Tom Wolf decisively won yesterday’s gubernatorial election against Tom Corbett. Several changes between the Commonwealth and Penn State loom in the result of his victory.

Board of Trustees

The Governor of Pennsylvania has unparalleled selection to the Penn State Board of Trustees.

Although he will be an ex officio member of the body, Wolf will have no power vote in matters. However, Governor Wolf will be able to select nine new Trustees. Wolf’s appointees for the Secretaries of Agriculture, of Education, and of Conservation and Natural Resources are all ex officio trustees with voting powers.

Governor Wolf will also appoint six Trustees of his own discretion, two for each year for the next three years, with the approval of the state Senate. The terms of Kathleen Casey and Todd Rucci expire next year. (It is, in theory, possible for Wolf not to name their replacements and just let them serve indefinitely.) Two political appointees who were November 2011 Trustees are Paul Silvis, whose term expires in 2016, and Mark Dambly, in 2017. Surprisingly, both men were initially the appointees of Ed Rendell, the last Democratic governor of the state.

Higher Education

Wolf discussed post-secondary education when he visited Penn State last week. “There’s no one who appreciates higher education more than I do,” he told the crowd who had gathered at the Creamery. Additionally, Wolf stated he would like graduates from Pennsylvania to remain in the Commonwealth instead of leaving for other states.

Tom Wolf pledges he would open up access at “state-owned and state-regulated colleges” to traditionally underrepresented groups. He would like to enact a DREAM Act to offer in-state tuition to students who reside in Pennsylvania but are not legally in the United States. Wolf would offer low-income families of college applicants information packets regarding scholarships and application fee waivers for up to six schools. The new governor would provide veterans with on-campus centers to help them navigate their college education. Governor Wolf would also push opening STEM programs to veteran students and community college transfers.

Furthermore, Tom Wolf argues a university education should be completed in four years.

Marcellus Shale

Penn State is a premier institution in the study of fracking, and the Wolf campaign uses an image of Old Main on its Marcellus Shale page.

Wolf does not support a ban of the exploration natural gas in Pennsylvania. Rather, he advocates for a statewide severance tax on shale drillers, from which he would use the revenue to fund holes in the state budget, such as education.