January 22, 2015

Board of Governors approves degrees to address critical workforce needs

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Continuing to focus on the Commonwealth’s critical workforce needs, the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education today approved four new academic programs, including a pair of degrees developed to help alleviate a statewide shortage of health care professionals.

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania will offer a master’s degree program designed to prepare physician assistants trained specifically to work in rural areas and with patients with special needs. Mansfield University of Pennsylvania will offer an online master’s degree program in nutrition to help meet the needs of a variety of health care and community organizations.

Clarion University of Pennsylvania will offer a degree completion program providing individuals with a two-year degree the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice administration. Millersville and Shippensburg Universities of Pennsylvania will offer a joint Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership degree designed primarily to prepare school administrators to become superintendents or to hold other advanced leadership positions.

“These program demonstrate the System’s responsiveness both to the interests of students and to the changing demands of the workforce,” said Board Chair Guido M. Pichini. “I commend each of the universities involved for their resourcefulness in these challenging times, as well as for their commitment to adapting their curriculum to meet the needs of both students and the Commonwealth.”

“It is essential that we as a System, working together, continually adapt and align our academic programming to respond to workforce demands,” said Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “These are more examples of our universities doing just that.”

The Master of Science in physician assistant studies program at Slippery Rock University will be taught in a regular classroom setting. It also will include clinical and related experiences required to achieve accreditation by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant and to prepare graduates to pass the national certification exam. Students must graduate from an accredited physician assistant program to sit for the exam, which they must pass before they can practice medicine.

The physician assistant program was developed to fill a shortage of health care providers both in the region and nationally, especially for patients with special needs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the health care industry will be responsible for about one-fourth of all new jobs created in the U.S. economy in future years. Employment growth will be driven by an aging population and longer life expectancies, as well as the development of new treatments and technologies.

Slippery Rock offers several programs that provide health and clinically based education, including a doctorate in physical therapy and bachelor’s degrees in athletic training and nursing. The university has several medical profession partnerships with health care providers in the region, including the Cleveland Clinic, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The program, which will begin in summer 2016 with an expected cohort of 52 students, was designed to be completed in two years. The primary clinical site will be with Butler Health Systems, whose chief medical officer, Dr. John Reefer, endorsed the new program in a videotaped message to the Board. Ralph Bommer, a junior biology major at SRU, also spoke on behalf of the program, in which he hopes to enroll.

The Master of Science in nutrition program at Mansfield University was designed primarily for working professionals seeking to advance their careers with health care organizations, community organizations, schools and in private practice. It will be offered totally online.

Students will be able to complete the program in two years by taking two courses per semester or in four years by taking one course per semester, including summers. Courses within the program will advance students’ nutrition knowledge, improve their ability to effectively lead nutrition programs, and enhance their ability to interpret and conduct nutrition research. A capstone project or thesis will contribute to professional practice as a nutritionist. The growing complexity of the field will soon require education beyond a bachelor’s degree, Linda Eck Mills, a registered dietician and charter fellow of the American Dietetic Association, told the Board in supporting the new program, which will begin this fall.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs for dietitians and nutritionists is expected to grow by 21 percent from 2012 to 2020. Job growth will result from an increasing emphasis on disease prevention through improved dietary habits. A growing and aging population will boost demand for nutritional counseling and treatment in hospitals, residential care facilities, schools, prisons, community health programs and home health care agencies.

The Bachelor of Science in criminal justice administration at Clarion University of Pennsylvania will provide individuals with a two-year degree the opportunity to complete a four-year degree online, providing them with upward career mobility within the various criminal justice occupational fields such as corrections and law enforcement and court-related services such as probation, parole and rehabilitation.

The online degree completion program will provide workers in the criminal justice field the flexibility to complete advanced coursework on a part-time basis that meets their schedules. That flexibility is essential to enable individuals to earn a necessary degree while retaining their current jobs, said Mike Cummings, CEO and president of Taylor Diversion Programs of Tionesta, which provides prevention/intervention programs for at-risk youth.

Students enrolled in the new program will study managerial theory, applied research and analysis, budget and finance, policy evaluation and analysis, legal liability, conflict resolution and professional ethics. The program, which will begin this summer, is designed for graduates of Clarion University’s Associate Degree in criminal justice program as well as for associate degree graduates of community colleges and other institutions of higher education.

The Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership degree to be offered jointly by Millersville and Shippensburg Universities of Pennsylvania will focus on issues that especially impact poor school districts. It will prepare future school leaders to work with students in a wide variety of educational settings, including online and other forms of technology-mediated instruction, as well as charter and alternative schools.

The program was designed to prepare rising school district, state level and organizational leaders for further career advancement. According to a recent study, there has been a nearly 50 percent turnover rate among school district superintendents in the state over the last four years. The program will be cohort driven and courses will be delivered in a blend of traditional, online and field-embedded formats, with most courses based at the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.

The new program, which will begin in the fall, will be a “great way to develop educational leaders who will work with students in poverty,” said Mark Leidy, superintendent of Mechanicsburg Area School District. A similar endorsement was provided by retired Solanco School District Superintendent Martin J. Hudacs.

For more information on any of the new programs, please contact the respective university.

Board approves four additional flexible tuition, fee proposals

The Board also approved today the latest round of flexible tuition and fee proposals submitted by three universities. Since January of last year, the Board has approved nearly two dozen proposals as two-year pilots. The programs will be evaluated over the two-year period to determine their effectiveness. If successful, the programs could be continued, and even duplicated at other universities.

Under the latest proposals:

•Bloomsburg and Indiana Universities of Pennsylvania will charge undergraduate students on a per-credit basis rather than a flat rate. Bloomsburg will implement the change beginning this fall; IUP also will implement the new tuition rate beginning this fall, but plans to phase in the change over three years.

•Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania will reduce tuition by 15 percent to active duty military students and eligible spouses who take courses online. The tuition discount will apply to members of all branches of the military – the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserves.

•Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania will establish a per-course fee for students enrolled in high-cost, high-demand science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health (STEM-H) programs. The fee, which will be phased in over four years, will be $90 for lower-level courses and $30 per credit for upper-level courses. It will be collected only on 100-level courses beginning this fall.

Board approves new collective bargaining agreement with campus police, security officers.

The Board approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the union that represents the approximately 225 campus police and security officers at the 14 State System universities. The new contract, which was ratified earlier by the members of the Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America, runs retroactive from Sept. 1, 2014 through Aug. 31, 2017.

The agreement includes a 2 percent general pay increase retroactive to Sept. 1 and an additional 1 percent increase effective Sept. 1, 2015. Members also will receive an automatic 2.25 percent “step” increase based on years of service, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2014. The new contract includes a wage reopener for 2016-17.

Employees participating in the State System’s wellness program will continue to contribute 15 percent of the cost of their health insurance premium. Non-participants will contribute 25 percent. Any future changes to the management benefits program will apply to the SPFPA members under a “me too” provision included in the contract. The contract also increases the amount of life insurance provided in the case of work-related accidental death from $10,000 to $25,000.

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 110,000 students. The 14 State System universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.

The 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.