APSCUF Legislative Goals And Priorities For 2023-24 Session
Fully fund and strengthen our campuses and communities within Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education to provide affordable and quality higher education across the state that benefits students, families, campuses, and their communities.
Along with increased funding in the state budget, the general assembly should find mechanisms to make college more affordable, including but not limited to scholarships for State System students, and forgiving legacy university debts.
Work to decrease the indebtedness of State System students in different ways, including increasing PHEAA grants for State System students and promoting legislation aimed at negating the impacts of student loans, regulating for-profit institutions of higher educations, and protecting student borrowers (e.g., providing graduates with tax credits and regulating private lenders.)
Advocate for students’ voting rights. Promote proposals that make voting easier and oppose those that seek to limit voting rights.
Advocate for student health and safety through measures that increase the accessibility through on-campus mental-health services.
Protect member and annuitant retirement benefits and options. Advocate for an appropriate cost-of-living adjustment.
Work in solidarity with the labor movement to preserve and expand workers’ rights (e.g., guaranteeing exclusive representation, maintaining the prevailing wage, protecting the collection of union dues, strengthening the right to collectively bargain, and supporting raising the minimum wage).
Protect tenure, academic freedom, and faculty rights.
Advocate for proactive adjunct faculty legislation that would help adjuncts, including healthcare benefits.
Advocate for greater privacy protections for members as it pertains to the Right-to-Know Law.
Challenge inequities by supporting diverse, equitable, and inclusive policies. Work with a broad coalition of stakeholders on higher-education practices across the Commonwealth that support social-justice efforts and ensure students, faculty, and staff can enjoy a safe and healthy campus life.
