Penn State says more than 1,100 faculty members, staff, students and community stakeholders shared ideas during 23 engagement sessions held from Oct. 12 through Oct. 29. The university says the discussions will help shape the next phase of its Road Map for Penn State’s Future.
The sessions addressed 11 workstreams, or focused planning groups, examining ways to strengthen university operations, support its academic mission and prepare for long-term changes. Penn State described the meetings as part of a planning process; the sessions did not approve specific policy changes or commit the university to particular initiatives.
Kerry Hair, a research technologist in the Genomics Core Facility at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, participated in the Student Success Workstream. She said her experience working with undergraduate interns led her to consider how core research facilities could help students gain hands-on experience while also supporting the staff who run those facilities.
Hair also raised concerns about changing funding streams and facilities-and-administration reimbursements, which help cover the indirect costs of research. She said finding ways to diversify the value of core facilities could help them remain sustainable as the university expands experiential learning requirements.
Jay Martin, an associate research professor in Penn State’s College of Engineering and Applied Research Laboratory and a member of the University Faculty Senate, joined sessions for the World Campus and Research and Development workstreams. For online students, he suggested improving the application and credit-transfer processes while maintaining course quality.
Martin also urged Penn State to strengthen connections among campuses, communities and industry partners to expand research opportunities. He said faculty members’ experience should inform decisions, especially if the workstreams propose significant structural changes.
“It’s not going to work from a top-down push — it has to be a grassroots approach,” Martin said, according to Penn State’s account of the sessions.
The workstreams grew out of a university-wide organizational assessment completed earlier this year. Penn State said the assessment used institutional data, comparisons with peer universities and input from more than 200 community members. President Neeli Bendapudi announced the 11 workstreams during a Sept. 24 university update.
Workstream teams will now review the suggestions and develop possible initiatives. Penn State says priorities will be assessed for their mission impact, potential financial effects by fiscal year 2030, ease of implementation, required investment and strategic importance. Each initiative selected for further planning will have a university owner responsible for developing an implementation plan.
Most workstreams are expected to submit plans to university leaders by January 2027. Academic Operations will follow a separate timeline tied to shared governance and is expected to continue planning through May. Penn State expects to share more information in February after its executive team reviews the plans and decides which proposals may move toward implementation.
The university says community participation will continue as the workstreams develop their priorities. Updates and information about opportunities to take part are available through Penn State’s Road Map website.
Sources: Penn State: More than 1,100 Penn Staters voice ideas for the University’s future | Penn State: Preliminary targets identified for Road Map workstreams | Penn State: Workstream leaders and community engagement sessions announced