Pitt trustees approve proposal to turn Titusville into training hub

University of Pittsburgh trustees Friday breathed new life into the school’s smallest branch campus, approving a plan to reverse Titusville’s enrollment declines and financial losses by converting it into a training hub and sharing space with outside education entities.

The unanimous vote by the board of trustees during its meeting in Oakland acknowledged the importance of the Crawford County campus to northwestern Pennsylvania, while putting in place a strategy to strengthen an academic model that in its present form is considered by Pitt officials to be unsustainable.

Titusville, with 300 students, is the smallest of Pitt’s four branch campuses after Johnstown, Greensburg and Bradford.

Population losses and declines in high school graduate numbers have been compounded by waning public demand for two-year campuses.

Titusville has lost 40 percent of its enrollment in a decade and is more than $1 million in the red.

The administration, including Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, presented the board with two options to consider: shuttering the half-century-old campus or revamping its approach to be more closely aligned with workforce and education needs in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The board opted for the latter

option, which was endorsed by the administration.

Provost Patricia Beeson said leasing space to a community college and a training facility will enhance coordination among sectors of higher education including Pitt, which will continue to deliver instruction on the campus.

She said it will allow seamless movement by students between the institutions as they accumulate credentials.

“We believe we have a business model that will work in the rural areas around Titusville,” she said.

If successful, Pitt has said it could become a model for other campuses in rural parts of the state where delivering programs is logistically a challenge.

Pitt officials said the university has already received proposals from potential tenants, including Manchester Bidwell Corp., Butler County Community College and Northern Pennsylvania Regional College.

Ms. Beeson said costs, including building renovations, would run $10 million to $15 million, which she said are expected to be shared among the university, the commonwealth and community groups.

Mr. Gallagher said earlier this week that the risk involved in remaking the campus 100 miles north of Pittsburgh was worth it, saying the new approach fits with Pitt’s mission.

Titusville area officials already have put their support behind the plan that would bring multiple institutions of learning to a single location.

“Partnerships are hard work. But starting with the unanimous support of our board is the right first step,” said Mr. Gallagher in a statement after Friday’s board vote.

“We are now looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with the community on this exciting new model for education and training.”

Ms. Beeson said the changes at Titusville will be phased in over the next year.