Pennsylvania Western University

Not to be confused with University of Pittsburgh, formerly known as Western University of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Western University

Other name	PennWest University
Former name	California University of Pennsylvania Clarion University of Pennsylvania Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Type	Public
Established	1 July 2022
Academic affiliation	PASSHE
President	Jon Anderson
Students	12,778 [1] (Fall 2022)
Undergraduates	10,561 [2]
Postgraduates	3,916
Location	California, Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania, Edinboro , Pennsylvania , United States
Colors	Red, Blue & Gold
Nickname	Various
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – PSAC
Mascot	Various
Website	pennwest.edu

Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest) is a public university in Pennsylvania, United States. It has three campuses in the Pennsylvania boroughs of California, Clarion, and Edinboro.

The university was created by the 2022 merger of the California University of Pennsylvania, the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Western University is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

History

Pre-PennWest

Main articles: California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

California University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1852, when the town of California started an academy for kindergarten to college-level courses. In 1864 the school relocated to a new location, now the center of the campus' present location, the following year it was chartered as a normal school. In 1914 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the school, renamed it to California State Normal School, and converted it to a two-year school for training elementary school teachers. In 1928 the state restored the four year programs and it became California State Teachers College. The college's offerings continued expanding through the first part of the 20th century, eventually renaming as California State College in 1959 and adding a graduate program in 1962. On 1 July 1983, the school joined the newly formed State System of Higher Education, gained university status and became California University of Pennsylvania. ^[3]

Clarion University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1867 in northwestern Pennsylvania to serve the needs of that rural part of the state. It started as a Seminary and became a 'Normal School' in 1887 and a community college-level institution in 1920. Clarion became a college in 1929. In the 1960s and 1970s the college expanded its offerings and size significantly. On July 1, 1982, Clarion joined the newly formed State System of Higher Education, gained university status and became Clarion University of Pennsylvania. ^[4]

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1857 as a training school for teachers. In 1914 it was purchased by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and became Edinboro State Normal School, growing its academic offers to the point it became known as Edinboro State College in 1960, and became a university in 1983 with the formation of PASSHE. ^[5]

System redesign

In June 2016, under PASSHE Chancellor Frank Brogan, PASSHE began a review to identify needed changes for the long-term success of the system and its universities. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) was asked to conduct the review, gather data and produce a report. This report, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Strategic System Review Findings & Recommendations, published in July 2017, identified two critical problems: declining state funding and demographic decline, as Pennsylvania's citizens increasingly trended older. For reference Pennsylvania had what amounts to an almost 34% funding cut in dollars per student from the state. ^[6] It also identified numerous issues troubling the system that were consequences of Act 188, the law passed in 1982 that formed PASSHE. ^[7]

The report concluded that the manner in which PASSHE was governed, via the Board of Governors, was increasingly unable to make decisions as its membership was increasingly politicized, concerned with the overall population of Pennsylvania, rather than needs of students and the state of Pennsylvania, and unclear authority and accountability. Also identified was a lack of collaboration within the system to coordinate post-secondary education policy. Notably, this plan stressed that there were, in its view, some options that would be ill-advised, and fail to address and possibly worsen the core issues. Among those items not recommended was "mergers of any State System institution with another that results in the loss of an individual institution's name, colors, symbols, or separate institutional accreditation." ^[7]

On July 1, 2020, Act 50 of 2020 ^[8] was signed into law, which granted the Board Of Governors authority to develop a procedure to "create, expand, consolidate, transfer or affiliate an institution". ^{[9] [10]} However, this power was restricted to only institutions that had fewer than 10,000 students in fall 2019. It also did not grant the authority to close any of the 14 institutions. On October 14, 2020, PASSHE published Policy 2020-03: Act 50 of 2020 Implementation Policy which laid out the process for PASSHE to use their Act 50 powers. In October 2020, PASSHE started work on plans to consolidate six universities into two universities. ^[11] The earliest that it was expected the planned changes could have an impact on students was semester of fall 2022.

The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) of University of Massachusetts Amherst published a report which shared the Impacts of the PASSHE Redesign and Consolidation. The report titled "The Economic Impact of the PASSHE Employment Reeducations" ^[12] highlighted how the "cuts, amounting to 14 percent of overall PASSHE employment..." and these cuts were "equivalent to the largest private-sector plant closings and mass layoffs of the previous decade in Pennsylvania." ^[12]

Western Integration

On April 23, 2021, the Board of Governors approved the proposed west and northeast integration plans, and initiated a 60-day comment period. The vote was 17–2. ^{[13] [14]} On April 28, 2021, a 60-day public comment period commenced, this public comment period was for both Western Integration and Northeast Integration, which was being carried out concurrently. On July 7, 2021, a revised plan was released for Western Integration. ^[15] This revised plan was ultimately adopted by the Board of Governors during the July 14 meeting. This comment period saw a largely negative reaction to the proposal, with concerns raised about the impact rebranding universities would have on degrees, a lack of understanding why the six universities had been chosen over other universities in the system for merging, concerns about the increased inclusion of online classes in courses and difficulty in understanding how the proposed plan would actually correct budgetary issues in the six universities. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

On July 14, 2021, the Board of Governors approved the integration plans for both west and northeast integration plans on a roll call vote with no opposition. ^{[19] [20]}

