New PennWest President Jon Anderson: 'Opportunities like this don't come often'

EDINBORO — Pennsylvania Western University 's new president will be a regular presence at each of the university's three campuses.

Jon Anderson's mailing address is in Clarion, between Edinboro and California, but he is spending time in residences on all three campuses.

"I fully intend to be on every campus every week. I've got that schedule worked out, and it's worked out so far," Anderson said. "Zoom is a great tool, but there's nothing that replaces human connection."

Anderson began duties as PennWest president on July 1 and said that he chose PennWest because it is a "new" regional university. The former Edinboro, Clarion and California universities of Pennsylvania were consolidated as Pennsylvania Western University in July 2022.

"PennWest is a two-year-old institution built on (a combined) 500 years of experience and knowledge. Opportunities like that don't come that often. The integration team did a fantastic job building the foundation of PennWest. It's our opportunity to build on that," Anderson said.

The consolidation process included the elimination of some low-enrollment programs as well as the loss of some faculty and staff jobs.

It's also provided new opportunities for staff and students, Anderson said.

Students have access to classes that previously were unavailable to them by participating remotely in classes not offered on their campus or not available at a time that suits their schedule.

"Before the integration, a student was limited to taking classes at one of the campuses. Now if we have a class that we were not able to run because the enrollment was too low, we can have five students from California, two from Edinboro and seven from Clarion all taking the same class online," Anderson said.

"We're providing many more opportunities but also as much face-to-face instruction as possible."

Faculty and staff are able to collaborate with colleagues university-wide, Anderson said.

"We have a dean on one of the campuses and an associate dean at the other two. We have departments that are spread across all three campuses. We have colleges spread across all three campuses. A lot of that has strengthened the ability of faculty to build collaborations and fraternity with each other."

PWU transition committee: Edinboro representatives will help write 'next chapter' for PennWest University

Focused on student experience, building enrollment

Anderson has appointed a transition team of faculty, staff, students and alumni from each campus to help chart PennWest's future.

"It is a very broad-based team that will help us make sure that we're listening to every part of the university," Anderson said.

The university's overall priority "will be ensuring that every student at PennWest has the greatest chance for success," Anderson said. "We've got cabinet, campus leadership teams and the transition team all asking the question: How can we use the resources that have been entrusted to us as a state institution to bring the best experience to every student.

"We are exclusively focused on the student experience. And I would put our student experience at PennWest against any institution of any size in the country. Students come here and get the education that prepares them to live transformational lives."

Building enrollment also will be a priority, and while 2024-25 enrollment won't be known until fall, numbers so far are meeting budgeted projections, Anderson said.

"We are on target right now for what we anticipated. We're comfortable with where we're at now."

New PennWest president: Goal is to 'build on the progress' school has made

Creating 'something that we're all proud of'

Another priority will be strengthening community ties.

"We have a list of a few hundred people to work with in the communities, and we intend to get to all of them, including (school) superintendents, donors, alumni and community leaders," Anderson said.

Anderson, wife Kristy and the youngest of their seven children, Bryce, 9, are getting to know western Pennsylvania as well as PennWest. They kayaked on Edinboro Lake and got their feet wet in Lake Erie at Presque Isle this week.

"It's a beautiful area, and we love it and intend to see all of it, from Lake Erie to West Virginia," Anderson said. "The people here are wonderful. They are very committed to the idea of PennWest, its academic disciplines and the work that it does, and they're very forward looking and welcoming."

Anderson previously was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Southern Utah University. He now is one of the few PennWest employees that chose to work at PennWest.

"Most chose Clarion University or Edinboro University or California University of Pennsylvania, and I recognize some people may still have questions about being a PennWest employee or PennWest alum," Anderson said. "But we're going to invite everybody to help create something that we're all proud of and want to be a part of."

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: New PennWest President Jon Anderson: 'Opportunities like this don't come often'