October 09, 1998
SYSTEM TRUSTEES TO HOLD FALL CONFERENCE AT CALIFORNIA
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT) will hold its Fall Conference Oct. 15 and 16 at the Elmo Natali Student Center on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania.
Conference attendees will participate in a series of workshops and panel discussions with university officials and government and business leaders during the two-day event.
PACT comprises the 154 trustees representing the 14 state-owned universities. Each of the universities has an 11-member council of trustees, which assists in the governance of the institutions.
The conference will open with a business meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday. At the conclusion of the meeting, PACT President Van Peterson, vice chair of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees, will welcome conference participants.
A series of four workshops will follow. Topics are health systems and biomedical needs; travel, tourism and hospitality; innovation-based industries; and administration and financial services. In the afternoon, Richard H. Webb, interim vice president for university advancement at California, will lead a presentation on the university’s economic development initiatives.
The trustees’ organization will present its annual service award to higher education to Samuel J. Johnson at a dinner Thursday evening in the grand hall of California’s Old Main. A former trustee at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and a former PACT secretary, Mr. Johnson was instrumental in drafting the legislation that created the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. He also was the first African American to earn a doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
On Friday morning a panel will discuss Systemwide efforts in the areas of continuous improvement and systemic change. The conference then will conclude with an open forum featuring State System Chancellor James H. McCormick and members of his senior staff.
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Nearly 350,000 alumni of State System universities 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.