Cal U eliminates center funding
CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania has decided to pull $200,000 in financial support to the Center in the Woods, a local senior citizen center. The center’s board of directors will meet today to discuss what the withdrawal of funding will mean to the Washington County center, which provides a variety of programs and services, including an adult day center, exercise programs, transportation and a medical clinic, among other things.
Michael Savona, vice president of the board of directors, said Tuesday that the center, located on Route 88, was notified through a memo that the university would stop funding July 1, 2004.
“That is the extent of my knowledge,” he said.
Savona did say that the news came as a surprise to the board of directors and the center’s staff. He said he is not sure how the cut in funding will affect the center at this time. He said that will be something that is discussed at the meeting.
“I’m not sure (how the cut will affect the center). We haven’t had a chance to assess things,” he said.
Beth Baxter, Cal U director of marketing and public affairs, said she could not discuss the university’s decision to cut funding because it was a personnel matter.
According to Baxter, the university’s funding paid salaries at the Center in the Woods.
Savona said that three employees who worked at the Center in the Woods were actually employees of the university, including the center’s executive director and director of planning and development.
Baxter would not comment on why the university had decided to cut the center’s funding or if the university has made any other cuts. She said the university is working on its $65 million budget.
“We haven’t finished the budget process yet. It’s an ongoing budget,” she said.
Cal U, along with other State System of Higher Education (SSHE) universities, will have to adjust its 2003-04 budget to a cut in the upcoming state budget.
According to the SSHE’s Web site, the governor’s 2003-04 budget will give the State System, which includes 14 universities, $434.8 million in 2003-04, which represents a 5 percent reduction.
The budget also includes a 5 percent reduction in special program funding.
The Center in the Woods has an approximate budget of $500,000. The center also receives money from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging and the United Way chapters for the Mon Valley and Washington County.
The center serves more than 3,000 seniors in five counties.
California Mayor Galvie Gardner said the center is an important asset to the borough. He said the news of the funding loss is “devastating.”
“It’s a real blow to the facility. That ($200,000) is a large chunk of money,” he said. “It will be hard for them to make that up, but as innovative as the people are at the Center in the Woods, I think they will find a way to survive, and if the borough can help out in any way we are willing to do so. That’s such a nice place, and we don’t want to lose it.”