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Report on the Board of Trustees Meeting

Try percentage of undergrad. We were discussing undergrad admissions.
You can look up the rest. Here’s the 2 you wanted originally.

Percent international students, undergrad-

Penn State- 12%

Michigan- 7%
 
You can look up the rest. Here’s the 2 you wanted originally.

Percent international students, undergrad-

Penn State- 12%

Michigan- 7%
The data I saw was the following which showed Michigan as 14.9 international. Regardless of the exact percentage the point is that PSU is no different than any other school with good engineering and other technical majors. It’s just the way of the world now and has been for quite some time, so get used to it.
College Factual ranks U-M as 10th out of 1,232 total colleges and universities for providing a quality educational experience to international students.
 
The data I saw was the following which showed Michigan as 14.9 international. Regardless of the exact percentage the point is that PSU is no different than any other school with good engineering and other technical majors. It’s just the way of the world now and has been for quite some time, so get used to it.
College Factual ranks U-M as 10th out of 1,232 total colleges and universities for providing a quality educational experience to international students.
Michigan was 14.95% in the original list of schools I posted (PSU was 16%). That was percent international students both undergrad and grad. You didn’t like those results and wanted just the undergrad numbers. That worked out to 7% at Michigan (compared with 12% at PSU).

I have no dog in the fight. I saw the discussion and just looked up the numbers to see what they really were (I had no idea). I picked a few representative schools from the ACC, Big Ten, PAC 12, and SEC. in the original list. The numbers are what they are.
 
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So no discussion on how we start securing 7 figure NIL opportunities for future QBs?
 
State schools or state related schools? Apples and oranges. BTW, there was no increase in tuition for several years for instate students. “Our efforts to keep a Penn State education accessible and affordable have placed us among the top tier of public flagship universities for the smallest overall increase in in-state tuition over the last decade.”
I've posted this twice before. Here's the link to check the data.

Here's a link to one of posts that you participated in so I know you've seen this data before yet you are in this thread stating something you know is not true. Is that a lie?

The numbers below do NOT include "FEES" as I couldn't quickly find them for past years. I love to see how, if any, fees changed during this period.

For University Park Campus

Fall 2018/Spring 2019.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $17,416. Tuition
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $20,780
Nursing Majors: $22,484
All Other Majors: $18,828

Fall 2020/Spring 2021.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $17,920
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $21,284
Nursing Majors: $22,988
All Other Majors: $19,332

Increase in Tuition during the time Brandon was on the BOT.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $504
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $504
Nursing Majors: $504
All Other Majors: $504

I guess $504 per year is close to no increase so perhaps Brandon thinks he's telling the truth?
 
I've posted this twice before. Here's the link to check the data.

Here's a link to one of posts that you participated in so I know you've seen this data before yet you are in this thread stating something you know is not true. Is that a lie?

The numbers below do NOT include "FEES" as I couldn't quickly find them for past years. I love to see how, if any, fees changed during this period.

For University Park Campus

Fall 2018/Spring 2019.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $17,416. Tuition
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $20,780
Nursing Majors: $22,484
All Other Majors: $18,828

Fall 2020/Spring 2021.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $17,920
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $21,284
Nursing Majors: $22,988
All Other Majors: $19,332

Increase in Tuition during the time Brandon was on the BOT.
Freshmen and Sophomores: $504
Juniors and Seniors:
Business and STEM Majors: $504
Nursing Majors: $504
All Other Majors: $504

I guess $504 per year is close to no increase so perhaps Brandon thinks he's telling the truth?

Brandon thinks that debt is a good thing, good for PSU, and good for the students.
 
Well I suppose getting published or attracting grant funds, winning new contracts, pulling in contributions, increasing research projects, attracting more alumni volunteers towards student enrichment efforts, and recruiting distinguished professors would be a few of the merit worthy endeavors worthy of compensation. And with what’s happened during Covid I imagine performing certain technological advances to ensure the delivery of academic progress for 35,000 students remotely while maximizing the safety of the health issues is something which required a lot of planning, effort, and execution just as it has for most businesses across the country, perhaps even more so.

So what criteria is your business using to determine merit pay raises?
My company had no merit increases last year due to COVID with its impact on our bottom line and we also had to find new ways to do our business so there’s that.
 
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A lot of what you mentioned would be done in industry through cash awards not pay increases. There is a reason, pay increases are forever. Cash awards are incentives to keep doing what you are doing what you got the award. Merit pay increases usually have to do with continuous increases in job proficiency demonstrated over several years, increase in job responsibilities, and demonstrated job success over a number of years.
Is it your experience that in private industry a given individual's performance varies greatly from year to year? My experience in my job is that most high performer are always high performers (barring some unforeseen issue outside of the office, e.g. divorce, family death/illness etc, that might cause a temporary setback). As such, raises (which are forever) are fine. Because you are rewarding the people who are doing good job consistently.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to report on my first meeting as a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees.

