State System and APSCUF Resume Negotiations

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) will resume negotiations Thursday in Harrisburg.

“APSCUF has agreed to our request to meet on Sept. 29 and return to negotiations,” said State System spokesman Kenn Marshall. “We are ready to stay at the table until an agreement is reached. This is too important to our students and faculty, and we need to make progress. We look forward to continuing discussions and are hopeful we can move toward an agreement.”

Still on the table is a State System proposal that would provide faculty $159 million in raises over the next three years, provided APSCUF agrees to healthcare plan changes similar to those accepted by other employees across the Commonwealth and other contractual changes that would create important operational flexibilities and produce needed cost savings of about $70 million.

“Even with the cost savings, the faculty would see pay increases far above and beyond any cost savings we may achieve,” Marshall said. “Our faculty make extraordinary contributions to the success of our students and our universities. Even as our universities confront the most serious fiscal challenges in their collective histories, we have put serious money on the table and are committed to bargaining in good faith to achieve an agreement that is fair to everyone, especially our students.”

The raises proposed by the State System would range from 7.25 percent to 17.25 percent over the life of the new contract. In addition to the annual raises, faculty at the top of the salary schedule also would receive cash payments equivalent to 2.5 percent of their salary in both the second and third years of the proposed agreement. Last year, total faculty earnings—not including benefits—averaged nearly $100,000 across all four faculty ranks. The average ranged from $63,304 for instructors to $126,209 for full professors.

The proposed healthcare plan changes are identical to those that were implemented in January for all other State System employees covered by the plan, including university health center nurses, campus police and security officers and all nonrepresented employees

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with more than 100,000 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.

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.

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