February 22, 2017
State System’s Board of Governors approves line of credit for Cheyney University
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education today
unanimously approved a new line of credit to help ensure Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s
continued operation. The $8 million line of credit will help Cheyney University meet
its financial obligations while requiring a new institutional model that ensures it
can balance its own budget in the future.
The Board also authorized the creation of a task force to develop recommendations
for that new model for the university. The task force will be co-chaired by a member
of the Board of Governors and a member of Cheyney University’s Council of Trustees
and will seek input from an advisory group of constituents, including students, faculty,
staff, alumni, community leaders and elected officials. It will make its preliminary
recommendations by May 1.
The task force will begin its work as the State System undertakes a broader strategic
review that seeks solutions to ensure every university within the System is operationally
and financially sound.
“Cheyney University is important to the future of our System and our Commonwealth,”
said Board Chairwoman Cynthia D. Shapira. “We on the Board of Governors and the Chancellor
are committed to the long-term success of Cheyney, and to that of the entire State
System of Higher Education. To achieve that success, Cheyney must develop a focused
mission that enables it to serve an important role in higher education today and in
the years ahead, and to do so while balancing its budget and living within its means—something
we expect of every university.
“We will work hand-in-hand with Cheyney’s Council of Trustees through the newly announced
task force to help develop a new institutional model for the university that will
ensure its success through operational and fiscal sustainability. Our students, our
System and our Commonwealth deserve no less.”
Any additional assistance Cheyney will receive in the future will be contingent upon
the development of a new institutional model “with a focused mission that builds on
the success of the Keystone Academy, ensures operational and financial stability,
and includes an aggressive timeline for implementation.” The Keystone Academy at Cheyney
serves high-achieving students, many of them first-generation college students, from
Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth, enrolling more than 100,000 degree-seeking students
and thousands more 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.