Four more State System of Higher Education universities have notified APSCUF that programs or courses may be eliminated, resulting in layoffs of union faculty members. IUP is not one of them.
The notice is a requirement of the union contract, which stipulates that letters of retrenchment must be submitted by April 1st. After Mansfield sent its notice on March 21st, California, Clarion, Edinboro, and Cheyney sent letters over the weekend.
State System Spokesman Kenn Marshall says no final decisions have been made yet on retrenchment, but if layoffs come, it would be at the start of the next academic year. APSCUF President Ken Mash says the union will work with the State System to try to avoid retrenchment.
Marshall pointed out that the universities continue to lose money and a large part of that is the fact that it relies so much on tuition for its funding, while enrollment is declining. When the State System began, the state provided the majority of the funding while tuition covered about thirty percent. Today, tuition accounts for 75 percent of each university’s funding.
The State System has launched a review of its operations, hoping to find solutions to its financial situation. Last week, the State Senate indicated it may begin its own review of State System operations.
