ESU President, Administrators Offer Agreement to Faculty Union to End Retrenchment of Music Faculty

Posted by: admin on March 26, 2015, One Comment

East Stroudsburg University President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., announced today that two faculty members scheduled to be retrenched at the end of the semester will be retained. In an agreement with state leadership for the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (faculty union), ESU will retain the two remaining full-time music faculty members, and there will be an elimination of seven pending grievances and two unfair labor practice complaints filed by the faculty union against the university.

“We see this agreement as something that is in the best interest of our student body and the university,” said Welsh. “Yesterday we approached the faculty union with an agreement we felt was fair and balanced. It enables them to retain two of their faculty members from retrenchment while allowing the institution’s administrative staff to focus more of their time and energies on critical issues such as enrollment, budget management, facilities management, curriculum, general education, and the implementation of the ESU strategic plan: Students First: Innovate ESU.”

Joanne Bruno, J.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at ESU, said the two music faculty members who were slated for retrenchment after the spring 2015 semester will become part of the faculty complement in the theatre department. Despite the fact that the music department at ESU will close at the end of this semester, she confirmed that these faculty members will teach general education music courses and other classes as assigned.

“We will also be working with music professionals within the community-at-large to evaluate our music ensemble programs and to determine those that will best serve our students. It will then be our charge to determine how we can make those ensembles financially viable,” said Dr. Bruno.

“This agreement to retain two full-time faculty members to teach general education music courses is not the most economically sound decision for the university,” said Ken Long, vice president for administration and finance. “However, it provides the university with a framework for future improvement of its educational opportunities for students.”

One Response to “ESU President, Administrators Offer Agreement to Faculty Union to End Retrenchment of Music Faculty”

Marcus Howard

Posted March 26, 2015 at 2:11 PM

This is wonderful news for us involved in music. However, I am wondering if the “other classes” referenced here include the various Choral and Orchestra ensembles that they direct as well.