Bill Schackner stories, Page 3
St. Margaret Mary Parish Festival continues the tradition
The St. Margaret Mary Parish Festival of Friendship capped off its annual two-day fundraiser on Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. on parish grounds in Lower Burrell. A summer tradition stretching back decades, the event featured kids’ rides such as the inflatable whip and train, as well as other youthful...
Country star surprises Harrison girl who raised funds for police dog — buys the K-9 for Tarentum himself
Two songs into a concert Friday night to raise money so Tarentum could acquire a police dog, country music star Brian Kelley summoned to the stage the young girl from Harrison who had spearheaded the benefit. That’s when things really got interesting. After all, Kaley Bastine, 12, her parents and...
FAFSA forms again delayed for many after last year’s troubled rollout
As fall classes approach, a problem-plagued rollout of the federal government’s revised FAFSA — the form needed to secure financial aid — could pose more trouble and slow some college students’ ability to pay bills. The latest glitch is being felt as the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday announced...
Grove City College president to retire
Paul J. McNulty, whose tenure as Grove City College president has seen campus growth on multiple fronts, will retire after the 2024-25 academic year, school officials announced Tuesday. McNulty, a 1980 graduate of the Christian liberal arts and sciences college, returned to his alma mater after a 30-year law career...
6,300 University of Pittsburgh staffers gain chance to join Steelworkers union
For University of Pittsburgh staff who watched as 3,400 faculty colleagues gained collective bargaining rights a few years back, what’s coming in the mail soon represents their own moment of choice. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board will oversee another union election at Pitt. This time, it’s for 6,300 staff. Ballots...
Douglas R. Nowicki, former longtime archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey, dies
Douglas R. Nowicki, OSB, retired longtime archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey and chancellor of Saint Vincent College and Seminary in Latrobe, has died, officials confirmed Wednesday. His death Tuesday evening at age 79 in Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh followed a brief illness. Nowicki was the 11th and second longest-serving...
Chancellor of State System of Higher Education announces resignation
Daniel Greenstein, chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, is resigning this fall after a transformative six-year tenure that saw controversial campus mergers, a historic jump in state university funding, and no tuition increases. Greenstein notified the system’s Board of Governors on Monday of his intention to leave, effective...
New PennWest president reveals ‘secret sauce’ of W.Pa.’s second largest public university
Pennsylvania Western University’s new president had this to say Monday about the struggles preceding him to merge three century-and-a-half-old institutions with proud histories into one: “Integration is really tough,” Jon Anderson said. But the 50-year-old educator from Utah, who became PennWest’s chief executive on July 1, nonetheless is bullish on...
Penn State main campus students face tuition hike; price at branch campuses still frozen
Pennsylvanians attending Penn State University’s main campus a year from now will pay 2% more in undergraduate tuition, while in-state branch campus undergraduates will see no increase for a third straight year. The university’s Board of Trustees Friday approved those and other rates in adopting a $9.9 billion budget for...
Carnegie Mellon professor claims Trump shooting ‘was staged’
A Carnegie Mellon University professor, who in 2022 sparked a furor with her social media post wishing a dying Queen Elizabeth II “excruciating” pain, offered this take on Saturday’s attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life: “It was staged,” Uju Anya posted to the social media platform X. Anya, an...
State System of Higher Education freezes tuition for 6th straight year
Tuition across Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities will not increase this fall as the State System of Higher Education on Wednesday approved a sixth consecutive tuition freeze, this one for 2024-25. During a special meeting, held virtually, the State System’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to keep full-time undergraduate tuition for...
Proposed IUP medical school picks up $2M donation
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has picked up another $2 million toward its proposed college of osteopathic medicine, campus officials announced Tuesday. It comes from Tim and Debra Phillips Cejka, IUP graduates and longtime campus supporters. In remarks prepared for the gift’s announcement, Tim Cejka told his alma mater that the...
