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The Oct. 16 Board of Governors meeting was streamed via YouTube. Below are Dr. Kenneth M. Mash’s comments as prepared.

Good morning, Chair Shapira, governors, returning faculty liaison, chancellor, presidents, and guests. My name is Ken Mash, and I am the president of APSCUF, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties.

I’ll begin today by first thanking the chancellor, who has gone out of his way to meet a couple of times already with our individual chapter presidents to get their impressions and their feelings about the way things are going and also to have the opportunity to explain what the System is doing. I think that kind of communication is really admirable, and it does relieve various different kinds of stress.

I would also like to thank President Driscoll for his willingness to attend the APSCUF town-hall meeting concerning the proposed side letter about how our faculty CBA will be treated should all go according to plan with the creation of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. I think it was productive and forthright, and our faculty appreciated the opportunity to hear from you, President Driscoll.

My primary remarks, however, are about the State System budget and the allocation request that will be voted on later today. For years now, the current year notwithstanding, the System has calculated its budget request based on the notion that tuition would not be raised should we receive an “x” percentage of increase.

That increase, of course, was meant to maintain the status quo. APSCUF absolutely applauds the effort to prevent tuition increases, which has been a joint effort of this board, our chancellors, and our governors and the legislature. Again, we all applaud the effort to keep our universities affordable for the sake of our students, their families, and all Pennsylvanians who want an opportunity to take advantage of the many benefits of a college degree.

But it is the “status quo” part of that statement that I want to take issue with. Just in case you haven’t heard, the “status quo” sucks. Programs are being cut, technology needs to be purchased, needed repairs are deferred, services are being reduced, and faculty, coaches, and staff have been pushed to the breaking point, to name only a few issues.

There is too much work to do and not enough people to do that work. Last academic year, I spoke to you about the problem of low morale. Morale is so low precisely because there is not enough money at virtually all of our universities to do right by our students. How can we do right by our students when almost all of our energy is spent figuring out what to cut or defending our jobs from the budget knife?

Whatever one’s thoughts are about the consolidation of six universities into two, it is clear that the two universities have got to be able to answer the question from prospective students and their families about why they should attend those particular institutions. And the answer, given the demographics, cannot just be that it is close by. There would have to be enough students close by.

To attract students and to thrive, which I hope is the goal we share, those universities have to be able to invest to make their campuses attractive. But the “status quo” does not allow for that.

Further, it is clear that our universities are not monolithic, and we should not think that one number will work for all of them. They work off of different sources of revenue, they have different missions, inherited problems caused by prior administrations. The goal should be to find the number that will allow them all to thrive.

Just last year, Gov. Shapiro proposed a 15% increase in the budget of public higher-education institutions for several years. I do not believe that number came out of thin air. It was about having thriving institutions that are affordable, that prepare students for the future, and that position Pennsylvania to have an attractive workforce. I do not know if everyone has seen, but New York has been working overtime to attract students to their state. New York understands the value. It understands the need. We in Pennsylvania must also. We must serve Pennsylvania families and be attractive to potential students outside of the state.

To repeat what I said, the “status quo” sucks. I hope that this board will put forward a budget request that will help our institutions thrive. The System has the data to show what a difference a college degree makes for students’ future lifetime earnings. I urge you to be bold in your request, especially since being bold in this instance means doing what is right.

I can promise you that we, APSCUF, will — regardless of the board’s actions — will push for an increase that reframes the “status quo.”

Lydia Kramer is a member of The University Honors College at Millersville University. Photo courtesy of Lydia Kramer

Millersville University student Lydia Kramer is the 2025 winner of State APSCUF’s $6,000 scholarship, selected by APSCUF’s special-services committee. Kramer is the daughter of Shippensburg APSCUF member Dr. Emily Kramer. The scholarship recipient is majoring in early childhood education. Click here to read more about her.

APSCUF offers a scholarship to relatives of APSCUF or APSCURF members in good standing. The 2026 application will be available on the Students page of the APSCUF website in early 2026.

Stay vigilant to avoid scams, monetary loss

Photo/Pexels

Some APSCUF members reported receiving emails from individuals pretending to be chapter presidents and asking for payments. APSCUF does not send unexpected emails requesting money (including transfers or gift cards) to members. The individuals who are sending these suspicious emails are performing a scam operation known as phishing.

Phishing operations involve individuals who send emails, text messages, or phone calls pretending to be figures of authority or personal significance, asking for some form of payment or personal information such as passwords or account numbers. If you pay or interact with these sources, they can gain access to your finances and drain your accounts. That is why it is important to know how to identify these operations.=

A few ways to make sure you do not fall for one of these phishing scams:

• In a new email and using the address you know is correct, contact the person the scammer is pretending to be to make sure the request is legitimate.
• Never buy/give gift card information over email.
• Do not give phone or bank passwords to people asking for them.

Unfortunately, APSCUF cannot stop these phishing attempts, which are a national issue. We encourage members to be vigilant and to be cautious with any suspicious links, emails, or phone calls.

For more information, visit these resource pages:

• OCC: Phishing Attack Prevention
• FTC: Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams

—Ian C. Hall,
APSCUF intern

In January, I received an email that brought my attention to this internship. This email was a followup to a conversation from the previous semester about opportunities outside of teaching in the field of education. This was one such opportunity. With a basic understanding of how unions work as a PSEA member and wanting to know more about union operations, this internship was the perfect opportunity. Now, as the internship comes to an end, my understanding of not just union operations — but also journalism, lobbying, personal relations, research, interviewing, and writing — has expanded.

