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All full and fair-share faculty APSCUF members should have received an online survey this week. If you did not receive a survey to your campus email, please check your spam filter. If the survey is not there, please email to have a survey resent to you.

Please help APSCUF by following the button in the invitation and completing the survey we are conducting of all faculty about APSCUF. (We will conduct a separate survey for coaches.) The survey should take 10–15 minutes to complete, and your participation will help us to assess what we currently do and how we might make improvements for the future. Your participation is voluntary, and there is no penalty should you choose not to participate. With your input, we hope to make our state organization and our chapters the best they possibly can be.

If you have any questions about the survey, please email . The deadline to complete the survey is Friday, March 9.

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties stands in solidarity with the members of the West Virginia Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, and the West Virginia School Personnel Association in their strike for fair salaries. West Virginia’s low teacher salaries, currently ranked 48th in the nation, cause hardships for teachers and their families and a shortage of qualified educators in the state, as teachers have left for better opportunities in other states.

As post-secondary educators, the faculty and coaches of APSCUF recognize the importance of public education. We support West Virginia teachers’ refusal to accept the status quo.

APSCUF’s September 2017 legislative assembly approved two statements about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, one of which called for APSCUF to compile and post a list of local and statewide resources available to students (and staff and faculty) on our campuses whose immigration status is at risk in the wake of the recision of the DACA program.

Click here to view the list in progress. We invite members to contribute more via this link. If you have questions, email Tabetha Bernstein-Danis, chair of the state social-justice committee at or Seth Kahn, chair of the state mobilization committee, at .

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, workers across the nation plan to stand together for rallies and events. Here’s what’s planned for Pennsylvania:

Saturday, Feb. 24: Working People’s Day of Action

Canonsburg – Town Hall

Duncansville

Erie

Philadelphia: To join West Chester APSCUF at the Philadelphia event, email or .

Sunday, Feb. 25:

Wilkes-Barre: Working People’s Rally at Luzerne County Courthouse

Monday, February 26:

APSCUF chapter activities: On Feb. 26 — the day of the oral argument — the mobilization committees on many of our campuses will hold events to highlight the benefits of union membership and the real threat posed by Janus. If you do not see any publicity for your campus, contact you chapter president.

Beaver: noon at the Beaver County Courthouse

Greensburg: 4 p.m. at the Westmoreland County Courthouse

Harrisburg: 11:30 a.m. at the Department of Labor and Industry

Pittsburgh: 8 a.m. at Mellon Square Park

From left: Negotiations team members Margaret Ervin of West Chester University, left; Jamie Martin of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, second from right; and Chris Hallen of Bloomsburg University, right, sign the one-year contract. With them is Mary Rita Duvall, State APSCUF’s head of labor relations. View additional photos on APSCUF’s Facebook page. Photo/Kathryn Morton

Delegates from all 14 university chapters met Feb. 9–10 to pass resolutions, hear committee reports, and discuss new business related to quality, affordable higher education during APSCUF’s 193rd legislative assembly, held at Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel.

Resolutions tackled faculty harassment and the use of program review as justification for retrenchment. One resolution declares APSCUF’s support of Pennsylvania Promise. The Pennsylvania Promise plan — laid out in Keystone Research Center and Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center‘s report. “The Pennsylvania Promise: Making College Affordable and Securing Pennsylvania’s Economic Future” — outlines how to make higher education affordable in Pennsylvania.

With negotiations team members together, faculty negotiators took a few minutes to sign the one-year contract, putting it one step closer to press.