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Proposed LHU merger would go into effect in August 2022

The first look at an integrated Lock Haven-Bloomsburg-Mansfield University is here.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education on Monday released a draft report that essentially recommends consolidating the three state-run schools.

And while the report answers some questions, others are left unanswered.

The nearly 440-page draft was put out for public view on the PASSHE website at https://www.passhe.edu/inside/BOG/BOG%20Agendas/04-28-2021%20Agenda.pdf.

Leading up to the draft, LHU and other state-run schools have furloughed faculty and staff so to balance their budgets.

COVID-19 saw a more-than-decade-old decline in enrollments get worse, pushing the General Assembly to pass Act 50 of 2020, allowing PASSHE to "create, expand, consolidate, transfer or affiliate a university, except for a university with a Fall 2019 headcount enrollment greater than 10,000 students."

A huge concern for many Lock Haven students, faculty, alumni and area residents has been with the potential loss of identity the integration might bring for "The Haven."

While the proposal recommends a merging of the three schools, and three others in western Pennsylvania, it says each will "incorporate the current location name … and continue to leverage (each name) in traditional ways, including with student recruitment, alumni and donor relations, branding, marketing, etc."

But all three schools will fall under a new name, "which will be determined in Summer 2021."

PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein will present the draft report to the system's Board of Governors this Wednesday morning at a special meeting devoted to integration.

Greenstein will follow that with a 10 a.m. Thursday appearance before the state Senate Appropriations and Education Committees at a joint public hearing to receive an update on progress toward redesigning the state system, including the proposed integrations plans.

Another defining statement in the proposal is this: "Based on the proposed implementation plan, we expect the Northeast integration to result in the creation of a student-focused, sustainable, totally integrated university that benefits the Commonwealth and honors the identities of the three integrating universities, but is one university."

Proposed is a single faculty serving all three schools that provide instruction in an academic program array that leverages program, faculty, and facilities strengths at participating campuses and in which the majority of credentials, majors, minors, and areas of concentration are available to all students at each of the partner campuses through a combination of face-to-face and remote instruction.

Additionally, the implementation plan notes the integrated Northeast university will enroll its first cohort of students in August 2022.

The draft includes recommendations gathered through planning conducted by more than 589 students, faculty and staff through their participation in 16 working groups and 135 subgroups -- each looking at a specific aspect of the integration ranging from leadership and governance, academic program array, student financial aid, and technology integration.

These groups outlined two sets of recommendations for the plan, priority one for the phase one of the implementation, and priority two for implementation after the initial enrollment of the integrated university's first students in August 2022.

As it pertains to the academic program array, the implementation plan proposes academic hubs where the vast majority of the enrollment and supporting faculty happen to be located at one or two of the institutions.

PA Program

Lock Haven University would be the sole academic hub for the physicians assistant (PA) program and clinical mental health counseling program. LHU has the only PA program across the integrating universities. Didactic instruction is delivered virtually and may be accessible to students across all three campuses. It is envisioned that clinical sites will be expanded beyond the current catchment area to include service areas around Mansfield and Bloomsburg. Expansion of the Pre-PA Health Sciences programs to include Mansfield (currently available at Lock Haven and Bloomsburg) will be necessary as will adjustments to increase priority admission to students from the integrated university.

The implementation plan also details shared programs supporting the array which are programs that will likely have a physical presence at each campus in terms of student enrollment and faculty complement (though these may indeed vary somewhat from campus to campus), and the program design is intended to enable the program to be mutually supported across all three campuses.

Nursing Program

LHU will serve as the academic hub for several programs, including the nursing hub for the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) which is a two-year degree that prepares students to become registered nurses (RNs). The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), which is the degree of choice among employers, and is considered the industry standard degree program will be offered at all three campuses. As a primary enrollment driver, the BSN will be offered at all three campuses with pathways to the MSN graduate programs based at Bloomsburg and offered in a hybrid format. The ASN will be offered at both Lock Haven and Mansfield. Organizationally, Nursing will require elevation to a School of Nursing due to size and also need an Associate Dean as a nurse administrator.

Additionally, LHU will be the academic hub for the exercise science, sports psychology and health/physical education programs along with its sister school, Bloomsburg, and it will serve as the sole academic hub for its physician assistant program and clinical mental health counseling program.

Education Programs

These programs include educator preparation, health sciences, humanities, inter/multidisciplinary programs, stem, social sciences and visual and performing arts. Specific to the education programs, LHU will only include early childhood education (PreK – Grade 4) and secondary education (Grades 7-12), while middle school level education and special education will be housed at Bloomsburg, with a remote option available for middle level education for LHU students.

Unanswered

Another area of concern for some LHU faculty and students has been related to the potential loss of some programs, and while there are no programs eliminated altogether from the academic array offered at the integrated Northeast university, the implementation plan does include a somewhat lengthy list of programs "in need of further discussion" including but not limited to chemistry, history, exercise science, theatre and physics. The plan offers some rationale for the additional consideration planned for these programs.

"Concerns vary, including the viability of the degree based on current enrollments and cost, the ability to share curriculum across campuses, and the resources/enrollments needed to offer proposed concentrations under a major."

And while there is concern for potential program loss, the integration plan also commits to significantly expanded opportunities for adult students seeking to re-skill and up-skill through non degree credentialing courses. The credentialing programs will be developed in close consultation with regional employers to ensure they have the skilled workforces they need as well as opportunities to re-skill and up-skill current employees.

The forecasted results summary within the integration implementation plan, if attainable, promise a healthy outcome for LHU and its sister institutions, with enrollment increases of 1% per year, and similar faculty growth aligned with student growth, as well as increased operating margins and primary reserve ratios and projected surpluses that will allow for reinvestment in students as well as creation of additional reserves.

"Our shared and single-minded goal in integrating is to capture economies of scale and leverage our individual and collective strengths while increasing educational access and measures of success for all students, investing in new markets, and securing our mission of educational opportunity for our region far into the future -- doing more together than any one institution could do alone."

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(Stay tuned this week for more information on the PASSHE Integration Draft Report as The Express combs the massive document and partners with The Associated Press to bring you the latest.)