State Senate Democrats held a public hearing today on the plan to merge six Pennsylvania universities into two.
Dr. Dale Elizabeth Pehrsson - is president of Clarion University and interim President of Edinboro University. She's also leading the plan to merge those two schools with Cal U.
"Integration would enable us to share resources and to work together to recruit, retain and graduate students rather than compete as we do currently in a crowded educational market," she said.
However, some were critical of the plan to merge the schools.
Ross Brumagin, union president for workers at Edinborough said he's already concerned with the university's workforce. "In 2011 we had 231 positions, 2015 we were down to 217 and now we have just 125 positions left that are AFSCME represented."
He also believes the school merger could lead to more jobs eliminated. "The people I represent are once again suffering the consequences of decisions they had no input into," he explained.
A recent study from the PA Budget and Policy center found the mergers would cut over 1,500 full time positions at the universities.
In addition to staff and leadership, the hearing also included input from university students.
Cal U student Justina Arena feels information about the merger isn't readily available. "We need easily digestible information, not just a couple of emails," she said.
She was most concerned about the potential for increased tuition and the chance she would have more classes with an online component.
"I refuse to do another semester online," she said. "I'm not the only one. Many of my peers have expressed the same. We need real human interactions. I need to see smiles, not black Zoom screens."
If the plan passes, Cal U, Clarion and Edinboro will merge, as will Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield.