Some Commonwealth campuses have expanded their facilities in recent months, but members of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments say more work needs to be done.

"We Are Penn State Too" -- a list created by CCSG of minimum standards all Commonwealth campuses should have -- covers such areas as adequate classroom space, faculty and office space as well as the need for more library resources, advising centers and day care facilities. It also cites the lack of sufficient gym facilities, health center staff, student unions and parking availability.

Brian Donaldson, University Board of Trustee representative for CCSG and compiler of the listing, said the document was created primarily to help Commonwealth campuses gain full Penn State recognition.

"This whole list is to alert the trustees and the administration that University Park is not the only Penn State campus," Donaldson said.

The Allentown Campus has only one building, forcing students to drive 20 minutes away to attend some classes and travel to other colleges in order to use laboratory facilities, said Ron Fischer, CCSG's representative to the University Student Advisory Board.

At the Shenango Valley Campus, where 65 percent of the students are returning students, a great need exists for day-care facilities and academic advising during the evening hours, Fischer said.

"They just want the same rights they would get in the day," Fischer said.

"Though money has been allocated it has not yet been released," he added.

The library at the Shenango Valley Campus is comprised of three classrooms which are located on a second floor. A weak floor has forced staff to place the stacks of books around the edges of the classrooms for fear they will fall through to the first floor, Donaldson said.

Fischer said every campus has a definite need to expand office space for faculty, who are often forced to share small cubicles and encounter difficulty conducting research and advising students.

Richard Grubb, senior vice president and dean of the Commonwealth campuses, said "We Are Penn State Too" has played a role in helping the administration address certain issues.

The University recently purchased a building which will be used as a new library at the Shenango Valley campus, Grub said.

"CCSG and student government leaders have been helpful and we feel we are working in a partnership with CCSG," Grubb said.

All the campuses were surveyed in order to determine their areas of need. The results were then compiled and formally presented to the trustees last March, he said.

Student Trustee Christina Henke, said the "We Are Penn State Too" document and recent trustee visits to certain Commonwealth campuses "have brought home the point that the quality of resources at certain campuses needs to be improved."

The capping of enrollment at University Park and the increasing tendency to cut college costs by commuting emphasize the importance of addressing the adequacy of facilities at Commonwealth campuses, she said.

Because the document concretely spells out Commonwealth campus needs it has forced the administration to start researching and addressing specific concerns, Donaldson said.

Since its presentation, attention has started to shift toward the Commonwealth campuses and some progress has been made in terms of money allocation and increased renovations, said P.J. Sternberg, coordinator for CCSG.

The construction of new facilities, the formation of an academic advising task force and current work on the creation of a child care task force have grown out of the "We Are Penn State Too" document, Sternberg said.

"We Are Penn State Too" is intended to be a flexible document that can be revised and altered depending on the specific needs which may arise. Current research is being conducted in the area of access services for disabled students, Sternberg said.

Although many of the needs may appear similar to those of University Park students, Sternberg said University Park student leaders cannot represent commonwealth students because their concerns are indirectly different.

"You have to be at a Commonwealth campus and then come to University Park to see the difference," Sternberg said. "Even though concerns on the surface look the same, if you dig a little deeper they are different," he added.

While University Park may have the need for child-care facilities, the large number of adult students at certain Commonwealth campuses requires family care that would address such concerns as timing classes to a family schedule, Sternberg said.