On December 4th, at the end of the Fall 2025 semester, Interim President Jeffery Osgood sent out an email regarding major University changes. These organizational changes range from a new Vice President of Fiscal Affairs to shared leadership. The Voice sat down with Osgood to discuss these changes, and what it means for the future of the Commonwealth University.
The New Chief Financial Officer
CU was searching for a new Vice President of Fiscal Affairs for months. After a thorough search, Lisa Sharpe was chosen, her first day was February 2nd. “Lisa came highly recommended,” stated Osgood. He then explained that she worked at West Virginia University, a multimillion dollar university that has been through similar levels of financial difficulties and transformations. “They place themselves in a situation, host those issues in a path that is going to be successful… Those experiences were really clearly important to me,” Osgood said.
Shared Leadership
CU will be moving to a shared leadership model with West Chester University. Dr. Zebulon Davenport who serves as the Vice President of University Advancement and External Affairs, will also be serving CU as Senior Vice President for Student Affairs.
Osgood says, “A shared leadership model means having single individuals playing in the same role at institutions… In no way does it mean we’re merging with West Chester University.” The shared leadership is also a cost saving mechanism so CU doesn’t have to pay for the entire position that will be shared between the two institutions. Osgood explains that when he got here, the technology was outdated and had a lack of investment, so bringing in a trusted set of advisors and leaders was the most important thing to do.
The Six-college Model
In the fall of 2026, CU will be transitioning from a three-college model to a six-college model. This includes:
- College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
- College of Education
- College of Health Professions
- College of Sciences and Technology
- Eileen G. Jones Honors College
- Zeigler College of Business
“I noticed when I got here we have only three deans, for three campuses with over 10,000 students…” says Osgood, “We really needed to distribute the workload of running the colleges in a more sustainable way. What I expect from the deans moving forward is not only will they be addressing the fires or the issues that students, faculty and staff bring to them, but they’re starting to think about what it means to start making progress towards excellence.”
Adding additional deans comes from eliminating management positions as to not increase the university’s budget. It does not come from eliminating faculty, staff or student employment.
What will affect students the most:
“Every decision that we make as a team and that I make as Interim President is anchored in improving the student experience,” Osgood said. The main concern currently is the kind of courses offered to students. “I anticipate by having deans that have fewer departments to focus on, that they’ll be able to really affect change and ensure that students will have the types of schedules, courses and classes that they want versus just throwing multimobile or remote courses.”
Osgood also says he wants to hear from students more, and that no email that reaches his office goes unanswered.
Overall, CU’s vision is that these changes will hopefully not only help the current university budget, but help students have the experience they want.