Formation of PennWest

On October 14, 2021, Clarion University president Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson revealed the name for the integrated university: Pennsylvania Western University. This name was approved by the Board of Governors in voice vote with no opposition. The name was to enter use on July 1, 2022, pending approval by The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which accredits the university. ^[21] The same day, students enrolled for the fall 2021 at California, Clarion and Edinboro universities were presented with three logo designs to consider over a two-week period ending on October 22, 2021, and then select the new logo. ^[22] On December 6, 2021, the new logo was revealed, with students having decided on "Design option B", featuring a compass rose design. ^[23] On March 10, 2022, Middle States Commission on Higher Education approved the plan to merge the three universities into one, under California University of Pennsylvania's accreditation, which would change its name to Pennsylvania Western University. ^{[24] [25]} The accreditation and state degree granting authority of Clarion University of Pennsylvania and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania would be terminated on July 1, 2022. ^[24] In late April 2022, the NCAA announced that it would allow Division II sports to remain as separate teams at the three campuses and compete against each other. A select number of Division I sports are still pending a decision. ^[26] One of the aspects that set the western integration plan apart from the northeast integration was the introduction of fully online programs, citing an annual 51,000 Pennsylvania residents who enroll in out-of-state online courses. This online program would be under its own branding, distinct from the three campuses, PennWest Global Online. ^[27]

Presidents

• Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson 2022-2023
• Laurie Bernotsky (interim) 2023-2024
• Jon Anderson 2024-present

Campuses

Campus Name	Location	Enrollment [28]	Endowment	Campus Logo	Athletics
					Affiliation	Nickname
PennWest California	California	6,512	$24.1 million		NCAA Division II PSAC	Vulcans
PennWest Clarion	Clarion	3,922	$38.7 million			Golden Eagles
PennWest Edinboro	Edinboro	4,043	$26.4 million			Fighting Scots
PennWest Global Online	Online					Penn West GO

References

1. "College Navigator - Pennsylvania Western University". National Center for Education Statistics . Retrieved 2024-07-29.
2. Pennsylvania Western University (Spring 2022). "About - PennWest". pennwest.edu. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
3. "California University of Pennsylvania: A brief history". California University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
4. Clarion University of Pennsylvania. "History". clarion.edu. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
5. Edinboro University. "Our History". edinboro.edu. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
6. "State Higher Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality".
7. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (21 July 2017). "Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education - Strategic System Review Findings & Recommendations" (PDF). passhe.edu. pp. 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
8. "2020 Act 50". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
9. Murphy, Jan (2 July 2020). "Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf signs into law state universities' reform bill that opens the door to dramatic changes". PennLive. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
10. PA State System of Higher Education - Board of Governors (14 October 2020). "Policy 2020-03: Act 50 of 2020 Implementation Policy" (PDF). passhe.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
11. Dunklau, Sam (27 October 2020). "PASSHE Begins Planning For Six-University Consolidation, Including Lock Haven". WPSU. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
12. Weinstein, Kim. "PERI - The Economic Impact of the PASSHE Employment Reductions". peri.umass.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
13. Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (28 April 2021). "Meeting Minutes - 282nd Meeting" (PDF). passhe.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
14. Wolfman-Arent, Avi (13 July 2021). "Pa. Moves Forward On Plan To Merge Six State Universities Into Two". Public Media for Central Pennsylvania. WPSU. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
15. Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (7 July 2021). "West Implementation Plan Report - July 7, 2021" (PDF). passhe.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
16. "Public Comment Tracker - Batch 1" (PDF). passhe.edu. 27 June 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
17. "Public Comment Tracker - Batch 2" (PDF). passhe.edu. 27 June 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
18. "Public Comment Tracker - Batch 3" (PDF). passhe.edu. 30 June 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
19. Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (14 July 2021). "Meeting Minutes - 284th Meeting" (PDF). passhe.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
20. Xian, Min (13 July 2021). "PASSHE Approves Plan To Merge Six State Universities Into Two". Public Media for Central Pennsylvania. WPSU. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
21. Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (14 October 2021). "Meeting Minutes - 286th Meeting" (PDF). passhe.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
22. Pennsylvania Western University. 14 October 2021. Subject line:Choose a design for the new university's name. Email to California, Clarion & Edinboro students, obtained via a right to know request. "As future PennWest students, YOU can choose how the new name will appear on everything from billboards and brochures to clothing and other gear. ... As students and future alumni, your voice matters. Please review these designs and cast your vote before the survey closes at noon on Friday, Oct. 22."
23. "Pennsylvania Western University woodmark design revealed". The Meadville Tribune. 3 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022. (Note: Headline contains misspelling "woodmark" instead of "wordmark")
24. Middle States Commission on Higher Education (15 March 2022). "MIDDLE STATES COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION ANNOUNCES ACTIONS FROM ITS MARCH 2022 MEETING". Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
25. McNeeley, Emma (31 March 2022). "PennWest Experience Portal unveiled with fall registration quickly approaching". clarioncallnews.com/. The Clarion Call. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
26. Associated Press (20 April 2022). "2 schools, 6 sets of sports teams: NCAA gives OK to PASSHE merger". abc27.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
27. Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (7 July 2021). "West Implementation Plan Report - July 7, 2021" (PDF). passhe.edu. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
28. Pennsylvania Western University. "Campus Life - PennWest". pennwest.edu. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

External links

• Official website
• West Implementation Plan - PASSHE's 'System Redesign' website for the 'West Implementation Plan', which created Pennsylvania Western University.