Penn State's Board of Trustees met on Friday, July 11, 2003, on the Penn State Hazleton campus. The following items were presented to the Board for action or informational purposes:
Penn State Board of Trustees meets today; President Spanier's remarks
Penn State's Board of Trustees is holding its regular, bi-monthly meeting today (July 11) at Penn State Hazleton. In his opening remarks to the board, President Graham B. Spanier touched upon the University's 2003-04 operating budget and tuition rate proposals, which will come before the board for approval later today, acknowledging the challenges the University faces with rising educational costs compounded by diminishing levels of state funding. He also discussed the University's recently completed Grand Destiny Campaign, medical advances at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, research achievements, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action and other current topics affecting the University. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3511
Trustees approve $2.55 billion budget for 2003-04
With Penn State's appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania still pending approval in the state legislature, the University's Board of Trustees today (July 11) moved forward on a 2003-04 operating budget plan of slightly more than $2.55 billion. The budget reflects an estimated 5 percent decrease in state funding. This would be the second consecutive year that Penn State would have its appropriation reduced, with total cuts over that period reaching $45 million. The proposed 2003-04 state appropriation of $306.4 million constitutes a record-low 12 percent of the University's overall budget, and is the equivalent of the University's 1998-99 appropriation level. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3509
State appropriation cuts spur 2003-04 tuition increase
Penn State will implement a basic 9.8 percent tuition increase - $394 per semester at University Park - for resident students for the 2003-04 academic year to help offset three years of cuts in state appropriation and significant cost increases, including an estimated 5 percent cut for the upcoming year that is pending in the state legislature. The increase for non-resident students at University Park will be 6.9% per year, or $591 per semester. The lower percentage increase for non-resident students is because they are expected to pay the full cost of their education, which is approximately double the resident tuition. This figure is not influenced by legislative appropriation. An aggressive internal effort to identify cost savings and increase non-tuition revenues will directly benefit students in the form of a tuition increase avoidance of 2.7 percent for the coming year - or more than $200 per year for all full-time students. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3510
'Historic' Grand Destiny Campaign raises $1.371 billion for Penn State
Penn State received a total of $1.371 billion in gifts and pledges during its seven-year Grand Destiny capital campaign, according to a report to the University's Board of Trustees today (July 11) by Rod Kirsch, vice president for development and alumni relations. The campaign, which had a $1.3 billion goal, ended June 30. Giving to Penn State increased during every year of the campaign, including fiscal year 2002-03. Penn State received more private support during the seven years of the campaign than it did in the 141 years between its founding in 1855 and 1996, when a total of $923 million was received. In addition, of the 319,664 campaign donors, 165,473 made gifts or pledges for the first time. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3513
Trustees approve naming of Penn State Erie's School of Business
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (July 11) approved the naming of the Sam and Irene Black School of Business at Penn State Erie, in recognition of the Black's gift of $20 million to the school -- the third largest gift in the University's history. The gift was received in March 1998, but because Sam and Irene Black desired no public recognition, the gift agreement respected their wish to remain anonymous. Last month, after more than five years of anonymity, Penn State Erie publicly recognized the $20 million estate gift given by the insurance entrepreneur and his wife. The gift will provide immediate and long-term benefits in scholarship aid, academic quality and innovation. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3517
Building plans for three campuses receive board approval
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (July 11) approved final plans for building projects that enhance a variety of programs on three campuses. At the University Park campus, a new 96,000-square-foot School of Forest Resources Building, the University's second certified sustainable and environmentally friendly project, will will rise from the current Parking Lot 80. At Penn State Erie, a 161,500-square-foot Research and Economic Development Center (REDC) will house the classrooms, labs and offices of the campus's School of Business and the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology. At Penn State York, a Library/Auditorium Building will be a four-story, 68,500-square-foot facility with a 1,000-seat auditorium, library and classrooms. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3519 and see artists' renderings of the buildings at http://live.psu.edu/still_life/07_11_03_buildings/index.html
Trustees approve property purchases and sale by University
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (July 11) approved three property purchases to benefit programs of the University Park and Altoona campuses, and the sale of Centre County property. The properties to be purchased include: a 4.77-acre site with a 4,000-square-foot lab facility in the CATO Industrial Park, Centre County; a 2.72-acre site with a large bank barn along Route 45 in Rock Springs, Centre County; and a 0.82-acre site adjacent to the Penn State Altoona campus along Juniata Gap Road, Blair County. The property to be sold includes two Ferguson Township, Centre County parcels, totaling 6.7 acres that were gifted to the University last month by Galen E. and Nancy J. Dreibelbis. The sale price is $575,000, with net proceeds funding a number of University endeavors at the request of the donors. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3520
Penn State Hazleton hosts Board of Trustees, showcases campus
With members of Penn State's Board of Trustees and administration at Penn State Hazleton today (July 11) for one of its six annual meetings, campus executive officer John Madden took the opportunity to provide an overview of the campus and discuss its future as "an educational resource to our community and a voice for collaboration throughout northeast Pennsylvania." In a report to the board, Madden cited a variety of upcoming changes and enhancements on campus, including a new information technology facility, and outlined short- and long-term goals for the Hazleton campus in areas such as enrollment, programming and community services. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3512
Eckel, Peechatka re-elected to agricultural law center board
Keith W. Eckel and Walter N. Peechatka, both members of Penn State's Board of Trustees, were each re-elected today (July 11) to serve an additional one-year term as a director of the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center of The Dickinson School of Law. The center was established in 1998, following the 1997 merger of The Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, with Penn State. It is designed to provide the highest-quality educational programs, information and materials to those involved or interested in the agricultural industry. The center is a collaboration between the law school and the University's College of Agricultural Sciences, and is funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/3516
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To review past board actions, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/topics/bot.html