Dr. Jamie Martin was president of APSCUF from 2020 to 2022. She was the organization’s second elected woman president. APSCUF file photo
APSCUF is mourning the loss of Immediate Past President Dr. Jamie Martin, who helmed the organization from 2020 to 2022. She died Friday.
Martin led APSCUF through the pandemic, retrenchment, and consolidation. After her two-year term, she did not seek reelection due to medical treatment. Click here to read her obituary.
“I shudder to think where we might have been (given all that has transpired), had she not been in the leadership role exerting her steely resolve and giving all for her faculty and coach colleagues,” said Dr. Kenneth M. Mash, whose APSCUF presidency has bookended Martin’s, in 2022.
Martin was a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She served as chair of her department and once joked that she “was initially drawn to [criminology] because my parents thought it was a bad idea.”
Martin’s involvement in APSCUF started early: She served IUP APSCUF on the representative council, as grievance chair, as a member of meet-and-discuss, and on the executive council. She was an IUP APSCUF delegate to APSCUF’s legislative assembly. Also at the state level, Martin was an officer-at-large, vice president, and on faculty and coach negotiations teams. In 2020, she became the organization’s second elected woman president.
“I was so very lucky to have Jamie in my life, and all APSCUF members were fortunate to have a leader of her caliber to guide our union,” Mash told members this week.
John Gump served as APSCUF’s coach executive leader alongside Martin.
“Jamie was a staunch advocate for coaches,” Gump said. “She really understood the issues important to our members and worked tirelessly on their behalf. When you go into competition, you want the best players on your team. In contract negotiations, you want the smartest person in the room on your side of the table. Jamie was always the smartest person in the room.
“The lives of so many coaches were made better because of the tenacious work done by Jamie Martin. The benefits of her efforts will be felt for years to come. That’s a remarkable legacy left by a remarkable woman.”
As an APSCUF leader, Martin praised her colleagues, staff, and other supporters.
“My favorite part of the job is the people,” she said as she began her presidency in 2020.
As her presidency concluded in 2022, Martin wrote about the period and its challenges.
“I have been reflecting on transitions that we all face, both personally and professionally, in our lives,” she said in a message to members. “Some are painful, some are frightening, some are joyful, some are hopeful, and all result in change and growth.”
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More memories
“What I remember most about Jamie is her big beautiful smile and her contagious laugh. I only knew the encouraging, warm, inclusive parts of Jamie but I am glad she was also a fierce defender of what is right and all things APSCUF.” —Professor Jeananne Nicholls, Slippery Rock University
Have a Martin memory to add to this post? Email it to . Please include your name and university.
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Send a message
For privacy purposes, we are not sharing the family’s contact information, but we want to provide an opportunity for APSCUF members, former students, etc. to send notes to Dr. Martin’s family. Messages submitted via this form will be shared with the family. If you prefer to send a physical card, mail it to APSCUF, 319 N. Front St., Harrisburg, PA 17101, Attn: Martin family. Physical mail will be scanned and shared with the family.
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Remarks from Martin
“While uncertainty exists, I know that certainty is present in the resolve among my colleagues to provide the best educational experiences that we can for our students.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, June 10, 2020
“The cavalier manner in which ‘rightsizing’ is discussed — making it sound innocuous — is distressing. It is not innocuous. I had a student ask me, ‘What does retrenchment even mean?’ I explained that it means a person is being fired through no fault of their own. It is not because they are not performing their job. It is not because of a disciplinary issue. It is because a decision was made to reduce the workforce. It is imperative that everyone is aware of what we are talking about: 300 or more faculty members losing their careers and their healthcare in the middle of a global pandemic. I have concerns that the ‘rightsizing’ is going to disproportionately impact my colleagues who are women and who are minority. And all of this occurring because of the directive to reach an arbitrary student/faculty ratio of 2010–11 that was an anomaly.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Oct. 14, 2020
“We all know why diversity is so important: It is critical to helping us explore new ideas and exposing us to different perspectives and experiences. Diversity promotes critical thinking and broadens and enhances our understanding of the world. The fact that the leaders of our universities have become less diverse is troubling, and I think it is important to question why this has occurred.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, April 15, 2021
“I think we all agree that we must work together to improve our State System of Higher Education, and APSCUF is committed to partnering in that work. However, we believe that rather than doing something, we should strive to be certain that it is the right thing.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, June 30, 2021
“Our universities exist to provide access to an affordable, high-quality education for our students and to do all we can to help them succeed. As faculty and coaches, we see firsthand the importance of that affordability and access for our students and student-athletes, and in interactions with them we have learned that they lack important information about the consolidation. In my experience, too often decisions are made as if ‘we KNOW what is best for our students.’ I have learned that they are quite capable of fully articulating what they believe is best for them. Their questions and concerns should be heard, and their input should be valued on a change this monumental … “
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, July 14, 2021
“We can all agree that the mission of our universities is to provide access to an affordable, high-quality education for the students of our Commonwealth and beyond. As faculty and coaches, we see firsthand how critical affordability is for our students and student-athletes. We know the importance of increased funding for our universities — and for the students enrolled in them. I pledge today that APSCUF will continue to work with the State System in advocating for the funding necessary to keep the promise of affordability and access to a high-quality education for students from all backgrounds.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Sept. 22, 2021
“To accomplish this mission, the State System must be appropriately funded: The General Assembly must be willing to invest in our students.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Oct. 13, 2021
“We are at an inflection point, and a very important question must be addressed: Are the universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education state-owned and state-supported universities — or not?”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Oct. 13, 2021
“Our students do amazing things while they are enrolled in our universities and after they leave them. They are first responders, nurses, police officers and physicians; they work with our children as teachers and counselors; they find success in business, science and art; they work for nonprofit organizations and in government. They take the lessons they have learned as student-athletes and apply them to sports careers or to other professional endeavors. We are the beneficiaries of their successes, and they deserve our applause and appreciation.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Feb. 3, 2022
“We need to acknowledge and address these challenges that our students face. We need to fulfill the promise of a high-quality and affordable college education. Our students deserve no less.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, Feb. 3, 2022
“We all know why diversity is so important: It is critical to helping us explore new ideas and exposing us to different perspectives and experiences. Diversity promotes critical thinking and broadens and enhances our understanding of the world. The fact that the leaders of our universities have become less diverse is troubling, and I think it is important to question why this has occurred.”
—Dr. Jamie Martin to the Board of Governors, May 6, 2022
This post is under development and will change as more tributes are added.