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IUP student Jesse Daugherty will intern with APSCUF’s government-and-communication department through August. Click here to learn more about APSCUF internships. Photo/Submitted

My name is Jesse Daugherty, and I am a junior political-science major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Throughout my time at Indiana University, I have developed into a much more complete version of myself, guided by our amazing faculty who do so much for us and the surrounding community. I believe access to quality education at an affordable price is important, which led me to APSCUF. It is with great pride that I get the chance to work with an organization that advocates for us as students, our professors and coaches, and our university communities.

After graduation, I hope to continue my education to fuel my passion for public service. My career goal is to one day be a city or borough manager. I also plan to run for public office. I’m absolutely thrilled to be with APSCUF and can’t wait to get started!

—Jesse Daugherty,
APSCUF intern

The May 22 Board of Governors meeting streamed via YouTube. Below are APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth M. Mash’s comments as prepared.

Chairwoman Shapira, Chancellor Greenstein, governors, presidents, and guests. I am Ken Mash, and I am the statewide president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties.

I have a few brief comments today — this day on which you will name a new president for PennWest University.

First, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate President Christopher Fiorentino on his retirement. I want to do so not only on behalf of my colleagues at West Chester, but also on behalf of my colleagues around the State System.

Among the faculty at West Chester, he has had a reputation for being smart, fair-minded, competent, and considerate. These same traits were on display when my colleagues and I had a chance to work with him during multiple contract negotiations. Of course, we did not always agree, but even when disagreeing, one always sensed that it was a disagreement among colleagues who shared the same basic values.

Of course, he was at one time one of us, which is also true of his provost and now his successor. I know that my colleagues at PennWest feel that during her time as interim president, Dr. Laurie Bernotsky restored a sense of competence, openness, and collegiality.

My PennWest colleagues felt that, with Interim President Bernotsky, the university for the first time was beginning to build a strong culture of shared governance. Our APSCUF leaders at PennWest want to know that this will continue.

Further, there was a rational plan put into place for that university. My colleagues badly want to maintain the momentum they were building.

There are battle scars at PennWest. And there remains the sense that the faculty stepped up to make the institution work, at times keeping the university running with duct tape. They went way beyond their responsibilities to make sure that students were taken care of. Unfortunately, they felt that they were taken advantage of — that they were left to figure out the details on the fly because of a lack of details in the integration plans approved by this board.

The faculty are still taken aback by what they feel was the rushed nature of this presidential search, despite their calls for patience. Still, they look forward to progress, but they are weary. They want assurances that there will not be irrational cutting of programs or the laying off of faculty.

Above all, they want competence, rationality, quality leadership, and stability. They are not particularly interested in a presidential vision for the future. They want to make certain that the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed. Like so many of our System students, they are not afraid of doing the work.

But they don’t want fancy, they don’t want jargon, they don’t want “interesting ideas.” They want to do what we all do well: make certain that our students receive the best possible experience and that their university will remain an engine for student success.

With that, I look forward to congratulating the next president. Know that there are big challenges, but that you have faculty who look forward to the university’s success.

The April 11 Board of Governors meeting was streamed via YouTube. Below are APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth M. Mash’s comments as prepared. The embedded video is set to start with Mash’s remarks.

Chair Shapira, chancellor Greenstein, governors, presidents, and guests:

The last few years have been challenging ones indeed. And many of my faculty and coach colleagues have stretched themselves to the limit to survive a pandemic and its aftermath, including the too-little-talked-about impact of working with students who through no fault of their own were no longer socialized to the classroom. They have had to make consolidation work (despite their personal perspectives on the decision). They have had to adjust their teaching and coaching based on the changing needs of students. They have adapted to new modes of teaching. They have dealt with the continued financial squeezes that confront our universities and continually figure out how to do more with less. They have had to adjust to new systems on the fly. They have had to deal with circumstances mandated from above as our administrations have attempted to follow the instructions of this Board and System leadership. They have had to rewrite curriculum, deal with a new human-resources organization, meet new fundraising goals, and respond to multiple university policy changes. And that’s the short list.

They have gone through all of this while trying to help their students succeed. Chair Shapira, Chancellor Greenstein, governors: Nobody cares more about student success than my colleagues, our colleagues in other bargaining units, and all of the staff that work day to day to make sure that the System lives up to its charge of providing a high quality education at an affordable price.

Thus, my coach and faculty colleagues are relieved to have new contracts and they are appreciative of the fact that these agreements go a long way toward recognizing their contributions. We are appreciative of the members of the negotiating teams that gave so much to reach an agreement. We especially appreciate the chancellor’s participation at the negotiation — we do know it is a rare thing to have a System leader who is willing to get down into the weeds and do the difficult work of negotiating a very complex faculty contract.

I have said publicly that we believe there is much to be proud of in these contracts, and those who read them thoroughly will see changes that will reflect well on our System and, in fact, I believe our System will be pointed to as a leader in higher education because of some of these important changes.

Thank you very much for your attention.

The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education today approved APSCUF’s faculty and coach collective bargaining agreements. Click here to read the release.

Photo: Signing the APSCUF contracts are, from left, State System Board Chair Cynthia D. Shapira, APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth M. Mash and Chancellor Daniel Greenstein. APSCUF photo/Sean Crampsie

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties has released an update about faculty and coach voting on tentative agreements. Click here to read the release.