Penn State has done an excellent job in creating new sources of revenue such as the World Campus, in aggressively phasing out under-enrolled programs, and in rationalizing our organizational structure to cut cost, just to cite a few examples of the multiple initiatives that have been undertaken.
The Penn State campuses have made tremendous efforts to increase the number of students in traditionally under-enrolled courses. Such is the case of the Eastern Alliance, where six campuses (Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill, Wilkes-Barre, Worthington-Scranton, and Berks) have collaborated in delivering courses in the Bachelor of Science in Business (BSB) and the Information Sciences and Technology (IST) programs using either online, videoconferencing, or a combination hybrid format. Berks joined the Alliance two years ago, and most recently Abington, Brandywine, and York have expressed interest in becoming part of this initiative. Talented faculty members at each of these campuses are now integrated to generate economies of scale, particularly in courses where they complement each other’s needs. In addition, the Penn State Video Learning Network (VLN) is further enabling campuses across the state to offer courses to nontraditional students.
Last year, all the Penn State campuses outside University Park joined forces in launching a Proposal Writing Workshop to train our research faculty in preparing grant applications. The training will be distributed through the spring 2013 semester at each campus and will conclude with a one-day workshop hosted by Penn State Harrisburg and delivered by Lynn Miner, Founder and Principal of Miner and Associates, Inc., in mid May. Each faculty participant will develop a real grant application for submission by the end of the summer. This is an excellent example of collaboration among the campuses that will integrate our faculty in a community of researchers. It is hoped that new sources of revenue will be created that will enhance the research mission of Penn State.
Collaboration and integration is our response to the multiple challenges facing HEIs.
Paul D. Esqueda,
Ph.D. Professor of Engineering and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Penn State Berks