Phone: 814-227-2420 www.apscuf.org February 2018 Executive Committee: President – Ray Feroz; Vice President – Joyce Overly; Secretary – Christopher McCarrick; Treasurer – Linda Lillard; Delegates –Ray Feroz, Barry Sweet; Jonathan Touster, Annette Rosati, Lorie Taylor; Alternate Delegates – Ellen Foster, Jennifer May, Cristin Ketley, Karl Sprenger, Jacqueline Knaust; Coaches President - Sean Esterhuizen; Coaches Vice President – Al Modrzejewski; Coaches’ Grievance Chair – Eric Laughlin; Venango Campus – Renee Bloom; CAP – Joseph Croskey; DRC – Amy Love-Conner/Mary Buchanan; Grievance – Mary Buchanan/Mark Kilwein; Health & Welfare – Marilyn Howe; Legislative – Jonathan Touster; Membership – Paul Klenowski; Negotiations – Ray Feroz; Nominations & Elections – YooJin Ha; Social Justice – Amy Conner-Love; Public Affairs/Relations – Christopher McCarrick; Student Liaison – Naomi Bell O’Neil; Rules & Bylaws – Carey Childers; Mobilization Co-Chairs – Lorie Taylor & Jacqueline Knaust; State Temporary Faculty Committee – Michael Hissam; State APSCUF Executive Council – Joyce Overly The President’s Message… Dear Colleagues, It is early in the calendar year of 2018. Let’s take a steely-eyed look at reality here:       Clarion has experienced a 29-30% drop in student enrollment since 2008. Clarion has practically no cash reserves. Clarion has received a “Going Concern” note from the external auditor, two years in a row. Since 2009 Clarion is up 14% in management, and down 22% in faculty. Relatedly, we have had significant turnover of faculty due to retirement and intentional moves to other universities. Since 2008 academics have been underpowered and devalued. Faculty-management relations have been strained at best, and antagonistic at worst. Many faculty are disaffected. Venango College Campus is at risk. This is reality. The reasons we are in this predicament are many but mostly due to miscues by top management that harmed enrollment, stemming from the 2014-15 Workforce Plan, where faculty were retrenched, the College of Education “dissolved” and negative publicity engendered that continues to this day to haunt enrollment. Demographics are at work, but the same demographics don’t seem to have dented Slippery Rock’s enrollment, which has held steady at their all-time high, and SRU is only 46.5 miles away. Incidentally, when the administration “dissolved” the College of Education, Slippery Rock’s education program expanded, as did Penn State Behrend’s program in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. And have you noticed that Pennsylvania currently has a teacher shortage? The next permanent president might do well to revisit the 2014 decision to “dissolve” the College of Education and reinstate the College. That might also help to reverse the alienation of Clarion’s largest block of alumni – Teachers. The Good news: Clarion’s interim leadership is doing its best to steer a steady and efficient course, and Interim President Pete Fackler has been supportive and respectful to faculty. His communication, transparency and creativity have been a breath of fresh air. Likewise, the Council of Trustees, under chair JD Dunbar, has shown a renewed zeal for making positive progress and improved relations with all stakeholders. So what can faculty do in challenging times? Academics are the foundation of any successful university. When you sand the paint down to bare metal, a university consists of two key engaged elements: faculty and students. Everything else is secondary. We as faculty can make a positive difference by: (Continued on Page 2) February 2018 www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 1 1. Continuing to offer excellent coursework, and to provide support and encouragement to our students. It is how we can make for a better future not just for them, but for our community, commonwealth, and nation. The efforts of faculty and coaches are what will be remembered by our students long after they have graduated. Every day, every faculty member can make a positive difference! 2. Become active in APSCUF and Senate and contractual and other committees that give you the opportunity to influence a better tomorrow for CU. In this Newsletter, there is a great op-ed by Emeritus Chapter President Beth McDaniel. She has seen it all and her words of encouragement to get involved, learn about APSCUF, and run for elective positions is well worth considering. These interim times give us pause to reflect on the past and present. The future will come to us whether we like it or not. Let’s get involved and rededicate ourselves to making Clarion University a superb place for students to learn and for faculty to teach. Everything that you do makes a difference! Thanks for your tireless effort, and your collegiality. In solidarity, Ray SPRING 2018 MEETINGS (Please mark your calendars!) