Letter to Students and Families

June 23, 2007

To Our 109,000 Students and Their Families:

Our union, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), is currently trying to negotiate new contracts for the 5,500 faculty and 350 coaches in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The contracts currently in effect expire on June 30, 2007.

We are fighting hard to secure fair agreements that will allow us to attract and retain well-qualified faculty and coaches at our universities. We will not sacrifice the quality education that you have come to expect. If we have to, we will strike to preserve that quality!

Last Wednesday, three students stopped at State APSCUF headquarters in Harrisburg. I was happy to welcome the students and answered their questions. The students had serious concerns about summer courses, and their local university president refused to meet with them regarding the matter. In addition, the students called the Governor’s office and their call was promptly disconnected!

The students were concerned because the PASSHE has announced that if there is a strike called and a faculty member fails to meet the first scheduled class or subsequently scheduled class of a summer course, the course will be canceled and students will receive a full refund of tuition and fees.

In many cases across the state, there are courses scheduled to end the week after a possible strike would commence. APSCUF encourages all students in this situation to request an incomplete grade so that all of their course work will not be nullified by a strike. Another avenue students can pursue is taking courses at the state’s community colleges. The PASSHE has articulation agreements in place that require the PASSHE to accept courses completed at community colleges. For a complete listing of courses that can be taken at community colleges, visit the APSCUF blog at www.apscuf.org/blog.

What can you do about the current contract situation? Tell the PASSHE and Governor Rendell what you think! Send an email message to PASSHE Chancellor Judy Hample at jhample@passhe.edu, and Governor Ed Rendell at governor@state.pa.us. Ask them to return to the table for serious negotiations with the faculty members and coaches. Your education is at stake!

For more information about the important issues, and to share your thoughts with us, visit our web site at apscuf.org/blog. You are also welcome to call us at 1-800-932-0587.

Pat Heilman, President, APSCUF

Representing the 5,500 faculty members and 350 coaches of the PASSHE

Keep Up to Date

Students and interested others can learn about negotiations and post their comments on the APSCUF blog.

And a special thanks to Dawn Wolfe and others who have joined the Support Slippery Rock APSCUF facebook site.