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APSCUF is mourning the loss of Steve Hahn, a member of APSCUF’s first coach-negotiations team. He died Sept. 1.

Hahn was an assistant coach at Kutztown University for first men’s basketball and then women’s, for a combined 27 years. He was inducted into the Kutztown University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.

“Steve was the best,” John Gump, retired Kutztown volleyball coach and past APSCUF coach executive leader, said. “He is one of the people to whom the current group of coaches owe a tremendous debt of gratitude.”

Click here to read Hahn’s obituary.

Congratulations to our 2024 scholarship recipients: Alayna Haight of PennWest Clarion (daughter of Dr. Jesse Haight of PennWest Clarion) and Abigail Hancox of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (daughter of Dr. Melissa Gibson of PennWest Edinboro). APSCUF offers a $3,000 scholarship to relatives of APSCUF or APSCURF members in good standing. Click here to learn more about this year’s winners and the scholarship.

State APSCUF began awarding a scholarship for family members of APSCUF/APSCURF members in 2001.

Dr. Nadene L’Amoreaux

Dr. Nadene L’Amoreaux’s father, a union electrician, showed her the benefits of the union.

“I watched my father on strike many times,” she said. “I heard stories about how the union representation benefited or helped him.”

L’Amoreaux first joined APSCUF in 1998, shortly after becoming a faculty member in the counseling department of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“It wasn’t a question on whether I joined (APSCUF) or not, it’s join and then how active do I want to be once I’m in it?” L’Amoreaux said.

L’Amoreaux has been involved in meet-and-discuss at the local and state levels and has participated in legislative assembly. She said she has drawn heavily on her counseling skills during her time in APSCUF, especially as the local grievance chair at IUP. This included giving people good news — but also letting people down gently with bad news.

“It helped me get out of my silo,” referring to her time as grievance chair at IUP. It allowed her to meet people across campus, including administrators. It forced her to meet with grievance officials statewide, including other grievance chairs on other campuses, and with the staff at state APSCUF. She said the work on the grievance committee greatly improved her knowledge of the collective bargaining agreement; she became familiar with significant articles in the CBA that relate to frequently encountered issues.

L’Amoreaux became the state meet-and-discuss chair on June 1, succeeding Dr. Kara Laskowski, who was elected State APSCUF vice president.

She originally did not want to be M&D chair, she said.

“When Ken (Mash) contacted me, I was trying to give him reasons why I wasn’t the right person to be chair of state meet-and-discuss, and he wasn’t buying any of them,” L’Amoreaux said.

After that conversation, she decided to remain in consideration for the position.

L’Amoreaux noted the longevity of the M&D team; she served under immediate-past chair Laskowski and President Dr. Kenneth M. Mash when he chaired the M&D team. She praised the state meet-and-discuss team, saying that the team is what makes state meet-and-discuss so successful. State meet-and-discuss converses with the State System regarding issues related to contractual implementation, with the state level focusing on all the campuses. She said they are to be one voice for all 14 campuses in the System.
In her new position, L’Amoreaux said she hopes to push for decisions that are the best for students. In this, she wants to be able negotiate with the State System in a more productive way. One of the goals, she said, is to provide a quality education to the students in the State System.

MORE ABOUT L’AMOREAUX

Nadene L’Amoreaux earned her doctorate from Kent State University. She is a licensed professional counselor and an approved clinical supervisor.

—Jesse Daugherty,
APSCUF intern

Indiana University of Pennsylvania student Jesse Daugherty visited the Pennsylvania Capitol as part of his summer internship with APSCUF’s government-and-communication department. Click here to learn more about APSCUF internships. APSCUF file photo

Honestly, coming into this internship, I had no idea what to expect. I don’t come from a union background, nor do I come from a higher-education background (I’m a first-generation college student.). That almost deterred me from even applying, but I’ve learned that is what internships are for: to learn and explore interests. That is exactly what APSCUF has offered me.

I’ve been interested in government for as long as I can remember, and my program at IUP has deepened my interest in our governance. From talking with representatives to interviewing faculty and coach members, APSCUF provided me with such an insightful experience that I think may lead me to continue work in the government or with another union.

