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LOCK HAVEN -- During his final report to the Lock Haven University Trustees as LHU's APSCUF President, Peter Campbell spoke out against statements made by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) regarding its proposed integration of the university with sister schools Mansfield and Bloomsburg.
PASSHE's Board of Governor's initially approved the integration of these universities and three others in the west during its meeting in April. This kickstarted a 60-day public comment period before the board holds another vote in July to finalize the decision.
Campbell began his statement by referencing a poem by English poet Wilfred Owen written about World War I.
"Often, at the time, posters were displayed recruiting young men and 'boys" to fight for Britain, the posters would not talk about the horrors of war and the gruesome challenges the boys and men would face in the trenches on the frontlines," Campbell said.
Campbell said the poem portrayed the reality of war while the posters would depict the "Old Lie."
"The poem brings home to us the moment, we as individuals, realize that something essential we've been told, an absolute we've been told to believe in, sometimes because of the messenger, a conviction we've supported -- does not fit the reality of our experience," Campbell said.
"The concept of the 'old lie' is alive and well in the PASSHE system today. We have been told some statements," he continued.
Campbell further referenced multiple examples of what he believes are the PASSHE system misrepresenting faculty, coaches and students at LHU. Including statements made by the trustees in an article in The Express.
"I was surprised that a local article in the LH Express outlined that you, the LHU Council of Trustees, are all supportive of the merger, despite the opposition presented by LHU students, staff, faculty and the local community," he said.
Campbell asked if those statements accurately fit the reality of each trustees experience.
"I also encourage you to read the economic impact study on the impacts of the merger on the LHU community conducted by the Political Economy," he said.
Campbell disputed statements made to faculty about the integration, the first being "1000s of faculty, staff, and coaches are supportive of the integration at the six institutions, including Lock Haven, that they are working and supportive of the merger."
"As a faculty member who participated in a couple of working groups, I can tell you that there was participation in the working groups. That is true. However, the participation by many faculty was out of fear. Fear that they could lose their jobs. Fear that their academic department could be jeopardized by not participating in the activities," he said.
Campbell referenced a survey conducted by APSCUF which stated from a 67 percent response rate of faculty at all six universities involved in the merger only 8 percent support the merger and 3 percent are excited about the concept.
In regard to the statements made that students at LHU, Bloomsburg and Mansfield are excited about the integration, Campbell encouraged the trustees to get out onto campus and speak with students directly.
"Don't just talk to students provided by management or APSCUF. Get out there and talk to the students and listen to their concerns," he said.
He noted that a survey was conducted among students but the results haven't been shared openly.
"The results indicate that the students on the campuses are not in agreement with the claims on their behalf by management," he said. "Additionally, from the APSCUF survey, only 2 percent of faculty believe that students are excited about consolidation."
Campbell disagreed with PASSHE's statements that the integration process has been transparent.
"According to the APSCUF survey, only 7 percent believe the consolidation process has been transparent," he said.
He elaborated on statements made that indicate staff have been actively involved in developing a program array for an integrated system.
"This statement is true. However, no faculty are involved in the final decisions on a program array in the LHU merger and only 11 percent of the faculty at Bloomsburg, Mansfield, and LHU, believe the final product will reflect the work they did in the consolidation working groups," he said.
In terms of reducing the cost to students by 25 percent, Campbell said many of the options suggested by PASSHE Chancellor Daniel Greenstein are already in place.
Among them are duel enrollment, students staying home and commuting to campus and students transferring from community colleges into the system, he said.
Campbell said he hoped LHU President Dr. Bashar Hanna would reconsider the retrenchment of two faculty members.
"Based upon the fact that LHU is $9 million better off financially than predicted for the current year, has over $40 million in reserves, and the fact we had four retirements which were promoted as a way for reducing the need for retrenchments," he said. "I am hoping that Dr. Hanna will reconsider the retrenchment decisions and remove the letters from the table for this year and next year."
In his final statement as APSCUF president for the university, Campbell said:
"On my last address to you as the President of the LHU Chapter of APSCUF, I would like to thank all the faculty members, coaches, and staff who will be retiring this year or moving on to more secure employment opportunities. I want to publicly recognize their service and commitment to the university. I want to state my commitment to Dr. Hanna, Dr. (Ron) Darbeau, and local management to continue to work with them to provide quality affordable educational opportunities for our current and future students."
Dr. Richard Goulet was selected as Campbell's replacement and will represent faculty and coaches at future trustee meetings.