Institutional Corruption Defined
As we saw in last
week’s blog post, institutional corruption…
“is manifest when
there is a systemic and strategic influence which is legal, or even currently ethical, that
undermines the institution’s effectiveness by diverting it from its purpose or
weakening its ability to achieve its purpose, including, to the extent
relevant to its purpose, weakening either the public’s trust in that
institution or the institution’s inherent trustworthiness.” (Emphasis added.)
We will look at the
PASSHE system of fourteen universities—and especially the governance of that
system by the Board of Governors in Harrisburg and the fourteen Councils of
Trustees at the individual PASSHE campuses—by focusing on Board of Governors’ decisions
in light of the above definition.
The fourteen
universities include Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg,
Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg,
Slippery Rock and West Chester.
PASSHE’s Ability
to Achieve its Purpose
The essence of the above definition of institutional corruption involves
an institution’s “ability to achieve its purpose.” To begin with, it goes without saying that, if
an institution is actually achieving its purpose, its leadership could never be
legitimately accused of engaging in institutional corruption.
But conversely, if an institution is clearly failing to achieve it
purpose, its leadership can legitimately be suspected of engaging in
institutional corruption.
As we will show, a suspicion of institutional corruption is clearly
warranted in the case of PASSHE’s leadership decisions since the year 2002, and
continuing right up to the present moment.
The Purpose of the
PASSHE System of Fourteen Universities
The purpose of the PASSHE system of fourteen universities is specified in
its enabling legislation, Act 188 of 1982, Section 20-2003-A, Purposes and
General Powers, which reads¹ as follows:
“(a) The
State System of Higher Education shall be part of the Commonwealth’s system of
higher
education. Its purpose shall be to provide high quality education at the
lowest
possible cost to
the students.”
(Emphasis added.)
Compelling evidence for PASSHE’s failure to achieve its statutory
purpose since 2002 may be seen in the two attached charts: The first chart² shows
that during the first thirty years of PASSHE’s existence between 1984 and 2013,
PASSHE’s educational quality has been steadily declining since 2002; the second
chart³ shows that a PASSHE education is not being delivered by the Board of
Governors to PASSHE students at anything like the lowest possible cost to
students.
Detailed discussion of the evidence behind these assertions is found in Privatization Without a Plan: A Failure of
Leadership in Pennsylvania Public Higher Education.⁴
A Systemic and Strategic Influence
The above definition
of institutional corruption also includes reference to “a systemic and
strategic influence…that undermines the institution’s effectiveness by diverting
it from its purpose.”
In PASSHE’s case, the
BOG’s Act 188-defying decision-making since 2002 has been providing the “systemic
and strategic influence that undermines PASSHE’s effectiveness by diverting it
from its purpose,” which is to provide “high quality education at the lowest
possible cost to the students.”
The Board of
Governors exerts absolute control over the PASSHE system of fourteen
universities in ways that are both “systemic and strategic.”
BOG control is systemic
in that the fourteen PASSHE presidents report on a daily basis, not to their local
Council of Trustees, but to the PASSHE Chancellor—who reports directly to the
Board of Governors.
BOG control is strategic
in that the overall direction of the PASSHE universities is dictated by the
Board of Governors, who directs the Chancellor to direct the presidents to
follow the BOG’s strategic plan.
PASSHE’s History Regarding Strategic
Plans
For PASHE’s first 25 years
of existence (1984 to 2009), the Board of Governors operated with a series of
strategic plans that were sufficiently detailed to provide all PASSHE
stakeholders with guidance as to where PASSHE was headed, and what everyone’s
role in that ambitious educational journey would be.
But as described in
previous blog posts, the PASSHE Board of Governors then operated for some five
years (2009 to 2014) with no strategic plan whatsoever!
During those years,
the fourteen universities experienced a period of organizational “drift” during
which the PASSHE presidents, I included, were left with little idea of what direction
we were to pursue or which major goals we were to achieve.
Then after five years
with no strategic plan, on January 23, 2014 the PASSHE Board of Governors suddenly
announced its new 16-page plan⁵ entitled “Strategic
Plan 2020: Rising to the Challenge.”
PASSHE’s New “Purpose” Defies Act-188
and Espouses a Totally Different Direction and Set of Goals
Recall that PASSHE’s
statutory purpose from Act 188 is to provide “high quality education at the
lowest possible cost to the students.”
Recall also that there is compelling evidence that the Board of
Governors has failed to deliver Act 188’s statutory purpose to the PASSHE
students since 2002.
Prior to 2014, all of
PASSHE’s previous strategic plans, including “Leading the Way” which expired in
2009, were faithful to Act 188’s purpose of “high quality at the lowest
possible cost to the students.”
But the Board of Governors’ new “Strategic Plan 2020” avoids
any mention of those ten words!
PASSHE’s Strategic Plan
“2020: Rising to the Challenge” portends a future more sinister than drift
alone—this plan ignores Act 188’s statutory vision and replaces it with its own
narcissistic vision:
“The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education seeks
to be among the nation’s leading systems of public universities recognized for
(1) excellence, relevance, and value in education; and (2) responsiveness to
regional, state, and national needs through its programs, service, scholarship,
and research.”²
Note that the word “student” never appears in the PASSHE
Board of Governors’ new Vision Statement!
The Board of Governors has
made it official—the fourteen universities are no longer about the PASSHE
students; they are about the elected and appointed officials who control them.
To be continued.
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