April 08, 2004
Board of Governors ratifies faculty contract
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors today ratified a new, four-year contract with the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), which represents the approximately 5,500 faculty at the 14 state-owned universities.
The State System and APSCUF reached a tentative agreement in early February. The agreement was ratified by the faculty in voting held earlier on each of the State System campuses.
“This new contract meets the objectives we set out at the beginning of negotiations – to achieve an agreement that both our students and our universities could afford,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “This agreement also will help ensure our faculty salaries remain competitive with those paid by our peers nationally, and that our faculty will continue to have access to high quality health care coverage, even in the face of sharply rising costs.
“We look forward to focusing our full attention on serving our students’ needs so that they may have continued access to a high quality, affordable education.”
The new agreement, which is retroactive to July 1, 2003 and will run through June 30, 2007, includes a wage freeze in the current year. Most faculty will receive a service increment (equal to a 2.5 percent or 5 percent salary increase, depending where an employee is on the 12-step salary schedule) at the beginning of the Fall 2004 semester. Faculty members who are at the top of the pay scale and are not eligible for a service increment will receive a one-time cash payment equal to 2.5 percent of their salary in September 2004.
The new contract includes general pay increases of 3 percent each in 2005-06 and 2006-07. The increases will take effect at the beginning of each fall semester. Eligible faculty also will receive service increments in both the Fall of 2006 and Spring of 2007. Additionally, a 13th step will be added to the salary schedule in Spring 2007, allowing those faculty at the top of the schedule to receive a service increment, as well.
Some changes in health care coverage will be made starting in July, including the creation of a new prescription drug card program. Faculty in January 2005 will begin paying 10 percent of the cost of their health insurance premiums. As part of a joint effort to address rising health care costs, a 14-member Heath Care Cost Containment Committee will be established.
With more than 104,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 400,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.