The public-relations or PR aspect of this internship really showed me another side of union work, and even working with the government. If I begin working in municipal management, I will need to know how to create press releases, how to answer questions, and how to talk to people. Coming from a government background, those were skills I just didn’t possess when I began this internship. Kathryn Morton, APSCUF’s communications director, not only has these skills, but also the patience of a saint when teaching them. I felt in over my head when I first started writing for the union, but Kathryn not only encouraged me to continue writing, but provided valuable feedback to help me improve. While this internship only lasted 10 weeks, these skills I will carry with me for a lifetime.

Sean Crampsie, APSCUF’s director of government relations, has provided me with so many experiences of meeting new people, especially legislators. Just this week I met with Rep. Jacob Banta, and Rep. Jim Struzzi, who represent districts that include State System institutions. These sessions allowed me to see faculty concerns and how legislators respond to them. If you have any interest in government, these experiences are going to be especially helpful as you progress in your career. You can see just how hard government relations are to manage, and Sean has really opened my eyes to how you can thrive in a fast-paced environment. I attended fundraisers and was able to experience firsthand how powerful a good lobbyist can be for an organization. I’m not sure if lobbying is in my future, but I learned so much about how important it is to keep up with the ever-changing nature of the state legislature, a quality that I feel will help me in my career later.

I almost didn’t attend the interview for this internship, feeling my résumé was lackluster and my background wouldn’t fit what APSCUF was going for, but boy was I wrong. APSCUF has a special thing going on here, fighting not only for faculty, but for us as students. They showed me how powerful the impact our State System has on students, and how important it is for us to do everything we can for our campuses. I see why student support was so strong during the strike back in 2016. If I can even come close to working with an organization as passionate as APSCUF, I would be thrilled. If you have any doubts about applying, go for it! This experience will be short but leave a lasting impact. I no doubt will take more than a handful of new skills with me as I begin my career.

—Jesse Daugherty,
APSCUF intern

Dr. Chris Hallen, left, and Dr. Kara Laskowski talk at APSCUF’s April 2024 legislative assembly. Hallen is immediate-past vice president, and Laskowski took on the role in June. APSCUF file photo.

Dr. Kara Laskowski began her career as a communication professor at a nonunionized private institution, giving her firsthand experience in a workplace without a voice for the rank-and-file employees. She joined APSCUF in 2003, shortly after joining Shippensburg University as a temporary faculty member, becoming the fourth generation in her family to be a part of a union.

Speaking to the State System Board of Governors in July, Laskowski reaffirmed the union’s commitment to students.

“As vice president of APSCUF, I’m both grateful and proud to assert that it is our union that most directly, efficiently, and successfully allows all of us to meet our (State System) mission and serve our students,” Laskowski said.

Laskowski brings a wealth of experience to the position of vice president, including her most recent stint as the chair of the state meet-and-discuss committee. Her other APSCUF service has included roles at the campus level, positions that are more internal to APSCUF, and duties that require interaction with the State System. Her levels of experience have taught her the different workings of the union, she said.

“I really felt a sense of obligation and responsibility,” she said about running for vice president.

Laskowski discussed the previous state vice president, Dr. Chris Hallen, and how he brought a sense of calm that allowed APSCUF leaders to think and better understand relevancy and requirements before they jumped into action.

“He’s been somebody I’ve learned a great deal from,” Laskowski said.

She assumed her new position on June 1, and said her responsibilities include being the president’s designee on the meet-and-discuss committee, being a member of the executive council, serving at legislative assembly, being an ex-officio member of many committees, and serving as assigned by the president. The vice president also has responsibilities during negotiations for faculty and coaches.

In her new position, Laskowski said she wants to improve the strength of the contract and to support the union membership and staff in any way she can.

Laskowski said she wants to bring her communication background with her into the role.

“(I want to) do a lot of listening, to really understand what’s important to people and why,” Laskowski said.

Laskowski said faculty and coaches should join the union for practical reasons. For example, when working at a nonunionized private institution, she had no dental insurance, and would ask for her parents to pay for a dental cleaning as a Christmas gift. Educators who are unionized are able to control the curriculum and are empowered to advocate for their students, she said.

MORE ABOUT LASKOWSKI

Kara Laskowski first started at Shippensburg University as a temporary faculty member in 2003, becoming tenure-track in 2004. Today, she is chair of the Communication Studies Department. She served most recently as the state meet-and-discuss committee chair, but also chaired the public-relations committee and personnel committee, served as an at-large member of the executive council, and was chapter president of SU-APSCUF. She received her bachelor’s from Juniata College, and her master’s and doctorate are from Penn State.

—Jesse Daugherty,
APSCUF intern