Comment and Reply

STUDENT QUESTION posted in Comments:
Why is no one concerned about us students??? who will
pay for this raise? the students. who will suffer from
a strike? the students. It doesnt make sense. Either
way students are being hurt. How many kids trying to
get into school are going to be turned away becuase
they cant afford it? More students hurt. How many
parents will have to mortgage their homes to pay for
the last year of their child's school, which is
turning into a year and a half because of the strike?
again mroe students hurt.

OUR ANSWER:

APSCUF is extremely concerned about the students, and
has been all along. Consider these factors:

• The strike date was set for July 1st, rather than during a regular semester because fewer students will be affected

• Chancellor Hample refused to include even a slight increase in faculty salaries in her budget request to the state legislature

• The faculty workload, salary, and benefits package has deteriorated so that it is now difficult to recruit highly qualified faculty. This must be reversed to assure students they have qualified professors
  

• The state's appropriation for supporting public higher education has been cut almost in half over recent years. That is the primary reason tuition has increased. Statistical analysis shows that tuition is not closely tied to teachers' salaries

• State leaders do not consider higher education a significant priority. Otherwise, we would not have the low salaries and high tuition that have brought us to this point.

• Finally, financial aid offices are willing to work with students and their parents to ensure that students complete their educations. Then contact President Smith and Provost Williams’ offices to ask them what to do in your difficult situation.
  

You may ask administrators what their raises have been. At some PASSHE universities administrative salaries have increased nearly 50%. Managers averaged more than 10% raises when faculty contracts offered 0% raises over half of the last agreement, and the current "generous" baseline offer is 7% over four years. 0%, 2%, 2%, 3%--add it up, and you get less than an administration raise in ONE YEAR, then ask who is raising your tuition.