SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY Educators, chancellor discuss pact issues

The chancellor was met by a student and faculty demonstration.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The chancellor of the state's university system met with about 15 Slippery Rock University faculty to address issues that have stalled pending contract talks.
Faculty members questioned Dr. Judy Hample on Friday afternoon about stalled negotiations with their union, which represents faculty in the state system's 14 schools.
They also questioned the chancellor about whether the state intends to increase class sizes, and said they should not have to contribute to their health insurance plan.
Strike vote
The 410 SRU faculty members belong to the Association of Pennsylvania State College University Faculty, which has a membership of 5,500 statewide. The union has set a strike authorization vote for Sept. 19. No new negotiations are scheduled until Oct. 3.
Hample, who was in town for the quarterly SRU Council of Trustees meeting, talked with the faculty members afterward.
The meeting followed a noisy demonstration against Hample outside Old Main, the building where the trustees were meeting. The demonstration drew about 150 students and faculty members and made it difficult to hear what was going on in the final minutes of the meeting because of the chanting and drumming outside the windows.
Some students carried signs informing Hample that they are not "cash cows." They referred to a comment that a negotiator for the state reportedly made -- calling large classes "cash cows." Hample stated during the meeting with faculty that she has never and would never refer to students that way.
State's offer
Thomas Gluck, director of communications for the Pennsylvania State University System, said the state is offering faculty members a four-year contract with a wage freeze in the current academic year; a one-step increase in the salary schedule the second year, which would amount to 2.5 percent to 5 percent; a 2.5 percent increase the third year with no move in the step; and a 3 percent increase the fourth year plus a step increase.
Dr. Jace Condravy, a SRU English professor who heads the local APSCUF chapter and a member of the negotiating team, said the faculty union's counterproposal was no salary increase the first year, but a step increase for those scheduled for one; a 2.25 percent increase the second year, with incremental increases; 3 percent the third year with incremental increases and an extra step for those at the end of the salary scale; and 3.5 percent the fourth year with another step for those at the end of the scale.
State health-care proposal
The faculty also is objecting to a state proposal that members begin contributing toward their health-care cost. The state wants a 10 percent contribution, and Hample said that nearly every system of higher education in the United States requires employees to contribute a portion of that cost.
Class size also was debated, with Hample's insisting the state system is not sacrificing quality education to save money in the face of a 5 percent reduction in the budget.
She said 29 students is the lower division average class size, compared to 27 in 1996. She said that some other institutions offer much larger classes.
Disappointment
Condravy said after the meeting she was disappointed that the last negotiating session, Sept. 5, ended after 90 minutes when the chief negotiator for the state said the faculty proposal was not "in the ballpark."
She believes the only reason the Oct. 3 negotiating session has been scheduled is because a state mediator insisted.
Negotiations with faculty began in August 2002 and their contract expired June 30. Pennsylvania's state university system has never had a strike.