Current:Home > ContactChancellor who led Pennsylvania’s university system through consolidation to leave in the fall -ProgressCapital
Chancellor who led Pennsylvania’s university system through consolidation to leave in the fall
View
Date:2025-04-11 23:05:34
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Daniel Greenstein, who led Pennsylvania’s state-owned university system for six years through the challenge of consolidating and adapting to a changing higher education landscape, will leave the chancellor’s post in October, he announced Tuesday.
In an online post, Greenstein said he informed the board of governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education that he will leave the job Oct. 11, calling it “one of the most challenging decisions” of his career.
“It is an honor and a privilege to serve you as chancellor,” he wrote. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity, the collegiality, the camaraderie, and the progress we have made.”
Greenstein said he had taken a new job that he called a “compelling opportunity” to work in higher education nationally.
Higher education, beset by declining enrollments, is struggling, he said.
“The risks are profound. The crises are real,” he wrote. “And the students — the people — that I care about the most are in danger of being left further behind.”
At an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said Greenstein had done an “outstanding job.”
He also said he expected the system’s chair, Cynthia Shapira, will assemble a national search to bring in a new chancellor.
Greenstein was hired in 2018 by then-Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.
He had previously worked as a senior adviser with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as vice provost in the University of California system.
In Pennsylvania, Greenstein took over a university system suffering steep enrollment declines and oversaw the consolidation of the 14-university system into 10 schools.
He sought to make degrees more affordable by helping students graduate quicker, imposing a series of tuition freezes and adapting class offerings into an integrated whole across the system, rather than by campus.
Greenstein repeatedly warned that Pennsylvania is not graduating enough college students to keep up with demand, putting the state at risk of losing industries that go elsewhere in search of talent.
He also pressed skeptical state lawmakers for more aid. Eventually, lawmakers loosened the budget strings, approving hundreds of millions of dollars in increases the last three years.
Rep. Jesse Topper, of Bedford, the ranking Republican on the House Education Committee, said Greenstein’s leadership had been “transformational.”
Greenstein demonstrated that he could make tough decisions that were apolitical, focused on helping students and moving the system in the right direction, Topper said.
The increased funding has a direct correlation to the confidence that Greenstein restored among lawmakers in the university system, he said.
“The chancellor, one of his legacies will be the restoration of trust between members of the General Assembly and the system,” Topper said. “And that’s reflected in the appropriations.”
The system, founded in 1983, saw its enrollment peak at about 119,500 students in 2010, and dipped to below 83,000 last fall, according to system figures.
___
Follow Marc Levy at www.twitter.com/timelywriter.
veryGood! (345)
Related
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate picks out-of-state team to win NCAA tournament
- Cruise ship stranded in 2019 could have been one of the worst disasters at sea, officials say
- Kentucky governor appoints new commissioner to run the state’s troubled juvenile justice department
- Your Wedding Guests Will Thank You if You Get Married at These All-Inclusive Resorts
- Hermes lawsuit claims luxury retailer reserves its famed Birkin bags only for its biggest spenders
- US wants to ban TikTok, but First Amendment demands stronger case on national security
- Hot air balloon crashes into powerlines near Minnesota highway, basket and 3 passengers fall
- The 'Rebel Ridge' trailer is here: Get an exclusive first look at Netflix movie
- 70 million Americans drink water from systems reporting PFAS to EPA | The Excerpt
Ranking
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Human remains found in 1979 in Chicago suburb identified through DNA, forensic genealogy
- A kayaker drowned on a Missouri lake, and two others are missing
- Wisconsin GOP leader says Trump backers seeking to recall him don’t have enough signatures
- Hidden Home Gems From Kohl's That Will Give Your Space a Stylish Refresh for Less
- Meeting the mother of my foster son changed my mind about addiction – and my life
- Get 54% Off Tanning Drops Recommended by Kourtney Kardashian, a $100 Abercrombie Shacket for $39 & More
- What is gambling addiction and how widespread is it in the US?
Recommendation
What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
A third man is now charged with murder in the Kansas City Super Bowl rally shooting
What is gambling addiction and how widespread is it in the US?
U.S. hits Apple with landmark antitrust suit, accusing tech giant of stifling competition
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
CVS CEO Karen Lynch on decision to carry the abortion pill, cybersecurity threats
Riley Strain’s Stepfather Details Difficult Family Conversations Amid Search Efforts
Mortgage rates unlikely to dip after Fed meeting leaves rates unchanged