PennWest presidential search narrowed down to 3 candidates

The search for a leader who can quell enrollment and financial woes at Western Pennsylvania’s largest state-owned university has narrowed to three people.

Still in the running for the presidency of Pennsylvania Western University are:

• Jon Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs/professor at Southern Utah University (Cedar City, Utah).

• Philip Cavalier, interim chancellor at University of Tennessee at Martin (Martin, Tenn.).

• Wade Weast, founding dean, College of the Arts at Georgia State University (Atlanta).

PennWest released the names of the three late Friday in advance of expected campus visits by them next week. They would succeed Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, who stepped away from the job in February 2023, leaving the campus with an interim president for 14 months.

A search committee reviewed 35 applications and conducted 11 interviews.

“The search committee worked diligently through a robust applicant pool to identify three highly qualified and experienced leaders who are poised to lead our institution forward,” said Larry Maggi, the PennWest trustee who is search committee chair.

The 26-member search panel is composed of representatives of PennWest’s student body, faculty, staff, alumni and other stakeholders. Since beginning its work in January, the committee has gathered input from a wide range of university constituencies.

The campus visits, beginning Monday, will enable students, faculty, staff, and community members to meet each of the candidates and provide feedback.

Details on the campus visits and information on the candidates are posted on the presidential website.

Two finalists from the three are expected to be forwarded by the PennWest Council of Trustees to the State System of Higher Education.

The goal is to name a new president by the end of June.

PennWest was created in July 2022 by the mergers of what had been separate State System of Higher Education universities at California, Clarion and Edinboro.

The three, with histories dating back a century and a half, continue to work toward fully assimilating course offerings, both in person and online, and strengthening student advising and other services on the three campuses hundreds of highway miles apart.

Last month, PennWest posted to its website a 27-page presidential prospectus outlining characteristics being sought in what leaders say is a crucial leadership search for the institution.

Its new leader will be tasked with navigating PennWest through a soft higher education market, in particular for campuses in the Northeast and Midwest with fewer high school graduates. That and worries about rising prices, student debt and the merits of a four-year education versus trade school have depressed student numbers.

As of last fall, PennWest enrolled 11,305 students. That’s 22%, or 3,172 students, smaller than the 14,477 students that California, Clarion and Edinboro universities attracted in 2021 before they were merged.

Across the State System, enrollment stands at about 83,000, down from nearly 120,000 in 2010.

But like the rest of the State System, PennWest has gained a price advantage of late. Tuition there and across the State System in the last six years has remained at $7,716 for Pennsylvania residents, which is about a third what state-related universities, including the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State, charge.

Kenneth Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, reacted to the announcement Friday.

“My only comment is that I hope that our faculty and the students on the three campuses have a full opportunity to fairly vet the candidates,’” he said.

Interim PennWest President R. Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky is set to leave office in July for the presidency of West Chester University.

In addition to PennWest and West Chester, the 10 State System universities include Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock University in the west, and Cheyney, Commonwealth University (Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Mansfield), East Stroudsburg University, Kutztown University, Millersville University and Shippensburg University.