{"id":14670,"date":"2016-08-16T16:21:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T20:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quantumnew.esu.edu\/insider\/?p=14670"},"modified":"2016-08-16T16:21:59","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T20:21:59","slug":"new-board-chair-learned-value-of-education-at-very-young-age-from-father-and-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/new-board-chair-learned-value-of-education-at-very-young-age-from-father-and-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"New Board Chair Learned Value of Education at Very Young Age From Father and Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harrisburg<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 As a very young girl, Cynthia Shapira, the daughter of a dentist father and a traditional homemaker mother, was certain that girls could do anything boys could do. And academic achievement was a high priority in her home growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur parents placed the highest expectations on me, and on my brothers,\u201d she said. Report cards were scrutinized; parent-teacher conferences solemnly attended. Cindy loved school and took it seriously\u2014to the point where her parents, concerned that she was a bit too zealous about grades, once offered her a dollar for every \u201cC\u201d she would bring home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI declined the offer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her dad encouraged her to become a dental hygienist.\u00a0It was a great profession, but Saturdays and summer vacations spent in her father\u2019s dental office, assisting him at the chair, didn\u2019t convince her.<\/p>\n

Ms. Shapira had other ideas\u2014her love of history, culture, and politics driving her to other pursuits.<\/p>\n

Years later, after graduating from top-level east coast universities, she applied for a prestigious internship program in Washington, D.C., and was accepted. Then she interviewed with the CIA\u2014better fitting her passion for government work\u2014with an eye toward foreign service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great interview at Langley and was offered a job right on the spot,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my parents said no\u2014this was only five years after Watergate. I was 22\u2014I listened to my parents in those days.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she took a management-consulting job with Peat Marwick (now KPMG) in its public service division instead, and soon was working on some groundbreaking initiatives that eventually brought her into contact with the world of higher education. In July, she was elected chair of the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania\u2019s State System of Higher Education; the fifth in its history, the first woman.<\/p>\n

Cindy\u2019s career journey began in the nation\u2019s capital, a long way from her childhood home in southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents were born and raised in Pittsburgh. My mother was second generation; my father a first-generation American,\u201d she said. \u201cMy father\u2019s parents didn\u2019t speak much English\u2014he actually didn\u2019t learn English until he started public school in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first in his family to go on to higher education. For him, college was the opportunity to learn a profession and escape from poverty. He went to the University of Pittsburgh and then Pitt Dental School on scholarships. He believed that the highest thing you could achieve was to be a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe paved the way for his two younger brothers, who also attended Pitt and became pharmacists. My mother graduated from Pitt with highest honors and was one of the few women in her class accepted into law school\u2014which she turned down to get married. I think she always regretted not going to law school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Shapira\u2019s parents relocated to Carmel, California, when her father was drafted as an Army dentist, and decided they weren\u2019t going back to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to stay in Carmel, but in those days it was \u2018restricted\u2019\u2014Jewish people couldn\u2019t buy houses in many neighborhoods. My father couldn\u2019t get a dental practice started. So, they moved to Los Angeles. Their priority was to keep \u2018trading up\u2019 as my father became more successful so that we kids could attend public schools with the best reputations.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it was time for college, Ms. Shapira decided she wanted to head east, even though she had never been farther in that direction than Flagstaff, Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applied to Wellesley and Smith (colleges), and I managed to get in,\u201d she said. \u201cBack then your parents didn\u2019t necessarily take you to college and settle you in. I got on a plane from L.A. to Boston and somehow found my way to the Wellesley campus some 16 miles away that night. I was so late that I missed orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat education was a privilege and a gift from my parents,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Wellesley with a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science, she enrolled in Harvard University\u2019s Kennedy School of Government, then was accepted into the first class of the President\u2019s Management Internship Program, which was created to encourage bright, young graduate students to go into government service. The first class included about 200 members from across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had a choice of different agencies to go into. I wanted to work for the CIA,\u201d she said. \u201cI would have been a great spy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going to work at KMPG turned out to be fascinating. One of Shapira\u2019s first major projects involved studying the role of the federal government in regulating day care and funding pre-school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a few years after Head Start, but the general area of early childhood care and education was still somewhat unchartered,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter that, I was assigned to a project working with a really fascinating man by the name of Dr. Fenwick W. English. He was a former public school superintendent who came up with the idea that\u2014just as you could do a financial<\/em> audit of a school system\u2014you could also do a performance<\/em> audit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the school system supposed to do, or produce, and what is it actually doing? What should be the student outcomes? What is the gap between the two? How do you map together the curriculum\u2014what is actually being taught in the classroom, and how the students are performing\u2014to promote the best results?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was groundbreaking work that sent her all over the country.<\/p>\n

She met her first husband, a neurologist and Pittsburgh native, and moved to Pittsburgh. Later, divorced for many years, she met her husband of almost nine years, David Shapira. Her passion for government service, civic engagement and the community led her to become a very active volunteer, including currently serving as chair of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Federation.<\/p>\n