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (EC) (Rhea Conf. Room @ 3:30 pm) Tuesday, February 27 Tuesday, March 20 Tuesday, April 3 Tuesday, April 17 (Spring Elections) Tuesday, May 1 SPRING 2018 MEET & DISCUSS Tuesday, February 20 – Meet & Discuss Friday, March 9 – Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, March 23 – Meet & Discuss Friday, April 6 – Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, April 20 – Meet & Discuss GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING/ SPRING ELECTION’S “MEET THE CANDIDATES FORUM” Tuesday, March 27 – 250/252 Gemmell DEPARTMENTAL REP COUNCIL (DRC) (Rhea Conf. Room @ 3:30 PM) Tuesday, March 6 Tuesday, April 10 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (LA) April 12-14, 2018 (Toftrees, State College) NOTE: The Clarion APSCUF Office will be closed from March 12-16 and will reopen on March 19 @ 8 am. GENERAL APSCUF & BARGAINING UNIT MEETING/MEET THE CANDIDATE FORUM/SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER is scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, 2018, @ 3:30 pm in 250/252 Gemmell Student Center. This meeting will also include “Meet the Candidates” Forum for the 2018 Spring Elections. Also, there will be a special guest speaker, State APSCUF President Ken Mash. Come and meet Ken as he speaks about current issues. Please mark your meeting calendar and let’s give Ken a BIG CLARION WELCOME to our campus!! NOTE: The General Spring Elections will be held on Tuesday, April 17th. CAMPUS VISIT: APSCUF Members – There will be a campus visit by Sara Miller of State APSCUF’s Labor Relations Department on Friday, March 9, 2018. Please feel free to stop by the APSCUF office, Rhea Building, between 11:30 am - 1:30 pm to meet Sara. She will be available to answer any general contract questions. Note that we will not be taking appointments. Just stop in! CLARION APSCUF 2018 FALL SCHOLARSHIPS: Applications are now available for the Clarion APSCUF Fall 2018 Scholarship to be awarded to six (6) Clarion University currently enrolled students. Applications can be picked up at the local APSCUF Office located in former Rhea Building or at the Venango Campus in Suhr Library and Admissions & Financial Aid office. Or they can now download the instructions and application from the web at: www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion. Deadline for application is Friday, March 23, 2018 by NOON. February 2018 www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 2 IN THE SPOTLIGHT with Past Chapter President Beth MacDaniel Your Union Needs You In last month’s Newsletter, Past President Jamie Phillips addressed Article 5: Grievance, providing you with important information about the grievance process. To paraphrase him, if you believe that your rights have been violated, stand up and speak out. Contact the Grievance Chair. Ask for assistance. To paraphrase Jamie again, you are not alone in this, for you have the Union standing with you. Reread that last sentence: You are not alone […], for you have the Union standing with you. As you know, the Union is composed of faculty like you, here at Clarion and at the other thirteen State System universities. However, have you thought about what makes the Union strong, strong enough to fight for faculty rights, for quality programs, for public higher education, for students? Faculty members, men and women like you, who are willing to give their time, their energy, and their dedication to a cause greater than themselves. They voluntarily do this. They volunteer. One thing that sets APSCUF apart from many other higher education unions is that it is faculty-driven and faculty-run. The founders of APSCUF long ago decided that, while it might be asking much of full time faculty members, the faculty should be the ones who make the decisions about how the union functions. And so it still is. We are, of course, very fortunate to have excellent and dedicated staff members on the campuses and at the state headquarters in Harrisburg. Without their expertise, we could not be as effective or as strong as we are. However, we—the faculty—are the engine that drives and steers this “machine.” Therefore, we only have a Grievance Chair and Grievance Committee at Clarion because some of your fellow faculty members give you their time and energy. They volunteer. They receive no pay, no release time, no tangible benefits from their service. Yet they serve. The same holds true for Delegates to the Legislative Assembly, Alternate Delegates, members of CCPS, Promotion, CAP, Membership, Tenure, Sabbatical Leave, DRC, Nominations and Elections, Venango Representative, Meet and Discuss, and other committees. In fact, only the APSCUF Chapter President and Chair of CCPS receive any release time, a one course release. You can bet your bottom dollar that Ray and Barry spend many many more hours than one course release in these positions. Yet they all remain committed to APSCUF and to completing the work required in their positions. When times are difficult, people frequently step up and help. We saw this in the preparation for APSCUF’s first strike and February 2018 the actual job action. Many faculty I’ve talked with mentioned the spirit of unity and togetherness that they experienced while preparing for and walking that picket line and how wonderful it was. However, in better times, or at least when there seems to be no looming threat, people tend to become immersed in their lives and forget that the work of the Union continues. And it continues because others continue to do the work of the Union. I ask you today to remember that