When Penn State Athletic director Tim Curley stepped out of last week’s Big Ten meetings in Chicago, he left with the same mindset he had when he walked in.

Staying patient, weighing all the options and letting the process play out were all things Curley took away from the meetings. And while conference expansion talks continue, Curley said Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany’s 12-to-18-month timetable, set in December, is still on schedule.

“These decisions are certainly very, very important,” Curley said during Thursday’s “Evening with Joe” event in Hershey. Joe Paterno did not attend the event because he’s recovering from the flu. “You need to really think them out, do your due diligence and take your time with it because it’s something we’re going to live with. I think the Big Ten, we’ll take our time and do what’s right for us.”

While Curley said the interest surrounding the conference’s potential growth is much more than he anticipated, he insisted the Big Ten won’t rush to make a decision. Even if the Pac-10 decides to expand, Curley said there’s no set limit on the number of teams, if any, the Big Ten would consider adding.

With coach Joe Paterno absent from Thursday’s event, as well as the conference meetings, Curley said Paterno is still interested in staying up to speed on expansion.

“We want to hear what he has to say and we certainly value his input, particularly because of his history and his experience with all of this,” Curley said. “I think it would be remiss if all of us didn’t listen to what he has to say and take that into account as we move forward. And the good news is he’s seen a lot of this happen before.”