October 13, 2016
Board of Governors approves major policy revisions to ease student transfers, enhance significance and relevance of general education requirements
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education has approved
a trio of policy revisions that will make it easier for students to transfer to and
among any of the State System universities; will update and strengthen the universities’
general education requirements; and will require that all academic programs are regularly
reviewed to ensure they comply with accreditation standards and continue to meet student
and employer needs.
“We worked closely with university faculty and leaders on these critically important
changes as we continue to modernize the State System. Most important, these changes
will directly benefit students,” said Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “They will help
to ease students’ arrival on campus, enhance their overall learning experience, keep
them on track toward timely graduation and help to ensure the relevancy of their degrees.”
The revisions to the State System’s student transfer policy were designed to facilitate
the transfer of both undergraduate and graduate students and their prior learning
experiences and to ensure no unnecessary duplication of coursework as transfer students
pursue a bachelor’s or graduate degree.
“With more than a quarter of our new student population being transfer students, recognizing
the integrity of their prior learning experience is the right thing to do, especially
for adult learners and our military affiliated students and veterans,” said Kathleen
Howley, deputy vice chancellor for academic and student affairs.
The revised policy also formalizes the “reverse transfer” agreement signed earlier this year among the State System universities and community colleges. The agreement enables students who earned college-level credits from a Pennsylvania community college before transferring to a State System university to earn an associate degree or other credential by “reverse transferring” their current State System university credits back to their community college. Under the policy, students who already have earned an associate degree at a Pennsylvania community college are guaranteed admission to a State System university.
The policy revisions will take effect no later than fall 2017.
The revised general education requirements, which will take effect in fall 2018, reaffirm
the significance and value of general education and align with standards established
by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the State System universities’
main accrediting agency. Students seeking a bachelor’s degree will be required to
complete from 40 to 48 general education credits, while those seeking an associate
degree must complete up to 30 credits.
The revised policy will focus on essential student learning outcomes and employability
skills rather than on a menu of specific courses. The requirements are intended to
ensure students acquire and demonstrate a variety of essential skills, including oral
and written communication; scientific and quantitative reasoning; critical analysis
and reasoning; technological competency; information literacy; intercultural knowledge
and competency; and values, ethics and diverse perspectives.
The revisions to the program review policy were developed primarily to align with
the recent changes to the regional accreditation standards and to continue to “assure
deliberate and continuous attention to the quality” of all academic programs offered
by the State System universities. All academic programs are subject to review at
least once every five years.
Board receives latest additions to Workforce Intelligence Toolkit
The Board of Governors has received the latest additions to the Workforce Intelligence Toolkit, which was developed to provide the universities with resources and services they can use to help them align their programming with the Commonwealth’s workforce needs and to ensure every State System student has a career-plan as they go through college.
The Board of Governors has received the latest additions to the Workforce Intelligence Toolkit, which was developed to provide the universities with resources and services they can use to help them align their programming with the Commonwealth’s workforce needs and to ensure every State System student has a career-plan as they go through college.
Two sets of reports have been added to the toolkit, providing detailed information
on current workforce characteristics in each of five sub-regions of Pennsylvania as
well as projections for the future. The reports include a variety of key data, including
each area’s population, unemployment and poverty rates, educational attainment level,
employment level and projected job growth, by industry and occupation. The universities
will be able to use the projections as well as the accompanying supply/demand analysis
as they plan their academic offerings, while students will be able to use them to
identify majors with the greatest potential for career success.
The reports indicate that for Pennsylvania and its five regions, new job growth combined
with the need to replace workers who will retire or otherwise leave the workforce
will create nearly 1 million skilled job openings in the state through 2024. Those
occupations where the demand will be highest include accountants and auditors, registered
nurses, computer systems analysts and general and operations managers.
The healthcare field, in general, will continue to generate high demand. Occupational
therapy aides are projected to grow fast in every region. Other fast-growing healthcare
occupations will include exercise physiologists, podiatrists, nurse midwives, physical
therapy assistants and chiropractors.
The greatest gaps in the workforce—the shortage between the kinds of skilled workers
employers need and the number of graduates in those areas that colleges and universities
in the state are producing—are in the areas of healthcare and technical and support
operations, specifically registered nurses, accountants and auditors, dental hygienists,
sales representatives, computer systems analysts, healthcare social workers, software
developers, physical therapists and civil engineers.
A separate tool being developed for students is Career Coach, currently being piloted
at four State System universities—Bloomsburg, California, Edinboro and Millersville.
Career Coach allows students to tailor their academic program to match specific career
opportunities. The pilot programs are being funded through a grant from the Walmart
Foundation's Pennsylvania State Giving Program.
Pichini named chairman emeritus
Guido M. Pichini, who served as chair of the Board of Governors for five years, has been named chairman emeritus by his Board colleagues.
Guido M. Pichini, who served as chair of the Board of Governors for five years, has been named chairman emeritus by his Board colleagues.
Mr. Pichini, who first was appointed to the Board in June 2005, was elected chair
in July 2011 and was subsequently re-elected to four additional terms. A graduate
of what was then Kutztown State College, he was the first State System alumnus to
serve as Board chair.
In a resolution honoring his service as chair, Mr. Pichini was described as a “tireless
advocate for Pennsylvania’s public universities and all of higher education” who has
demonstrated “unrivaled passion for the State System; the universities; and, most
important, students.”
Mr. Pichini, who continues to serve on the Board of Governors, is the third Board
chair to receive emeriti status, following founding Board Chair F. Eugene Dixon Jr.
and Kenneth M. Jarin.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth, with more than 105,000 degree-seeking students and
thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs.
Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300
degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State
System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg,
Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery
Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate
branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield
(Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including
the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.