She also serves or has served as a board member of Brandeis University, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, the United Way, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the Pittsburgh Promise and Point Park University, among others.\u00a0 She served as vice-chair of Governor Tom Wolf\u2019s Transition Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a vibrant community benefit sector that exists not to make profit, but to better life for everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cI love this work because it serves a really important purpose in our country. It creates tremendous opportunities for partnerships among government, community organizations, foundations and the private sector\u2014to invest in people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Governor Wolf appointed Ms. Shapira to the Board of Governors in December 2015. Six months later, she was elected chair.<\/p>\n

While she has plenty of experience in higher education\u2014having worked in the past with public university systems in Georgia, Massachusetts and North Carolina, as well as with many private higher education institutions\u2014she had never been involved with the State System before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, I think that could be very beneficial,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t come in with preconceived notions about what can or cannot be done. I start from a clean slate.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, she said, she has been impressed with the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have an outstanding board,\u201d she said. \u201cSuch smart people who are dedicated to higher education, to the Commonwealth, and who love this system and these universities. We have such a positive group there. I believe we also have an outstanding administration. I have nothing but admiration for the chancellor and all of the executive staff I\u2019ve met so far; also the university presidents. We have a really good foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we have fabulous students,\u201d she added, noting her first encounter with students at the state Capitol during the System\u2019s \u201cadvocacy days\u201d event in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to see students engaged,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re so altruistic. If they get involved now, it can become a lifetime service commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing out the important work of the faculty and staff at the universities, she continued, \u201cI am passionate about the State System access and quality education mission.\u00a0 We have the components of excellence. My goal is to capitalize on that, to look at the System as a whole as being excellent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does that mean to us as a System? How do we define our criteria, or pillars of excellence? What are the hard decisions we have to make to get there? Most of all, how can we ensure our stewardship and fiduciary responsibilities to the students and taxpayers and to the other important stakeholders, the faculty and administration; the communities in which our universities reside?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, the System faces significant challenges, but Shapira said she looks at things differently than many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, it\u2019s framed as a negative. I want to frame it in positive terms,\u201d she said. \u201cFirst, how can we be excellent as a System; then look at everything else and see where all the pieces fall into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Shapira said the System might need to take a more focused look at and place a greater emphasis on fundraising as an essential part of supporting the universities\u2019 budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about our budget based around tuition and state funding,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a real big third pocket out there. I know we do fundraising and we have the apparatus in place. But I want to learn more to see if it is emphasized enough; as much as it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also sees a need for more long-range planning for the System\u2019s future, admitting the significant challenges given the universities\u2019 long histories contrasted with the relative newness of the State System itself, which was founded in 1983.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese schools came together relatively recently as a system, but were not born as a system,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are different campus cultures. We have challenges and opportunities to do more things than we are doing now. Let\u2019s get the conversations started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her broad range of experience might be the greatest benefit she brings to the table, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I mostly bring is some different experience\u2014and my own successes and failures\u2014 in a lot of areas,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are many different models and ways to do business. There isn\u2019t just one way to do things. We shouldn\u2019t be afraid to take some risks.\u00a0 And so much can be learned from other systems, even if they aren\u2019t the same as ours. A lot of them struggle with the same issues we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she is \u201ccommitted to doing the best I can for the System.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her passion and commitment to civic engagement comes through clearly in her words and actions, it is just as clear she has even more on her plate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a mom, which I take very seriously,\u201d she said. And, she added, with a little laugh, \u201cI am a domestic goddess\u2014and you can say that. I love cooking and doing family parties and organizational events. I very much enjoy it, and I\u2019m good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with her husband at home, she has two grown children, three adult stepchildren and David\u2019s six grandchildren. She and her husband watch every Pittsburgh Steelers game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a California girl\u2014I grew up following the Dodgers and the Lakers, but I\u2019m also a huge Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fan. I love sports,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t everyone?<\/p>\n

Ms. Shapira recently visited Israel, and relayed this story: \u201cI was in Jerusalem walking along the street and the person I was with pointed out a restaurant across the street. He said, \u2018During American football season, that\u2019s the Steelers bar.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

They really are everywhere.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 107,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania. <\/em><\/p>\n

The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a very young girl, Cynthia Shapira, the daughter of a dentist father and a traditional homemaker mother, was certain that girls could do anything boys could do. And academic achievement was a high priority in her home growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur parents placed the highest expectations on me, and on my brothers,\u201d she said. Report cards were scrutinized; parent-teacher conferences solemnly attended. Cindy loved school and took it seriously\u2014to the point where her parents, concerned that she was a bit too zealous about grades, once offered her a dollar for every \u201cC\u201d she would bring home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":14675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,42,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news-release","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14670"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14676,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14670\/revisions\/14676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}