your Union stands up for you and with you every day. I ask you to be one of those who stand up. How? Volunteer! Let Chapter President Ray Feroz know that you want to help APSCUF. Let Jan Walters, Clarion APSCUF’s Office Manager, know so she can let members of Committee and Committee Chairs know. How else? Elections are coming up. Run for a position. Encourage your colleagues to run. Or, if you want to start your involvement a bit more slowly, run for Alternate Delegate to Legislative Assembly. You’ll meet delegates from other State System universities, state officers, and staff members and learn about issues going on across the System. If you think you don’t know enough about APSCUF, get involved and learn. Apply for the APSCUF Faculty and Coaches Internship Program; spend a week in Harrisburg this summer and learn how the Union operates at the state level. If you want to know more about this Program, ask those who have had internships. Ray Feroz and Ellen Foster have had Internships in the past couple of years, so they can fill you in. Why do this? Why become more involved with APSCUF, with your Union? Think about that sense of unity experienced by many who shared time on the picket line, the sense of dedication to a cause greater than yourself. Involvement with APSCUF enables you to maintain and sustain that unity, that sense of purpose, that sense of dedication. Many of my most fulfilling experiences have come as a result of my involvement with APSCUF, and I cherish those times. Please get involved. APSCUF—and your colleagues—need you! Beth MacDaniel President Emeritus (I think Ray gave me that title—or maybe not!) Clarion APSCUF www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 3 The CAP (Committee for Action through Politics) REBATE CAMPAIGN runs from NOW through April 1, 2018. CAP Dues Rebate cards have already been distributed to APSCUF Members. Cards should be returned to the Clarion APSCUF office, Rhea Building by April 1, 2018. For many years, APSCUF has offered a dues rebate to its members. At the inception of the program, APSCUF asked all members to complete a dues rebate card which offered members three choices for the $25 rebate.    The $25 could be given to APSCUF/CAP, the organization’s political action committee The $25 could be left in the APSCUF treasury The $25 could be paid direct to the member The money collected for CAP is used by APSCUF to advance the causes of higher education, the faculty and state system students by supporting candidates who are pro-education. APSCUF cannot use membership dues funds for political action purposes; thus, the easiest way for APSCUF/CAP to obtain needed dollars is for members to designate that their dues rebate be given to CAP. The other alternatives are a direct contribution from the member to APSCUF/CAP or through payroll deduction. (Authorization cards for payroll deductions are available in the APSCUF office.) Please consider designating your rebate of $25 to CAP this time. If you have already donated your past rebates to CAP, “THANK YOU!!” You need not sign another card. We hope that you will consider additional support through the CAP Voluntary Payroll Deduction campaign. Questions??? Please contact CAP Chair Joseph Croskey at jcroskey@clarion.edu or the APSCUF Office at 227-2420. SPRING 2018 GENERAL ELECTIONS TIMELINE  NOMINATING PETITIONS ARE DUE WEDNESDAT, FEBRUARY 28th @ 12 NOON TO N & E CHAIR YOOJIN HA, c/o APSCUF OFFICE, RHEA BLDG. IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL PETITIONS, PLEASE CONTACT JAN THE APSCUF OFFICE. PLEASE CONSIDER RUNNING FOR ANY OF THE BELOW LISTED POSITIONS.  CANDIDATE STATEMENTS – If you choose to run for an office or a position on any of the offices and committees for APSCUF, Contractual Committees, Council on General Education, or Coaches’ Positions and wish to have your candidate statement included in the March Newsletter, please submit your statement by Monday, March 5th to Jan in the APSCUF office by e-mailing it to her at jwalters@clarion.edu.  MEET THE CANDIDATES FORUM will be held on Tuesday, March 27th @ 3:30 pm in Room 250/252 Gemmell Student Center – Introduction of Candidates; Comments and Questions.  Monday, April 2: Distribution of ballots by interdepartmental mail/US Postal Service  Monday, April 16th: Absentee Ballots are due by Noon in the APSCUF Office, Rhea Building  SPRING 2018 GENERAL ELECTIONS will be held on Tuesday, April 17th from 9 am till 4 pm in the Carlson Library and on the Venango Campus - location t/b/d. Again the following positions are open. If eligible, please consider running for any of these positions. *Secretary: 1 one-year term *Treasurer: 1 one-year term *Delegate to Legislative Assembly: 2 two-year term *Alternate Delegate to LA: 2 two-year term *Nominations & Elections Committee: 3two-year term February 2018 *Venango Campus Representative: 1 one-year term *Promotion Committee: 3 three-year term *Sabbatical Leave Committee – 2 three-year term *Tenure Committee: 2 three-year term *CCPS: 2 three-year term www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 4 February 2018 www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 5 February 2018 www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion 6