quality, affordable education to all students. At the same time, these objectives will continue to allow the faculty to operate in an environment in which they can focus their energies on teaching, scholarly activities and service.

“Managing higher education today is a balancing act,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “We must work extremely hard to maintain our campus facilities, to make certain our classroom technology is cutting edge and to develop new education programs that meet the changing needs of our students and their future employers.

“We must do all of this while continuing to offer the high-quality, affordable education our students and their families have come to expect. It can be done, but only with the full cooperation of the universities and faculty.”

The faculty and State System have a shared interest in the future financial health and viability of the System, McCormick added.

“The reputation and achievements of the State System are a shared asset of our students, faculty and employees,” he said. “I am hopeful that these negotiations will serve to enhance what we have earned together.”

Efforts to help ensure negotiations go smoothly began last Spring, when faculty and State System representatives together attended a course on interest-based bargaining at Harvard University.

“After our last round of bargaining, the State System and APSCUF agreed that future contract negotiations would be more productive if we looked on negotiations as an opportunity to work together,” said Edward P. Kelley Jr., vice chancellor for employee and labor relations. “The sessions at Harvard were an encouraging first step in the process.”

Under interest-based bargaining, negotiators representing workers and management map out a strategy that focuses on common objectives, rather than the trading of contrasting proposals.

“It is hoped we can build on the Harvard sessions and achieve meaningful, constructive negotiations,” said Kelley. “After all, the universities and faculty are in this together. We all want the same thing, a strong State System that can continue to provide Pennsylvanians with a quality education at an affordable price.”

The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate degree and more than 100 graduate degree programs. The 14 universities that comprise the State System enroll a combined 95,000 students. Nearly 350,000 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 (Lock Haven), Kittanning and Punxsutawney (Indiana) and Oil City (Clarion) and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.