Mission Possible

Mergers a step toward fulfilling University goals

Education. Research. Service.

These are the three missions of the University. And last week, they came closer to being fulfilled.

In the past week, the University has made two efforts to fulfill its outreach mission, as a service to the state and to its citizens.

The University's announcements that it plans to merge with the Geisinger Health System and the Dickinson Law School were big news, and rightly so.

Geisinger Health System -- The University did place last out of 75 public medical schools in the nation, as far as state appropriations are concerned. The University's merger with Geisinger may help our resources by combining us with a large, not-for-profit rural health system.

Dickinson Law School -- At first glance, the law school merger may not appear to affect either party significantly. If anything, it seems as if the University is helping out the law school, giving it access to Big Ten benefits and updating the technologies of the school.

The University will lose no state appropriations in the deal, so we're just helping them out, right?

Look at it again. The University has committed itself to a three-part mission, and for a while has made no great strides in outreach. The University's mergers -- and the restructuring of the Commonwealth Educational System -- are now taking into account the needs of the state and its citizens.

That's what a university with the size and prestige of Penn State should be doing.

And the University can always hope that state legislators and leaders (especially infamously stingy Dickinson graduate Gov. Tom Ridge) will take Penn State's value to the community into account when drawing up the state budget.

Still, it's easy for Penn State students to ask: What about us? How will these mergers help us?

Hold on. The University hasn't overlooked the students.

This week also brought the announcement of the state's acceptance of most of the plan for the Commonwealth Educational System. This plan is where the University's service starts to really help the students of Penn State.

The plan restructures the Commonwealth Campuses, offering more four-year programs around the state. These programs should allow for students to have an easier time accessing the University and will hopefully improve the quality of education.

This is what the University needs to do more often, now that its missions are closer to being fulfilled. Part of serving the state means serving its students, and the University can't rest now.

We fully support the University's research and outreach efforts -- handled correctly, they do only good.

Here at University Park, though, the problems haven't ended. With a new boost to the service mission, the University can spend some time on education, paring down class sizes and increasing the faculty-to-student ratio, for example.

We appreciate the industry the University showed in its new mergers. Now we'd like to share in the benefits of the steam.