And the Sandusky scandal has reignited again with revelations that Paterno was told of Sandusky abusing kids as far back as 1976. Not a good time for Pennsylvania public higher education.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/07/penn_state_insurance_filings_f.html#incart_2box
I think it has to do with money and power So, yes it’s about the scholarship program in the sense that’s what causing the shortfall. But it’s a power struggle among all the players. I’m glad former president, Peter Liacouras, didn’t live to see this. This is just sad.
That makes sense, I was having a hard time believing a $22 million deficit was a surprise to the administration. That also helps explain why the board would hold Theobald responsible.
I haven’t had a chance to read any of the articles linked yet, but on the local news-radio station (KYW) this morning, I heard that the Temple board was holding the current president responsible for the $22 million shortfall and that there had been a vote of no confidence against him, thus he was out. They also are recommending a three percent tuition increase.
They said they were also angered by his proposal to cover the deficit by imposing a $1,000 surcharge on juniors and seniors, and by his handling of the provost’s dismissal, including disclosing (or alleging) afterwards that the provost had been accused of sexual harassment without ever having told the board about it.
There clearly is a bunch of stuff going on, probably including some turmoil over the plan to build a new, on-campus stadium. The merit aid deficit looks like the last straw – or maybe even just the first excuse – rather than the sufficient cause for firing Theobald. It’s interesting that the decision was reported as unanimous. It can’t have been that easy.
By the way, they haven’t fired him yet. Without having delved too deeply into it, it looks like they are trying to fire him with cause, in order to get out of paying him the remainder of his contract, and they probably have to give him formal notice of that and a chance to respond to the charges before they terminate him. So they have given him the notice and scheduled an extraordinary meeting next month to effect the actual termination.
I know that this type of thing doesn’t necessarily affect the students directly, but it’s not something the parent of an entering freshman likes to see.
The board is actually proposing a 2.8 percent increase in base tuition:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160713_Temple_University_to_raise_tuition_2_8_percent.html
Really disappointed to read all of this about Temple- We know many high caliber students that the automatic scholarships have attracted and who are attending -sons school usually has 4-5 applicants to Temple each year, but this year had 30!
Between upping the academic quality of students and all of the research that has been coming out of Temple recently… our family was really excited to watch Temple fly… I had heard that the Provost was instrumental in the research focus and merit scholarships which IMO was a smart move. Better than a football stadium.
Anyway, this is getting uglier -as now it looks like Temple leaking the sexual harassment allegations is a malicious attack (and in violation of their contract) against Dai and is going to be contentious litigation … IMO, they didn’t need to do that.
Dai’s lawyer, Pierce, said in a statement Wednesday that Dai had been “publicly maligned” and called that “unconscionable.”
She said the university investigation of the allegations against Dai was intended to be confidential.
By making it public, she said, Temple officials violated their own rules and acted with “malice and ill will.”
Here is Dai’s response http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160714_Ousted_Temple_provost_calls_harassment_allegations__slander_.html
So all this uproar about 22 million of merit scholarship money. But how much was the planned stadium going to cost?
Athletics always seem to be put before academics.
And let’s not lump all PA colleges and universities together.
There was an incident at Baylor, and does that affect all Texas universities now? No
We get a state grant if we stay in PA, so we will most likely keep sending our kids to PA colleges.
The regional campuses and PASSHE schools are important to many low income PA students for whom these offer the only way to a college degree because they are in commutable distance.
I do not believe that the state won’t fund PA universities any more. At least I hope not.
@runswimyoga, the fact that your son’s school had such a huge increase in applicants to Temple this year demonstrates just how successful this merit scholarship approach has been, but now they seem to be, to a great degree, the victims of their own success, with everyone looking to blame somebody else for the $22 million deficit.
And while I agree that merit scholarships make a lot more sense than a new football stadium, how are they going to pay for all these scholarships without a big infusion of donor funding?
Giving to public universities, like it or not, is greatly affected by the success of the football and/or basketball teams. It’s a real Catch 22.
PS as for the exciting research from Temple- not only is Temple poised to CURE AIDS but they have found a way to cut fat from chocolate!!! 
http://news.temple.edu/news/2016-05-24/temple-researchers-advance-pursuit-hiv-cure
http://www.philly.com/philly/health/20160623_Temple_electrifies_chocolate_to_cut_the_fat.html
hope all of this “drama/upheaval” doesn’t detract from the stellar gains Temple has achieved and has positioned itself to achieve in research-
“In 2013, Temple’s Board of Trustees approved a $50 million investment in growing research at the university. Three years in, the returns on that investment have been enormous. Nearly 200 full-time faculty have been hired, the Science Education and Research Center opened on Main Campus, research expenditures soared to more than $240 million in 2015, and, most recently, Temple joined the top four percent of institutions in the U.S. to be recognized as “highest research activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.”
http://news.temple.edu/news/2016-03-15/temple-research-rises
From what I understand the new football stadium was President Theobald’s pet project:
Should be interesting to see what direction they take…
Temple got into trouble because too many minority students accepted their offer of full academic aid.
@bbhens where did you get THAT information?
@bbhens, you know nothing about Temple, do you?
Based on today’s news, it looks like the merit-aid budget issue was more a lighting rod for a variety of other issues the trustees had with Theobald than the actual cause of his rejection/dismissal.
^yes, that’s seems likely. Temple has been awarding alot more merit aid than comparable PA schools for a few years now.
It would be interesting to see how many more merit eligible students martriculated this year compared to last year and how much more $ that constitutes in merit. These numbers probably won’t be on the CDS for another year or two though.
He addresses the allegations of sexual harassment as well.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/07/14/ousted-temple-u-provost-defends-himself
This week, the Legislature approved a small increase in state funding to Temple and the other state related universities. That would not be newsworthy, except that it follows several years when funding was cut severely from 2009 levels.
To increase their graduation rates, Temple is also making it easier for students to take an extra class without being charged extra tuition, That is the exact opposite of what is being done unfortunately at many of the state owned universities, which are charging students up to 20 percent more in tuition if they take a standard full course load of 15 credits. The regular tuition charge at some state owned universities will only allow 12 credits. That will make it much harder for students to graduate on time, and allows those universities to try to hide their actual tuition increases.
http://news.temple.edu/news/2016-07-11/temple-announces-tuition-rates-and-enhancements
So, what happens to those with the merit aid when next year comes? Gone? Or does Temple honor it
It’s all so confusing and complicated. I guess we won’t know for sure about merit aid for a while.
The merit aid program was the only reason Temple was on our list. For now, sadly, it’s off the list.