Two important guest speakers from the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Facilities (APSCUF), President Dr. Steve Hicks and labor attorney Stuart Davison came to Slippery Rock Tuesday, Nov. 22 to discuss details on the new contract for APSCUF and the budget for education in Pennsylvania.
APSCUF is a teachers' union made up of the 14 state colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.
These individual universities are referred to as chapters of the organization.
The one contract that APSCUF is currently working on stands for all 14 chapters.
APSCUF's old contract with the state expired July 1, and they are now negotiating with the state system in order to make a new one.
They met with members of Slippery Rock University in order to report the current status of the new contract.
The current topics of negotiation include salaries, benefits, grievance and the curriculum.
President of Slippery Rock University's chapter Dr. Jace Condravy stated that because it was a closed meeting, the details of these topics are confidential. Negotiations are currently going very slowly, admitted Condravy. There is no estimation about when an agreement will be reached.
Until a contract is agreed on, the terms of the last contract are still active.
The length of the contract has yet to be determined, said Condravy.
The contract that just expired lasted for four years.
A new contract could last three years, or it could last six years. The time period is highly variable.
Another topic that was discussed at the meeting was the budget.
Philosophy professor and APSCUF member Dr. Bradley Wilson said that last year, the new governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, proposed a 54 percent cut in funding to education.
Legislation decided to cut the education budget by 18 percent instead.
The organization is now waiting for Corbett's new budget proposal before settling on a contract.
Wilson admits that although the organization cannot physically change the universities' funding, just showing that there is an interest in education can help influence the government's decision.
"Our concern is not about pay," said Wilson. "It's about cuts. There is an increase of students per classroom, the number of temporary faculty, and more distance learning. These all affect the quality of education."
While the individual professors cannot directly change what is on the contract, they do have an influence on what should be changed.
According to Condravy, last year, each professor in the organization was polled about what they thought were the important issues.
Professors were also pulled into small groups in order to voice their opinions and concerns.
"There is a democratic structure in APSCUF," said philosophy professor and APSCUF member Dr. Andrew Colvin. "The people who work in APSCUF are faculty members they know the needs of the students and faculty,and they can represent those needs."
Economics professor and APSCUF member Dr. David Culp said that the organization has never gone on strike.
He said that the professors care too much about their student's education to do that.
"What we do now will affect what happens within the next 30 years," Culp said.
APSCUF will meet with the state again today in Harrisburg to exchange and discuss their revised proposals.
After each meeting, a conference call is given to each chapter president to report the results of the meeting.
The chapter president of Slippery Rock, Condravy, said that she emails the important details of the conference call to each of the members.
Condravy also writes a monthly newsletter that discusses what is new with the organization.
If you would like to find out more information about the organization, it can be found at www.apscuf.com.
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