IUP’S MARTIN TO STEP DOWN AS HEAD OF APSCUF

There’s been a change in leadership of APSCUF, the faculty union at the State System of Higher Education. Delegates yesterday elected Dr. Kenneth Mash to return to the presidency to replace Dr. Jamie Martin, the IUP professor who did not seek reelection due to upcoming medical treatment. Martin told her membership she has a “personal fight” ahead of her and there is no way she can devote her full energy to her colleagues while taking on another battle.

Mash, who was APSCUF’s president from 2014 to 2020, returns just as the union is set to begin negotiations on a new contract with the State System. The current agreements expire next year.

Mash elected APSCUF president

Professor returns to lead union

April 9, 2022

Delegates today elected Dr. Kenneth M. Mash the next president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties. Mash previously held the office from 2014 to 2020.

President Dr. Jamie Martin, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, did not seek reelection due to upcoming medical treatment.

“Since I began my term in June 2020, I have done my best to fight for members and students,” Martin said. “We fought for safety as they returned to campus during a pandemic. We fought for security and fairness after universities issued more than 100 retrenchment letters. We fought for answers amid a consolidation that is ongoing. We have fought together, but now I have another, personal fight ahead of me. Serving as president has been an honor and a privilege, but there is no way I can devote my full energy to my colleagues while taking on another battle — and they need and deserve a president whose attention and energy is undivided.

“Dr. Mash has already negotiated multiple contracts and led us through the 2016 strike. His commitment to APSCUF is unparalleled. There is no better person to guide us through our next, challenging negotiations — especially with consolidations, the threat of retrenchment, and funding issues at the forefront.”

Mash, a political-science professor at East Stroudsburg University, returns to APSCUF leadership with the union set to begin contract talks later this year. APSCUF’s collective bargaining agreements expire in 2023.

“When Dr. Martin was vice president, I knew she would be a remarkable president,” Mash said. “And she has been. She has led our union through two incredibly difficult years. She easily would have won reelection because she has earned the respect and affection of our members. But she always has her priorities in proper order, and this is unquestionably the right decision for her and her family. It is an honor to work once again with my APSCUF colleagues, including Dr. Martin, looking after the best interests of our faculty, our coaches, and our students.”

Delegates reelected Dr. Christopher Hallen of Bloomsburg University as vice president; Dr. Michele Papakie of Slippery Rock University as secretary; and John Gump of Kutztown University as coach executive leader. Dr. Thomas Stewart of Kutztown University was elected treasurer.

Also at the union’s legislative assembly, held in person this week for the first time since 2020, delegates elected to the audit committee: Dr. Ellen Foster (Clarion), Dr. Eric Hawrelak (Bloomsburg), and Dr. Heide Witthöft (Indiana). Elected to the budget committee were Susan Drummond (IUP) and Dr. Michael Malcolm (West Chester).

The terms of these positions run June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2024.

APSCUF represents about 5,000 faculty and coaches at the State System universities: Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania.