Union president meets with Cal U faculty
CALIFORNIA – Faculty at California University of Pennsylvania received a back-to-school visit from their union president Thursday morning. Patricia “Pat” Heilman, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), updated members about plans for the new school year at a closed meeting of the faculty union.
Cal U was the fourth stop on Heilman’s agenda to hit all 14 State System of Higher Education (SSHE) schools by the end of the month, addressing concerns such as faculty recruitment and retention, class size and domestic partner benefits.
Before the meeting, Heilman explained that the union is in the process of negotiating faculty and coaching contracts. The current labor contract between SSHE and APSCUF expires June 30, 2007. APSCUF negotiating teams and the state system began preliminary contract discussions, but proposals have not been exchanged, according to a press release from Cal U’s local APSCUF president Linda Toth. The next joint negotiation session is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Harrisburg.
APSCUF represents about 5,500 state-owned university faculty members, including more than 300 at Cal U.
In an interview after the meeting, Margo Wilson, assistant English professor at Cal U, said that Heilman told the faculty union members that Pennsylvania is starting to have trouble retaining recently hired faculty because other states offer better pay and workloads.
The average faculty salary came in at $67,000 in 2002, but dropped to $66,000 in 2005, Heilman said, adding that the drop in salary stemmed from “wage freezes” and because health benefits forced some faculty to resign and the schools hired new faculty at lower salaries.
“We need to attract and retain faculty,” Heilman said. “We need to be competitive again.”
Heilman said SSHE needs to update their benefit packages and offer what Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities already do. She said domestic partner benefits were discussed at the last contract negotiations, but nothing had been settled.
“You have to consider we have to compete,” she said. “We need that. Major companies in Pennsylvania have that.”
As for class size, Heilman said information is on the way.
“The governor made a promise to get a handle on class size,” she said. “We’re waiting on data from the state system.”
That data includes the percentage of failure in 200-plus size classes vs. smaller classes and the number of student withdrawals from larger classes.
Heilman said the union also is trying to change the retirement system for faculty. Once hired, a faculty member has 30 days to pick a retirement plan that they are stuck with for life under the current system. She said the union wants to change legislation so that faculty members have the option to switch.
Overall, Heilman “showed us that our union is reasonable and concerned about the need to change spending priorities in our state so that more money goes toward education,” Wilson said.
She added, “It’s sad when more money is spent on incarceration than on education. We faculty are pleased to serve the students and citizens of this state. But we can only do so much. Changes have to come from the top so we can continue to offer the hands-on, small classes and quality education that our state system is known for and so that we can remain competitive in retaining some of our brightest faculty, who may be tempted to move out of state for better offers.”