Blog
Update on “Keep Tuition Affordable” legislation hearing
Harrisburg, Pa — APSCUF Vice President Ken Mash testified at a House State Government Committee hearing on Wednesday, August 15, against four pieces of legislation that would eliminate faculty sabbaticals, end tuition waivers for relatives of employees at PASSHE institutions, impose a moratorium on building projects and deferred maintenance, and allow students to opt-out of paying the mandatory student activity fee.
Paul Ryan’s plan for higher education
Today Inside Higher Ed released a report on Paul Ryan’s views on higher education. Ryan, if you haven’t heard, was picked Saturday by Mitt Romney to be his vice presidential candidate. The takeway from the article: Ryan is in favor of bringing back bank-based student lending and all-but-eliminating Pell Grants. The video below (and after the break) produced by Reason.tv is an interview where Ryan says in his own words his view of higher education and how it should be funded.
A primer on the “statewide pattern”
In the past two “statements” from the faculty negotiations team to membership, we have referenced the state “pattern.” After multiple questions about what this is, we thought we’d put this primer out for your information.
PASSHE refuses fair compensation for faculty
The APSCUF and PASSHE negotiations teams were scheduled to meet multiple times this week. However, late last week PASSHE’s chief negotiator informed APSCUF that the System would not offer to the faculty the same economic proposal that Governor Corbett agreed to with virtually every major statewide union (including the second largest union on our campuses), unless the faculty were willing to accept “substantial” reductions to health care benefits and the elimination of compensation for developing, presenting and updating distance education courses.
In view of PASSHE’s rejection of the Commonwealth’s statewide pattern, APSCUF suspended discussions to allow the parties the time to thoughtfully review their positions.
Related information
On June 25, 2011, Gov. Corbett reached an agreement with the Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Read more about that contract agreement here.
Pennsylvania colleges and universities face difficulty providing students with proper voting IDs
The problem? Only 15 out of 110 Pennsylvania colleges and universities provide expiration dates on their student IDs. Furthermore, none of the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education issues ID cards that include expiration dates.