UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — On Jan. 22, Penn State President Bendapudi and the senior administration shared a road map for Penn State’s future and outlined several initiatives to position the University for future success. Bendapudi asked the Penn State community to share their questions as one mechanism for faculty, staff and students to participate in addressing the University’s financial challenges, business model, and several change initiatives over the next 17 months.
The following is the fourth in a series of Q&As to answer the most frequently asked questions shared with senior leaders. This installment provides additional insight on how students, faculty and staff may potentially experience or be impacted by the upcoming changes and initiatives, which accounted for about 25 of the submitted questions.
“We have shared a lot of information, and it is understandable that our community has questions about what these changes mean for Penn State and for themselves,” Bendapudi said. “We are at the beginning of many of these processes and therefore do not have answers to every question. There is a lot of complex work ahead for our institution, but the good news is that we have purposefully designed our road map so that we have a long runway to gather information and to make the decisions that help us meet our mission and best serve our students.”
Below are the most frequently asked questions:
1. Will Penn State be laying off employees?
We understand that employees want to know how any potential changes may impact them personally. Each academic, student support and administrative unit at Penn State has the next 17 months to work through the individualized changes that will be necessary — with students at the forefront of decision-making. However, given that 69% of our education and general funds budget is personnel costs, including salaries and benefits, it is virtually impossible for the University to address its larger budget challenges without some reduction of employees. That said, layoffs are not the first consideration when, for example, natural attrition and the hiring freeze have already recouped tens of millions of dollars. The University deeply values the contributions of faculty and staff and will continue to communicate about these ongoing efforts and potential changes.
2. How long will the hiring freeze continue as important positions are going unfilled and some of our best faculty are not being replaced?
The strategic hiring freeze has been underway since August 2022 across the University, including at University Park and the campuses, and has never applied to students, graduate assistantships or positions that are fully funded by external grants or contracts. At this time, there is no plan to change this practice. It continues to be more important than ever for hiring managers to critically evaluate the needs for their units — understanding that not all of our activities have an equal impact on our fundamental purpose as a University. As has been the case all along, searches to fill roles that support the University in critical and strategic ways will continue. Hiring managers should continue to engage in active discussion with their unit leader and Human Resources representative on determining where exceptions are needed to lead to a sustainable future for Penn State. Likewise, at the campuses, chancellors are asked to evaluate teaching loads, course and program enrollments, and course fill rates and course size when prioritizing hiring decisions. For example, if there is a need in one program at a particular campus and decreased demand at another, we try to re-deploy faculty and staff in strategic ways where possible. Searches for tenure-line faculty are ongoing in many units based on strategic needs identified by the unit’s academic leaders, as are searches for non-tenure line faculty to address critical needs across the University.
3. How does the budget model provide support for graduate students, fellows and teaching assistants?
Graduate education is a cornerstone of the University, and it’s crucial that Penn State provides the necessary support to graduate students so they may succeed in their academic endeavors. The new budget model supports graduate education by more heavily weighting graduate credit hours in the model that provide funding back to colleges and campuses to support their graduate programs. This is true for all enrolled graduate students, including doctoral students who have completed their course work and are focusing on developing their dissertation.
Consistent with past practices prior to the implementation of the new budget allocation model, deans and chancellors decide how to allocate funding within their colleges and campuses, including graduate student funding and support packages such as graduate assistantships. Penn State continues to provide additional support to graduate students through faculty start-up packages and support for graduate student insurance plans.
4. Will tuition continue to increase each year?
In July, Penn State’s Board of Trustees approved tuition rates for 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. One of the reasons Penn State has adopted a two-year budget model is to help control costs in support of access and affordability, as well as to be able to offer families information about tuition in advance to enable them to plan. Penn State’s Board of Trustees will be asked to approve tuition rates for 2025-26 in July 2024. Given stagnant funding from the state, Penn State will continue to work with the governor on implementing a performance-based funding model for Pennsylvania, in which funding for higher education institutions would be based partly on schools’ performance and outcomes.
The change initiatives Penn State is moving forward on are intended to create a sustainable business model with student success, access and affordability at the forefront. The road map for the future is grounded in keeping costs as low as possible, while at the same time seeking new strategies to grow enrollments and continuing to deliver a world-class education that meets students’ changing expectations and preferences.
Additional Q&As in the series include topics on: