Search continues for new Penn West president
With the departure of the interim president of Pennsylvania Western University soon approaching, the search for a new leader is ramping up.
A 26-member search committee, led by Washington County Commissioner and Penn West trustee Larry Maggi, is narrowing the field of candidates to interview as interim President R. Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky prepares to leave June 30 to assume the presidency at West Chester University.
“Right now, we’re sifting through the applications and picking who we’re going to interview,” Maggi said Monday. “We’re getting ready for a first round of interviews. It’s a deliberate pace because confidentiality is really important. There’s a lot of people applying who may not be sure they want to make that move or not at this point.”
Using feedback from stakeholders at each of the university’s campuses in California, Edinboro and Clarion, a 27-page prospectus, available on Penn West’s website, was developed to outline the qualities necessary for the position.
The incoming president will be faced with numerous challenges, most notably reversing a decline in enrollment.
“That was close to the top concern of most of the stakeholders, that the person who comes in has to have enrollment as a top priority,” Maggi said. “It’s a changing demographic, a changing market for education. We have to be on the cutting edge in that matter.”
While enrollment figures for the spring 2024 term were not available, all three campuses have seen declines since the three merged in July 2022.
For the fall 2023 semester, PennWest enrollment was 11,305, compared to 12,780 in 2022 and 14,477 in 2021, the last before the merger. The 11.5% decline of total enrollment was the largest of any Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) school. The decline was much steeper in first-time students – 20.5%, from 2,035 students in 2022 to 1,617 this past fall.
As recently as 2013, the three schools had a combined enrollment of 21,421.
Bernotsky was appointed interim president in July 2023, when Dr. Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, PennWest’s founding president, transitioned to a role with PASSHE as President-in-Residence and CEO for PennWest Investment.
In the event a new president is not named prior to Bernotsky’s June departure, an acting or interim president will be appointed.
“This is a unique search,” Maggi said. “I think this may be the first of its kind in the country. We consolidated three separate campuses into one. It is a formidable charge to find the right person and I think when that person is selected, it’s going to be a formidable challenge for that person. He or she will be a trailblazer.”