CAMPUS NEWS JSSBa 13
Tuition Per Semester For Full-Time Lower-Division PA Residents
7000
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4000
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CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION
Metzgar building:
BY HEATHER MCGOVERN
University officials hope
that eventually, the Robert
and Sally Metzgar Admis
sions and Alumni Center
will be a portal for campus.
The first thing students go
to for admissions, the first
thing they come back to for
alumni relations.
For now, it serves a differ
ent purpose: headlining as
the largest of many con
struction projects at
Behrend.
(BE, to separate
buildings for various admis
sions offices, Behrend de
cided to consolidate the
admissions and alumni of
fices into a newly con
structed building in between
the Kochel Center and Reed
Union Building.
The Robert and Sally Met
zgar Admissions and
Alumni Center aims to make
it easier for students to ac
cess Behrend’s career guid
ance. It will be the “go-to”
building for college career
consultation.
The construction, which
began during the month of
April 2009, is estimated to
extend as far in the future as
May 2010. The building is
1995 2000
Year
estimated to cost around
$4.7 million and cover an
area of 11,700 square feet.
According to the Penn
State Behrend website, it
will house the offices of five
key departments—admis
sions, financial aid, alumni
relations, bursar, and regis
trar —in one central loca
tion.
new:, editor
The convenience of hav
ing all five departments in
one location will hopefully
appeal to students pursuing
careers on campus and all
visiting alumni.
. Thanks to a request made
tty'the Metzgars, architec
ture students have the op
portunity to incorporate
personal designs modeling
specific structures: the Met
zgars’ house, Cobham Cas
tle, the Glenhill Farmhouse,
Lilley Library, Kochel Cen
ter, and Reed Union Build
ing. Incorporation of
student design into the Ad
missions and Alumni Center
“The center will be the
first place Penn State
Behrend students visit on
campus, and it will be the
same building that wel
comes them back as
alumni,” remarks Chancel
lor Jack Burke on Penn
State Behrend website.
The primary donors for
the Admission and Alumni
2005 2010
brick by brick, a portal for Behrend
Center were no other than
Robert and Sally Metzgar,
donating a generous $2 mil
lion to aid the construction
project.
Robert Metzgar, an influ
ential Penn State alumnus,
attended Penn State
Behrend for two years
whereupon he finished his
business administration de
gree at University Park.
Metzgar’s post-graduation
involvement far exceeds the
devotion typically extended
towards Penn State by
alumni. As listed on the
Penn State Universi; web
site, Met*jgar'
part of “the Penn Statfr
Behrend Council of Fellows,
the Nittany Lion Club, the
President’s Club, and a life
member of the Penn State
Alumni Association.” Metz
gar is a well deserving indi
vidual to name the new
Admissions and Alumni
building after.
Addition of the Metzgar
building will only simplify
current student’s academic
pursuits.
“There’s a whole lot less
running around for students
during their college careers
and a lot less running
around for family during the
admission process,” says
Ken Miller.
Tuition continues to in
crease each year as
shown by the graph on
left.
Year and tuition statis
tics given by Sue
Scarpino, Coordinator
for Public Information
Over the summer, work often stagnated on the new building due to
that steel structures will begin to take precedence in the
Tuition increase
continued from
front page.
I’ve been here and this is my 29th
year. I would say that there is a
chance, but I don’t think that’s
going to happen. The university
would more than likely try to
muddle through. They have al
ready told us to prepare for the
possibility of temporary budget
cuts during the year.
“And I’ve been here long
enough to know, that you always
prepare for cuts because I’ve said
that we’ve had cuts every year
this century. ”
Miller said that there is a
chance the tuition will increase
between semesters, but that is a
nightmare scenario and has a
low chance of occurring.
“It depends a lot on the state
budget,” said Miller. “There is a
lot that Behrend is changing as
far as frugality, not saying we’re
not already frugal, to cut costs
and save money.”
Burke explained that Penn
State is anticipating another de-
crease in money from the state,
although the university doesn’t
know the number yet.
“1 can tell you that every year in
this century we have had budget
cuts at the university,” said
Burke. “We’ve raised our tuition
but in addition to that, we’ve had
budget cuts and the reason for
the budget cuts primarily is be
cause the state appropriation, the
money we get from the state, has
been either frozen or gone down.
“And in addition to that, we’ve
added 14,000 students to our uni
versity because people want to
go (to Penn State), but then the
state appropriation does not fol
low. The state appropriation is
not tied to the number of stu
dents.”
Looking forward to next year,
Burke is uncertain about what
the tuition situation. He said that
a lot depends on what happens
in the economy.
“I think what is kind of keeping
the state of float at the moment
is the stimulus money or the
promise of stimulus money.
Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon
various holdups. University officials say
construction area this week.