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Faculty and students call on legislature to restore funding to the State System of Higher Education
“In 2011 the State System’s appropriation was cut by $90 million. For the past two years we’ve seen flat-funding and minimal tuition increases. Now our universities are facing financial difficulties, and they are choosing to cut programs, faculty, and staff at the expense of our students’ education,” said Dr. Steve Hicks, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF).
Seven of the state-owned universities have indicated that faculty layoffs are possible, and three have announced plans to lay off faculty and staff. It is the largest number of proposed layoffs in the 30-year history of the State System.
“Because of declining state support, our students and their families have been forced to take on significant debt to afford college. They are paying more, but getting less. The restoration of state funding will help our universities preserve and maintain quality public higher education for the Commonwealth’s students,” Hicks stated.
Tuition and average fees now make up 17 percent of the median family income in Pennsylvania and the state currently ranks 2nd in the nation in the amount of student debt.
“We are grateful that so many legislators have joined us in the call for state support,” Hicks said. “State funding is essential for our students to continue to have access to an affordable, high quality education and the faculty who provide it.”
Over the past several years the State System universities have increased class sizes, reduced course offerings, and eliminated over 130 academic programs.
“Our universities are distinct, but they share a common vision to provide Pennsylvania’s students with a comprehensive education,” Hicks noted. “Students at all fourteen deserve to have access to a variety of programs, including philosophy, music, and foreign languages. We ask the legislature to support our public universities and ensure that current and future students receive a quality education.”
Students beware!
By Dr. Ken Mash, APSCUF Vice President
Over the last several years, administrative leaders have implied that universities ought to emulate businesses and prioritize efficiency. In recent weeks this argument reached a high point when at one of our universities that is planning to layoff faculty, the president openly reduced herself to a “CEO,” and referred to her students as “customers.” This one president is not alone; she merely openly voiced the pervasive attitude among our university and system leaders. read more…
Thoughts on the state of the profession
By Leigh Smith
Dear colleagues,
What I have to share with you is both intensely personal and urgently political. The private tragedy that probably awaits me is, I believe, a single manifestation of a public disaster that we–meaning people in our profession–are the only ones who can avert. At first, I noticed only signs and portents that led me to suspect that I am becoming a crank and a relic much earlier than I intended. I am only 44, which is not nearly old enough to be a relic: I have far too many working years before me. Nor did I deliberately set out to be a relic. I have a flat-screen TV, a cell phone, a laptop, and a Facebook account. On the other hand, I don’t have a Kindle, a smart phone, an iPod, an iPad, or a Twitter account. I like to think I have made conscious decisions about the many options the modern world offers. Until recently, I was very much at peace with the acerbic old cronehood that awaited me. I thought of it as the natural conclusion of the nerdiness that made me prefer old books to videogames when I was still young enough to care whether I was cool or not. While it didn’t exactly make me the most popular girl in class, I’ve been more than satisfied with the outcome. Right after college, I married a historian and plunged into graduate school, where I discovered my love of medieval literature, and after a few years in adjunct Purgatory, I was fortunate enough to make a career studying and teaching the works I love. Like you, I do both rather well. To use the current buzzword, my retention is very good: my upper-level classes are filled with students I met in my lower-division surveys who did not find my old-fashioned Socratic lecture-discussions the least bit boring. Still, medievalists are expected to be a little dusty, and I’ve cheerfully regaled my near and dear with images of my probable future, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, stirring my cauldron, a crumbling book in my lap and cats around my feet.
read more…
Join Us for APSCUF Lobby Days
Lobby day is an opportunity for faculty, coaches, and students to talk with legislators about issues important to our organization, our students, and our campus communities, including the threat of faculty layoffs, the need for additional state funding, and the preservation of quality public higher education.
Sign up for lobby day by downloading and filling out the attachment below. Return it to Ty Marks at state APSCUF via email at .