Penn GSE News Archive

Peter Eckel said, “Part of the challenge is the complexity of the issues that university boards are facing. There is also a degree of unpredictability regarding short-term challenges, like enrollment and finances, endowments and financial resources, but also safety and security in the future. We don’t know if there’s going to be a new normal, a next normal, or return to normal.”

Jonathan Zimmerman wrote about efforts by those at both ends of the political spectrum to censor certain books in schools. “It’s too easy to mock the conservatives out in Alaska. It’s a lot harder to look in the mirror, and to ask whether we liberals might be imitating them,” he wrote. 

Robert Zemsky said, “It’s revenue pressure, and the sense that ‘if we’re the one that doesn’t open, we lose our share of the market permanently.’”

In his book The College Stress Test, Robert Zemsky predicted that 10% of private, liberal arts colleges in the U.S. were likely to close within the next five years. Now, with the pandemic’s damaging effects on school finances, his prediction has changed to 200 schools in the next year alone. 

"Teamwork has traditionally played a critical role in schools, and while many of us find ourselves physically isolated, our collaborative work with one another may be more important now than ever," Zachary Herrmann writes.

Peter Eckel and Turab Rizvi write that higher education institutions are well positioned to lead efforts beyond campus borders by advancing experts and their expertise, sharing excess capacity, and supporting community needs.

Karen Weaver talks through the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic on college athletics departments.