A year after Sandusky arrest, Penn State changes still pending

    One year after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, Pennsylvania’s auditor general says it’s time for the governor and the General Assembly to take the reins on reforms to Penn State’s leadership structure.

     

    The recommendations Jack Wagner stresses most now are no different than the ones he announced this past summer — remove the Penn State president from the school’s board of trustees and make the governor a non-voting member.

    What’s remarkable, says Wagner, is that the present president, Rod Erickson, holds just as much power as his predecessor, Graham Spanier, and that so little has changed about governance at Penn State.

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    “It’s pretty much the same operation that existed on Nov. 4, 2011, the day before Jerry Sandusky was arrested,” Wagner said Wednesday.

    Wagner’s latest report includes additional suggestions, such as applying uniform term limits to trustees, and changing how easily staff members become trustees and vice versa.

    He says implementing all of his recommendations will require a mix of legislation and changes by the university’s board of trustees.

    A board spokesman says trustees will review the report.

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