In comments before the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education yesterday, the president of APSCUF, Dr. Jamie Martin, said the possible retrenchment of 300 faculty members at seven of the fourteen state-owned universities was not discussed during negotiations on a new contract last year.
There is a deadline of October 31st for IUP and the six other schools considering retrenchment to make a final decision.
Martin told the Board of Governors that, “At no point during the negotiations did the issue of the dire financial situation that would lead to the need to retrench 300 faculty members ever come up.” She said the decision to accelerate the financial sustainability process from a five-year timeline to three years happened in April, before Covid-19 had made an impact on finances at the schools and the State System.
In a long analysis of the reasons for the schools’ financial distress, Martin laid out a number of missteps, including a building boom of residence halls, recreation centers, and convention facilities, including at IUP. She said faculty concerns about the massive debt that resulted from the new buildings were “ignored and dismissed”.
In its announcement of “IUP NextGen” yesterday, IUP said that it had notified APSCUF that retrenchment was possible, and “Any faculty workforce decisions will be in response to these strategic plans for IUP’s future.”
Since 2014, IUP has reduced its faculty workforce by more than 150 positions, mostly through attrition.
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