PennWest Edinboro student Ian C. Hall visited the Pennsylvania Capitol as part of his summer internship with APSCUF’s government-and-communication department. Click here to learn more about APSCUF internships. APSCUF file photo

The skills learned from the last 10 weeks are ones I can use in my future career as a teacher. From talking to members of the general assembly to writing profiles on APSCUF members, this internship has helped me become a better communicator. A teacher’s job is to transmit information from themselves to the students. The vast majority of time, the teacher is the only person in the room who understands the topic before the lesson, thus, for students — who have to work within the context of what they know — to learn, teachers have to be able to communicate and present information in a multimodal fashion to ensure the best come for students. This internship had me present information in a few different ways: orally, in writing, and visually. Each time, this information was reaching a wide audience with varying skills, experiences, and backgrounds.

I have also learned a lot about data sets. Part of this internship was analyzing and creating data sets. These data sets were both quantitative and qualitative, giving experience with both kinds of data sets. For various assignments, I would either have to gather data and compile it or, in one instance, find raw data to compile and create a new data set. This skill can also be used as a teacher. Teachers keep gradebooks for their students. These gradebooks are data sets. Having spent time working with data sets, it will be easier for me to identify areas where students are struggling, looking at trends in their grades and quality of work. Overall, this internship has helped me hone many skills I will use as a teacher.

This internship was also a lot more than just a way to gain experience for my future career, but a fun learning experience as well. I have learned just how difficult journalism is and have gained a much deeper respect for the field because of it. It was also a cool experience getting to talk to members of the general assembly on topics that affect me as a student as well as a future educator. Not to mention meeting the amazing people who work at the APSCUF office.

My favorite part of the internship was interviewing people for membership profiles. I enjoyed listening to them and their stories. From where they grew up, to how their interest in their fields has developed, it was nice talking to them as people, rather than as mentors. Everyone also gave me great advice on what to expect as an educator and to understand that every lesson I teach will be just as much of a learning experience for me as it is for the students.

All in all, I had a great time this summer working with both Kathryn Morton and Sean Crampsie. They both taught me a lot about their positions and responsibilities. I would also like to thank Assistant Professor Erik Bentsen for bringing this internship to my attention and Professor Marc Sylvester for writing a wonderful letter of recommendation. Without them, I cannot say I would have had this amazing opportunity.

—Ian C. Hall,
APSCUF intern

California APSCUF Chapter President Mario Majcen speaks to Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors in mid-July 2025. APSCUF photo

Shortly after becoming his chapter’s vice president, Mario Majcen was part of a three-day strike in October 2016. Now, nine years later, he serves his chapter as president — and all of APSCUF as a statewide officer-at-large.

Majcen grew up and graduated from college in Croatia before immigrating to the United States. He got his master’s in meteorology from the University of Utah before moving to Pennsylvania for his Ph.D., which he received from Penn State in 2009, after which he became an assistant professor at California University of Pennsylvania.

“One of the differences between the offers that I got for the first job is that the faculty are unionized at California University as all PASSHE schools, and I decided to go there,” Majcen said.

He joined APSCUF the first day he was able to and has been increasingly more involved since. In 2013, Majcen was elected as an alternative delegate to the legislative assembly. Then in 2016 he was elected as Cal U’s APSCUF chapter vice president. He also became the mobilization chair.

“You know, they said, ‘Mostly nothing happens. It’s a really easy position,’ and of course, you know, that was the strike year,” Majcen said, reflecting on his position as mobilization chair.

Issues had been building before Majcen was elected.

“There was almost nothing sudden about this,” Majcen said about the strike, “Our negotiations to get a contract were stuck for a while … So everything was building towards that.”

A few years after APSCUF’s first and only statewide strike in its 88-year history, Majcen was part of the merger of Cal U, Clarion, and Edinboro into PennWest University. Despite hardship during this time, there were benefits.

“I have met some amazing people in union chapters in Edinboro and Clarion that I communicate and collaborate with now, so it makes the union much stronger,” Majcen said.

In 2022, Majcen became the California APSCUF chapter president. This past April, he ran for officer-at-large.

“During that consolidation process, I acquired experience going through that and knowing how to solve problems,” he said. “And I decided that I want to make an impact and help on a state level, having that expertise, especially in a sense of how I could enhance collaboration between different chapters.”

Dr. Mario Majcen visits RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tenn. Photo/Submitted

Before taking on his responsibilities with APSCUF, Majcen teaches classes in meteorology. This fall he will teach an introduction to weather and climate, along with two lab sections.

“Frankly, I can’t wait to teach that class,” he said. “It’s an awesome class. It’s every student who comes to that class. And it’s not for majors. It’s general education. I like engaging with students from different backgrounds. This is definitely a job where I feel that I’m making a difference.”

There is another reason why he enjoys teaching.

“Helping the students succeed is the way, and probably the only way, that I can pay back
to my professors,” Majcen said. “I cannot pay back for the time they spent helping me. So one way of, you know, kind of returning the favor is to help the future students. I enjoy that a lot.”

—Ian C. Hall,
APSCUF intern