Under mounting pressures, small private colleges across Pa. close their doorsVideo
A wave of small private college closures in Pennsylvania that already upended career plans of students from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia has claimed another institution. Clarks Summit University, a 92-year-old Baptist college founded during the Great Depression, is shuttering its Lackawanna County campus amid worsening financial and enrollment woes. Enrollment that...
Duquesne renames law library for Ken Gormley at major donor’s request
The law library at Duquesne University is being renamed for the university president and former dean of its law school, Ken Gormley. Campus officials on Monday said the name change was requested by renowned trial attorney and Duquesne law school alumnus Thomas R. Kline, who in September 2022 made a...
Penn State reaches tentative deal with union days after Teamsters OK strike
Union members will vote in the coming weeks on a tentative contract agreement with management covering 2,500 employees on Penn State University branches statewide and the main University Park campus. The deal, if ratified, could offer a measure of labor peace at a time of heightened workplace anxiety across Penn...
Pitt looks to add 3,200 students to Oakland campus, Chancellor Joan Gabel says
The University of Pittsburgh aims to increase enrollment at the main Oakland campus by about 3,200 students or 11% in five years and likely will add faculty and undergraduate housing. The ambitious goal, contained in the school’s updated strategic plan, could bring Oakland enrollment to nearly 33,000 — its highest...
Penn State technical service union members authorize strike — if needed
Members of a union representing about 2,500 employees at Penn State University campuses statewide — including Western Pennsylvania branches — voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if needed, the union’s leader said Wednesday. Talks aimed at reaching a deal before the current pact expires Sunday are...
IUP inks deal with Punxsutawney Area Hospital for medical school
Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Monday signed an affiliation agreement with Punxsutawney Area Hospital to provide clinical training to students of IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine. Having access to clinical settings is among the requirements to be accredited by the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. The...
FAFSA delays continue to disrupt admissions at some colleges
For years, Slippery Rock University has held its own in a slumping student market, and its leaders anticipate another strong fall aided by a third consecutive increase in first-year students. But as that cautiously optimistic forecast was conveyed to school trustees in recent days, one unsettling statistic stood out. With...
New Pitt officers’ salaries top out at $630K with a $50K signing bonus
The University of Pittsburgh on Friday set salaries ranging from $300,000 to $630,000 for three new officers hired under Chancellor Joan Gabel and approved a retention bonus for a fourth officer predating her tenure. Two of the new hires will start at pay levels topping their predecessors who served in...
Proposed IUP medical school gets $20M pledge from foundation, support from Pa. legislators
A college of osteopathic medicine proposed by Indiana University of Pennsylvania has secured a $20 million commitment from its foundation, the largest gift toward the initiative to date. In announcing the commitment Monday, the Foundation for Indiana University of Pennsylvania said its board is unanimous in support for what would...
Penn State restructures branch campuses, including New Kensington and Fayette
Penn State University is switching to a regional model of overseeing many of its branch campuses and will bring New Kensington and Fayette under the direction of Chancellor Megan Nagel at the Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport. It is the latest in a series of moves to confront sharp declines...
‘It was gaslighting’: Students upset over Pittsburgh Technical College closure
Bryce Bladen of Gettysburg didn’t mince words Tuesday about having moved across state to pursue a degree in graphic design at Pittsburgh Technical College — a degree he suddenly must finish elsewhere. “It was gaslighting,” the 20-year-old said of what turned out to be dubious reassurances. For months, college leaders...
Details of proposed Pa. higher education board tucked into legislation
A new state Board of Higher Education as proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro would consist of 15 voting members, one from each sector of postsecondary education, plus government, business, labor and student representatives. Details are contained in twin pieces of legislation introduced Monday by Sen. Jay Costa Jr. , D-Forest...
Pa. lawmakers introduce bills to advance Shapiro’s higher education overhaul
Two Democratic lawmakers, one in the House and one in the Senate, are introducing legislation to advance Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposals to reimagine Pennsylvania’s higher education system. The system has long been criticized as underfunded by the state and too expensive for students. The governor on Friday announced the introduction...
