Doesn't seem to me like a fair evaluation.
- he's increased the amount of money for PSU in the PA budget
- he successfully pressured PSU to hold the line on tuition increases
- his 1st Governor's non-voting representative on the BOT, John Hager, challenged Dembly on construction costs, challenged the BOT and the Admin on their budgets, etc.
- the initial Gov. appointees, Robert Pretto and Elliott Weinstein, generally sided with the alumni-elected trustees. Only time will tell how his 2nd set of appointees, Alex Hartzler and David Kleppinger perform on the BOT
Many would like BOT reform. However, the Governor can't make that happen on his own. The PA Legislature would have to first pass a reform bill, and since both bodies in the legislature are controlled by a party other than the Governor, there isn't a lot that he can do to push reform. If anything, Sen. Jake Corman deserves a lot more blame on the lack of such legislation, as he's the Senate Majority Leader, and as such has almost complete control on what the Senate considers and what it votes on. Regardless of who you feel is most to blame on the lack of BOT reform, the issue is not as simple as some seem to think. There is a real question as to which entity can control the size of the BOT, who elects the various trustees, etc. The legislative lawyers have analyzed it, and feel that these issues are covered by the PSU Charter, which the legislature created and thus controls. The BOT lawyers have analyzed it, and feel that the Charter gives them the power to make modifications to the size and election of trustees. The legislature could have taken the BOT to court over the BOT's reforms in 2014 that increased the size of the BOT. However, there was some concern that that if they lost that court case, there was a possibility that the ruling might permanently establish that the BOT, and not the legislature, had control over these issues.