During the public session, several matters were discussed:
  1. The return to on-campus learning;
  2. An expansion project at the Hershey Medical Center to provide private acute care patient rooms;
  3. The replacement of Erie Hall at Penn State’s Erie Campus;
  4. The renovation and expansion of the PAW Center at Penn State’s Dubois Campus;
  5. The operating budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year;
  6. A request for an increase in tuition; and
  7. A proposal regarding the revocation of university awards or distinctions.
The materials regarding the request for a tuition increase can be found online from the Penn State University Budget Office.

Let me explain my votes:
  1. I voted for the replacement of Erie Hall on the Erie Campus. The building being replaced is costly to maintain, is beyond its life expectancy, and does not provide appropriate services for our students at the Erie Campus. There has been a strong increase in applications for the Erie Campus, and its future is bright;
  2. I also voted for the renovation and expansion of the PAW Center at our Dubois Campus for similar reasons that I voted for the replacement of Erie Hall;
  3. Although I was in favor of merit raises for faculty and staff, I voted against the overall budget, a 2.5% increase in tuition for in-state students and a 2.75% increase in tuition for out-of-state students; and
  4. I voted against the proposal regarding the revocation of university awards or distinctions, which gave unbridled discretion to the Penn State President. My vote expressed my belief the Board of Trustees as a whole would be better served maintaining the right, conferred by the Bylaws, to withdraw honors bestowed by the Board of Trustees.
As I promised during my campaign, I will regularly report to the Penn State Alumni and the entire Penn State community regarding Board meetings. This was my first Board meeting. I worked so hard in preparation for it and look forward to serving the Penn State community.
Thank you for this Alvin. This is exactly why I voted for you!
 
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State schools or state related schools? Apples and oranges. BTW, there was no increase in tuition for several years for instate students. “Our efforts to keep a Penn State education accessible and affordable have placed us among the top tier of public flagship universities for the smallest overall increase in in-state tuition over the last decade.”
Penn State is too expensive relative to other schools of similar character.
I am aware of how little support the Commonwealth gives relative to others of similar character.
But so what= it is too expensive.
 
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Penn State is too expensive relative to other schools of similar character.
I am aware of how little support the Commonwealth gives relative to others of similar character.
But so what= it is too expensive.

I'd be wary of buying into the narrative that PSU gets horrible support from the Commonwealth. They've got their accounting gimmicks that they use when it's time to make that number look artificially low.
 
Well, if it’s good enough for Alexander Hamilton…

Short probably thinks the same thing, but in Hamilton's day the Federal budget was less than a million dollars and there was no income tax.
 
Even though this message board consists of only a fractional percentage of the alumni base, it's nice to see a trustee using all possible forums to disseminate information. I agree with your votes and the logic behind them. Barron beat the drum about reducing tuition but as we all suspected, nothing ever came of it.

However, my concern about campus construction is the self dealing. Businesses owned by trustees or their family members should be barred from construction projects. Apparently conflicts of interest by board members are ignored.

I agree with your concern about self dealing. I will always speak up about conflicts of interest.
 
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I agree with your concern about self dealing. I will always speak up about conflicts of interest.
I appreciate your speaking up about it but more needs to be done. It needs to stop.

Confirming details from PSU is often impossible but, if what some have posted here about how much more expensive projects are at Penn St compared to similar projects elsewhere (? true??), and it’s BoT companies/ families/ friends profiting, it needs to stop.
 
I have just heard rumors, not official, that something might be brewing, but that's all I know.
Sounds like business as usual for the old guard BoT. You were asked to debate and vote on an issue yet ordinary board members only have rumors to go on and don’t know why something is being proposed?
 
Sounds like business as usual for the old guard BoT. You were asked to debate and vote on an issue yet ordinary board members only have rumors to go on and don’t know why something is being proposed?

I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding.

TRANSPARENCY. o_O
 
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I'd be wary of buying into the narrative that PSU gets horrible support from the Commonwealth. They've got their accounting gimmicks that they use when it's time to make that number look artificially low.
Show me please.
 
Penn State is too expensive relative to other schools of similar character.
I am aware of how little support the Commonwealth gives relative to others of similar character.
But so what= it is too expensive.

What are examples of "others of similar character?"
 
Even though the Hershey medical center is its own entity, when it's time for budgetary purposes it gets pulled in to the overall budget.

Shhh! Don’t tell the b1g that Hershey is a separate entity. We’ll lose our AAU status. Remember, AAU is the most important membership criterion to the b1g.

o_O
 
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