April 16, 1999
HIGHER ED LEADER TO ADDRESS SYSTEM TRUSTEES
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
A top executive with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) will speak about the challenges facing higher education in the year 2000 and beyond during a luncheon address to members of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT) Thursday in Hershey.
AGB executive vice president Richard Legon will talk about what he considers to be the “key forces shaping higher education today” during his appearance at PACT’s annual Spring conference being held April 22 and 23 at the Hotel Hershey.
Legon will discuss the fiscal uncertainty many institutions face in developing their annual budgets, the public’s growing demand for accountability and the shifting tide over affirmative action. He also will talk about the important role volunteers play in university operations, especially in the area of fund raising.
Legon has more than 25 years experience working with higher education and non-profit boards. He has been at AGB since 1983 and previously was director of development at Spertus College in Chicago and director of resources with several non-profit organizations.
AGB is a national organization whose mission is to advance the practice of citizen trusteeship and to help ensure the quality and success of higher education in the United States. It is affiliated with 1,800 public and private colleges and universities and helps serve the needs of 32,000 trustees, regents, presidents, chancellors, rectors, executive directors, board secretaries and senior administrators. The organization is based in Washington, D.C.
PACT comprises the 154 trustees representing the 14 state-owned universities. Each of the universities has an 11-member council of trustees that helps develop the institution’s policies.
The group’s Spring conference will include a variety of sessions designed to provide professional development and training opportunities for the trustees. The conference will open Thursday morning with a presentation on “Expectations of Trustees in State System Service” to be presented by Paula A. Vitz, acting director of the Boards and Commission Office of Gov. Tom Ridge.
Additional session topics to be presented on the opening day of the conference will include “The Legal Aspects of Trusteeship,” “The Annual Presidential Leadership Review Process” and “Understanding the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties.”
State System of Higher Education Chancellor James H. McCormick and his senior staff will address questions from trustee during the morning session on April 23. Afterward, Steven A. Pavlak, assistant vice chancellor for teacher preparation and interim director of the Pennsylvania Academy for the Profession of Teaching, will make a presentation titled “Opportunities for the State System in the Post Certification and Continuing Education of Teachers.”
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate and more than 100 graduate degree programs. Nearly 350,000 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 and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.