Happy week six and happy October, Pioneers! It is hard to believe that midterms are right around the corner. Remember to stop and check in on yourself physically and mentally often.

Over the last few weeks, more information has surfaced about our collegiate neighbor Chatham University. Chatham projected an operating budget deficit of between $8 million and $12 million over the next two years at the start of this summer and has eliminated 20 staff positions, according to emails obtained by the Tribune-Review.

This past week, an article was published in WESA about Point Park and other local universities potentially combining certain operations in order to save money. The article is primarily focused on a case study conducted by the Hill Group, a consulting firm, that current university President Chris Brussalis is the chairman of. The study was also led by former university President Paul Hennigan. Chatham is one of the universities Point Park could be entering a partnership with.

Total undergraduate enrollment in the United States fell from 18 million in 2010 to about 15 million last year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Also, declining birth rates nationwide will mean that, by 2026, there will be even fewer students graduating high school each year. Community College of Allegheny County lost half of its enrollment between 2010 and 2022.

Where do we fall into this as a university? Chatham is not much smaller than Point Park. For the 2021-2022 academic year, Chatham had 2,837 students enrolled while we had 3,288 for the fall of 2022.

We not only deserve but need clear communication about where we stand financially as a university. Honesty is the best policy. The WESA article also mentions a grant application from Point Park to R.K. Mellon was made because of “an urgent need to respond to declining enrollment and revenue.”