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Piccola appointed to PASSHE board
Senator Jeffrey Piccola speaks at the citizens constitutional convention last August. He has recently been named to the PASSHE Board of Governors and will be focusing on funding.
CLARION, Pa., April 9 — State Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola was recently appointed to a position within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s (PASSHE) Board of Governors committee.
p>The board has 20 members, three of whom are students from PASSHE universities. Each governor serves a four-year term and is appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania or the majority and minority leaders of the state Senate and House of Representatives. The students serve until graduation.
Piccola says having this student perspective on the board is crucial to the decision making process.
“We old folks, no matter how in tune we may think we are, are always in need of a student perspective,” said Piccola. “Education is the key to success. In order to succeed, one has to become a lifelong learner.”
Piccola, of Susquehanna Township, was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph P. Scarnati III. He will be replacing the late Senator James J. Rhoades.
According to the PASSHE Web site, the Board of Governors is “responsible for planning and coordinating development and operation of the PASSHE.” The board completes tasks like hiring university presidents, setting tuition and approving new academic programs.
A graduate of Gettysburg College and George Washington School of Law, Piccola has been a member of the state Senate since 1995 where he served as the Senate majority whip from 2001-2006. Prior to serving in the Senate, Piccola was a member of the House of Representatives for 19 years.
Piccola initially became involved in education when he joined the Senate in 1995. He was named chairman of the Senate Education Committee in January.
“It came to my attention how important and expensive education is,” said Piccola. “I devoted my time making the system as high quality as possible.
The PASSHE provides the framework for Piccola to further realize his goal of providing an education that is both high quality and affordable.
Founded in 1982, the PASSHE was created under Act 188 to bring together 13 state-owned colleges and elevate each to a university status. According to its mission statement, the PASSHE hopes to be among the nation’s leading systems of public universities, succeeding in advancing quality undergraduate and graduate programs alike.
“The No. 1 priority, at this point, is funding,” said Dr. John Cavanaugh, chancellor of PASSHE. “We are going to be focusing on making sure we get as much appropriation as possible.”
As the newest member of the PASSHE Board of Governors, Piccola is certainly no stranger to the educational system himself, just attended his first PASSHE meeting on April 2. The meeting primarily focused on creating new degree programs.
The meetings dealing with funding will not begin until July, according to Piccola.
In the original version of this article, a photo of Sen. Jeffrey Piccola was mistakenly captioned “Joe Piccola”. We apologize for the error.
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