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Dr. John Pierce Watkins was a former president of APSCUF and California University of Pennsylvania.
Photo courtesy of Cal U

APSCUF is mourning the loss of past President Dr. John Pierce Watkins, who helmed the organization from 1972 to 1973. He died Jan. 28. Click here to read the former California University of Pennsylvania professor’s obituary.

Watkins led APSCUF during its nascent years as the bargaining agent for faculty members at Pennsylvania’s state-owned colleges and universities. He resigned after his appointment as vice president for academic affairs at what then was California State College. Watkins went on to lead Cal U as its president, from 1977 to 1992, supporting faculty and coaches alike.

“If you have good teachers, you are going to have academic success, and the same holds true for athletics and good coaches,” Watkins, a Cal U graduate himself who was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame, said. “We have hard-working coaches here who are teachers in a sense and they care about the students.”

APSCUF awarded him its Distinguished Service Award in 1991.

“People ask me all the time to comment on the difference between faculty organization and faculty governance before and after collective bargaining,” Watkins said in an archived APSCUF interview. “And my answer to that is it requires the faculty to understand that for the first time they really do have power and responsibility. … The first contract, I think, was an inspired document. In the years intervening, it’s gotten bigger, but I think that the superstructure of that Red Book, the first contract, remains intact in that collective bargaining agreement. … I simply feel that the collective bargaining agreement negotiated in Pennsylvania was the finest collective bargaining agreement ever negotiated in higher education in this country. And the people who get credit for that, were, of course, the folks on the negotiating team, the members of APSCUF at that time, which had to ratify the contract, and the 14 faculties. … And I think it stood the test of time. I really believe it has. And to have been a part of that, was fascinating for me.”

In 2017, Watkins reflected on his time with APSCUF. View the video, shown at APSCUF’s 80th-anniversary celebration, below:

Have a Watkins memory to add to this post? Email it to . Please include your name and university.

Some links of note, as we begin the new year:

• Spotlight PA is slated to interview State System Chancellor Daniel Greenstein 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. “The state’s system of higher education is facing unprecedented challenges as it copes with the coronavirus pandemic, a major plan of consolidation, and ongoing criticism for how it responds to racism on its many campuses,” promotional information from Spotlight PA reads. Submit questions prior to the event to and register to watch live via this link. The event will be recorded.
• APSCUF members: As you prepare to watch the interview, you may wish to visit our integrations information page, available to APSCUF members exclusively in a secure area of our website. View this members-only resource (login required*) via this link or via the “Issues & Advocacy” dropdown menu.

* LOGGING INTO THE APSCUF WEBSITE:
APSCUF upgraded its website in summer/early fall 2016, and unfortunately we were unable to move the usernames and passwords with us. Thus, if you haven’t logged into the website since that time, you’ll need to create a new account. Website accounts are unrelated to your time as an APSCUF member; members must create their own logins. Once you’ve registered, it will take up to 24 hours for the login to activate. (We verify all information for security purposes.) If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset via this link. If you do not receive your password-reset email promptly, please check your spam filter; we have received some reports of the email being diverted there.

For your reading:

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Matt Richtel wrote about financial issues and cuts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He spoke with APSCUF President Dr. Jamie Martin and APSCUF State Secretary Dr. Michele Papakie, both IUP faculty members. Click here to read the news article, published on the front page of the Dec. 28 New York Times. The Times accepts reader feedback via this page.

In response, Yale-educated Ryan Craig, author of “A New U: Faster Cheaper Alternatives to College” contributed an opinion piece to Forbes titled “Stop Romanticizing Failing Colleges.” “In the Times article, Dan Greenstein, the Chancellor of PASSHE, comes across as a budget cutting monster who ‘did not respond to request for additional comment,’” Craig wrote. “But I know Dan, and few people think more deeply about the future of American higher education.” Forbes accepts general editorial feedback via .

Chancellor Daniel Greenstein shared the link to the Forbes opinion piece in a two-part tweet:

2/2 Another story? about:
– people working together @IUPedu & across @statesystem, looking ahead w/ creativity, integrity, vision, courage
–@PresDriscoll
– making hard decisions now so #highered serves PA in future;
– heroes USA needs, healing not dividing; rebuilding

— Dan Greenstein (@dan_greenstein) January 9, 2021

This week’s retrenchment deadline passed with no new letters, but APSCUF continues to fight for the more than 100 faculty who have received letters thus far. Click here to read today’s release.

Click here to learn more about how students, alumni and university communities can fight retrenchment. #CutsHurtStudents

Members may click here for a members-only retrenchment toolkit (login required).

The State APSCUF office seeks a junior or senior in political science, communication, journalism or a related field to serve as a government/communication intern in summer 2021. This paid internship typically occurs at the APSCUF headquarters in Harrisburg, but the internship will be remote if staff members have not yet returned to the office. Click here to learn more and download the application. The application deadline is Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. Direct questions to APSCUF’s communications director at .

APSCUF offers a $3,000 scholarship to relatives of APSCUF or APSCURF members in good standing. Click here to download the 2021 scholarship application. Applications must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2021, and the committee will award the scholarship(s) in August. Direct questions to APSCUF’s director of membership services at 800-932-0587, Ext. 3021.

One non-tenured faculty member received a retrenchment letter Dec. 1, the second of four deadlines for Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities to issue notices to faculty members who may lose their jobs at the end of the 2021 spring semester. The recipient is a faculty member at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, one of five universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education that have active possibilities of retrenchment — layoffs through no fault of the employee. Click here to read the complete APSCUF press release.

Click here to learn more about how students, alumni and community can fight retrenchment. #CutsHurtStudents

Members may click here for a members-only retrenchment toolkit (login required).