[taxthedeer]

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsi...;ts=true#middle

Campus Locations Draw Daniels' Attention

InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report

Governor Mitch Daniels is questioning why Purdue University has two regional campuses so close together in northwest Indiana. In an interview last week with the editorial board of our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana, the incoming Purdue president wondered why there are two campuses less than 40 miles apart adding "if you started anew, you probably wouldn't draw it up that way."


Daniels added that raises the question of whether the right course is to maintain the current setup or look for another arrangement.

The newspaper reports Daniels says he is not entering the Purdue president's office with any pre-conceived notions about
the future of the Hammond and Westville campuses.

Daniels also has concerns about the low graduation rates at both locations.

The Times reports the six year graduation rate at Purdue North Central in Westville is 23 percent and 28 percent at Purdue Calumet in Hammond.

Source: The Times of Northwest Indiana

[taxthedeer]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-an...4b0f481168.html

Daniels eyes locations, graduation rates of region's Purdue campuses

November 18, 2012 12:00 am • Dan Carden dan.carden@nwi.com, (317) 637-9078

MUNSTER | Northwest Indiana's two regional Purdue University campuses are likely to come under scrutiny in January when Gov. Mitch Daniels takes over as Purdue's president.

In an interview last week with The Times' Editorial Board, Daniels seemed skeptical about maintaining separate Purdue campuses in Hammond and Westville -- just 34 miles apart.

"What are we doing with two of them that close together?" Daniels asked. "If you started anew, you probably wouldn't draw it up that way, but here we are, so what's the right thing to do? Is it just continue on or look for some other arrangement?"

The governor said he's going into his new job with no predispositions about what should be done concerning the region's Purdue campuses.

"We'll see," he said. "There's some really good people at both places; I like the folks who lead these places."

Besides the campuses, which Daniels said he's visited recently, the president-to-be said he's especially concerned about the low graduation rates at both schools compared to the main West Lafayette campus, where 70 percent of students graduate in six years.

At Purdue North Central, just 7 percent of students graduate in four years with 23 percent graduating in six years, including those students who begin coursework at PNC but complete their degree elsewhere.

The six-year graduation rate at Purdue Calumet is 28 percent.

Daniels said that needs to improve for the good of the university and its students.

"Some kids run up some bills and don't even get through," he said.

The governor was elected Purdue president by the university's board of trustees in June. He'll officially take over when his term in the Statehouse ends Jan. 14.

Daniels told The Times he didn't seek the job by approaching Purdue board members, a majority of whom he appointed. He said the board came to him and told him Purdue students, faculty and alumni wanted Daniels to run their school.

Even then, on at least two occasions, Daniels said he seriously considered turning them down.

"But I never could pull that trigger because I'd get thinking about what a great place it is, how well it fits our needs as a state and a nation and how, if things got even better there, that would be a useful thing to do," he said. "I just finally decided, 'OK, maybe we should give this a try.' "

Whenever his duties as governor allow it, Daniels said he's been learning all he can about Purdue and higher education in general. Daniels holds a law degree from Georgetown University and earned a bachelor's degree at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs.

"I know there's some students on that campus studying harder than I am, but not very many," Daniels said of preparing for his new position.

As for a future in politics, perhaps following Wilson who was president of Princeton before becoming president of the United States, Daniels, 63, seemed to rule that out.

"Purdue may change their mind but if they don't, I feel that this will be my last full-time job," he said

[Southsider2k12]

I don't see anything in there about closing a campus. What am I missing?

[bandaid19]

"Daniels seems skeptical about maintaining campuses in both Hammond and Westville"....

= closing a satellite campus.

With all of the money and improvements they've put into PNC, I'd be shocked it if was there... but, PUC also has its merits, and is a lovely campus.. .just landlocked.

I don't see anything in there about closing a campus. What am I missing?

[Southsider2k12]

"Daniels seems skeptical about maintaining campuses in both Hammond and Westville"....

= closing a satellite campus.

With all of the money and improvements they've put into PNC, I'd be shocked it if was there... but, PUC also has its merits, and is a lovely campus.. .just landlocked.

OK, I can get the implicit threat, but there is nothing explicit in there. No where in there did he say he was going to close one of them. He said it is something worth looking at. Big difference IMO.

[taxthedeer]

OK, I can get the implicit threat, but there is nothing explicit in there. No where in there did he say he was going to close one of them. He said it is something worth looking at. Big difference IMO.

I guess I should have entitled this thread, "Mitch Daniels to streamline Purdue Calumet or Purdue North Central", which nowadays streamlining = closing.

[Commuter]

not necessarily. One school could get a focus on one set of degrees while another focuses on the remainder.

There is also a Purdue extension in Valpo, and another one in LaPorte.

I doubt he'd close them. They are cash cows for the area. Nothing like students borrowing money early in life and then spending that money locally. They get trained in debting early in life. Westville even has student housing.

Retention rates at satellite campuses for both IU AND Purdue are in the 20-30% range. Those rates aren't any worse than any others.

Ease of borrowing makes school possible for people who normally couldn't go to college. Either for work/financial or personal reasons, or because they can't hack it, most drop out before graduation.

Post-secondary education is about endurance. And so much of it is irrelevant today -- teachers resistant to technology -- especially tenured profs who keep their jobs whether or not they use it, and subject areas that are completely out of whack with market demand.

Still, a degree is a benchmark. It tells an employer what you were exposed to, like having a diploma or a GED.

I've done my best financially in life in areas that don't even require a high school diploma. It's not a ticket to riches and a lot of dropouts realize that.

Bad retention can affect accreditation. You lose accreditation and you can lose the ability to lend to students.

A lot at stake here, but I doubt that they are going to close a campus.

[taxthedeer]

Purdue University North Central now offers classes at the new University Center building on Central Ave. in Portage.

[Tim]

So then, not closing any campuses.

Got it.

[southyards]

So then, not closing any campuses.

Got it.

It appears that not everyone is enthralled with Mitch’s appointment. One person, back in June, withdrew a one-million dollar gift to the university upon learning of the appointment. Her premise was that "It's a travesty for a nonacademic to head a great research university”
Link: http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/north...ather-at-purdue

[diggler]

Shut the Westville campus down....and all the current business construction around there will go belly up as well.

[Job]

Shut the Westville campus down....and all the current business construction around there will go belly up as well.

There is no way that the Westville campus will be shut down. It is not only a very large facility, it has garnered some national respect. Old Mitch is nothing other than a politico; he has no clue about the academic world. His comment about how long it takes for someone to obtain a BA shows how out of touch he is with working people.

The woman who pulled her grant to the university "smelled it before he dealt it."

[Southsider2k12]

There is no way that the Westville campus will be shut down. It is not only a very large facility, it has garnered some national respect. Old Mitch is nothing other than a politico; he has no clue about the academic world. His comment about how long it takes for someone to obtain a BA shows how out of touch he is with working people.

The woman who pulled her grant to the university "smelled it before he dealt it."

Not to mention with all of the building projects out there recently, they have to have some significant bond debt yet to pay off.

I get the feeling this was more of a salvo directed at these two campuses to pick up their graduation rates, and nothing more.

[diggler]

Everything is going online these days. Even brick and mortar stores are going obsolete thanks to the lure of online retailing. Just wanna ship out that last Xmas package....before USPS goes belly up as well.

[Southsider2k12]

Everything is going online these days. Even brick and mortar stores are going obsolete thanks to the lure of online retailing. Just wanna ship out that last Xmas package....before USPS goes belly up as well.

I would be shocked if education didn't follow that trend to some extent, but it won't be without a fight. There are billions invested into higher education infrastructure.