At last Friday afternoon’s Legislative Assembly session, the delegates took up the question of recommending approval or rejection of the proposed contract with the PASSHE. The discussion was animated and lengthy. There was intense debate of several articles. The most seriously debated seemed to be: (a) the 25% cap on temporary faculty; (b) what some characterized as the “betrayal” of regular part-time faculty; (c) the details of the wellness program (would it require genetic, DNA, drugs or HIV testing, etc…); and (d) the surrender of grievance rights for summer distance education courses paid at the summer rather than continuing education rate (the so-called “Clarion Grievance”). The final vote was sixty-one in favor of recommending ratification and forty-three opposed. It is worth noting a few details about the vote: (a) four schools – Shippensburg, IUP, California, and Kutztown – were virtually unanimous in their opposition to ratification. The remaining ten schools were equally unanimous in their support for ratification; and (b) the members of the Executive Council (EC) participated in the vote. Five members of the EC voted for ratification; two voted against it. This means that since July 2nd, the members of EC had the opportunity to vote three times on the question of a recommendation. The first vote was six-to-one in favor of ratification; the second vote was six-to-one in opposition and the third vote was five-to-two in favor. In other words, four members of the EC changed their votes for a second time at the Assembly. Pat Heilman’s e-mail message today, while perhaps technically correct, is an incredibly and, I suspect, purposely misleading eleventh-hour attempt to influence members to vote for rejection. As of the end of the day Friday, five of seven members of the EC recommended ratification, as did fifty-six of ninety-seven delegates. A more complete report of one of the more interesting Legislative Assemblies of recent years will appear in the Chapter Newsletter. John

back to top of page

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Home > Millersville University > Local News

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................