ThePennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors has voted unanimously to extend the contract of Chancellor Judy G. Hample to July 31, 2006.

Dr. Hample, who was hired by the Board in June 2001, has received successive one-year extensions to her contract. She initially was given a three-year “rolling contract,” which is subject to annual review.

Acting on behalf of the Board of Governors, I took the necessary steps earlier this spring to commence the annual review of the work of the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Annual reviews of the work of System leaders have become standard practice in higher education throughout the country, including periodic – though not annual – reviews that include more extensive feedback from the full range of System constituents. The review I requested this spring did include significant constituent consultation on the chancellor’s work.

The Board was fortunate to have secured the services of Dr. Jan Greenwood to conduct the review. Dr. Greenwood knows the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education well. She has worked closely with the System and its universities – particularly on executive searches – during former Chancellor McCormick’s tenure, as well as over the past two years. Dr. Greenwood knows well the issues, challenges and changes we have faced over many years.

At the direction of the Board of Governors, Chancellor Judy Hample has led the State System of Higher Education over the past two years through an extreme culture change. At a time when public higher education nationally has been facing very difficult fiscal challenges, Chancellor Hample was asked in her first two years in Pennsylvania to take action immediately to set the State System on a course to a higher level of excellence. The magnitude of that agenda and the pace of its implementation were unprecedented in our System and, based on the feedback we received, unprecedented nationally.

Chancellor Hample has been successful setting us on that course to a higher level of excellence. The push, supported by this Board, to lay the foundation for on-going progress has been largely implemented. The System is much better positioned to do its business in a way that ensures our universities will conduct their work more efficiently, with student interests firmly established as our top priority. At the same time, each of our 14 universities is better positioned to build on its unique distinctiveness to better serve students and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Our future work will remain focused on students, university excellence, Commonwealth service, and being faithful stewards of taxpayer dollars. Our approach to this work will include – it must include – the full engagement of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and trustees.

I believe strongly that Chancellor Judy G. Hample is the right leader for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. She has served us well, and we will be well served by her continued leadership. Therefore, it is my recommendation to the Board of Governors that we extend the term of Chancellor Hample’s contract by one year through July 31, 2006.

Statement of Chancellor Dr. Judy G. Hample:

I appreciate the fact that the Board sought opinions of constituent groups, along with their own assessments, and gave me the opportunity to have this feedback. We had good discussions and I learned a lot. It is always useful to have clarity on goals and expectations, and to know how others view our performance. I expect to be held accountable for high performance and supervisor evaluations and constituent feedback enhances the opportunities to excel.

Together, we have achieved many worthy objectives in the past two years, and we all have growing pains to show for the effort. Our commitment to excellence and progress can be no less. But the advantages of stronger connections and more interactions between the chancellor and all those who share a passion for public higher education must be capitalized.

In the upcoming academic year, we will work on a new strategic plan for the State System. University presidents, faculty, students, staff, trustees, alumni and System friends in the community must all be fully engaged in our strategic planning – and I will take personal responsibility to ensure that happens.

Students and their educations are my passion. I recognize that my enthusiasm to achieve quickly objectives that will result in a higher quality educational experience for students has the potential to cause others some discomfort with my leadership style. I ask all those who are making a difference in the lives of our students for understanding and patience. I will work even harder to ensure that System constituents experience inclusiveness and receptiveness to their ideas and suggestions.

In similar fashion, it is necessary to continue to pursue a systemic change agenda. These are difficult fiscal times, and it is imperative for the State System to continue simultaneously to enhance academic excellence, to remain affordable to students, and to serve the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.

Once again, I thank the Board for its feedback and on-going counsel. I am honored to be the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. I look forward to continuing the work of making a difference in the lives of young people.

With more than 101,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 375,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned 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 System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.